This is Not Architecture

Zinc Slash Tree: From this is not architecture

At Helsinki's Kiasma art gallery until 24th April is an exhibition of Finnish photographer Ola Kolemainen's abstracted pictures of buildings, entitled 'A Building is Not A Building' - perhaps in a nod to the surrealist Magritte's famous 'The Treachery of Images' caption 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe'. Then again the title is also literally true as, in the case of his carefully cropped and oversized works, none of the pictures are really of the buildings featured as such but of effects encountered when looking at them.

Now as you may know by now this is just my sort of thing - combining architecture with finding details and patterns from architecture and nature with my camera - so when I found out there was a photograph competition (sponsored by Nokia's Ovi picture sharing service) to get a tour of the exhibition with the photographer I thought 'why not?' (or to be exact Konna said 'you should enter that') and picked out a few of my old pics, cropped them as needed to give them a more abstracted look, and - voila!

      

red arcs, grooves, jupiter, light wave, finlandia - but can anyone identify the six buildings featured on this page?

There were apparently about 100 entrants, so I was quite pleased to hear today I was selected as one of the winners... although it's not clear which of my pictures I was selected for - I think 'red arcs' is most like his work, although 'zinc slash tree' is my favourite. I'll give the architects in the room a few days to work out which buildings (some quite famous) are featured.

I think that is probably the first thing I have won since getting second place in the javelin competition on a school sports day many moons ago so this is quite a novelty.  I just hope that it's not all explained in Finnish! (And wouldn't it be nice if it turned out there was a Nokia goodie bag...)

Kevät... ehkä

Jääpuikkoja, kuva Borelta

God, sometimes I am slow.  It was the spring equinox a few days ago, which would have been clever (ha-ha) to mention on the 'All things being equal' post. Really, sometimes I wonder if my brain is seizing up.

So now it is officially spring (kevät). Well there are more birds around, the Helsinki rabbit population is about to explode and some startled walkers did come across a mother bear and her cubs in the Nuuksio national park near here last week. But yesterday looking out the window was like being in a snow globe, it was -9°C last night, and I'm beginning to wonder if the snow will melt before Easter...

Anyway we're going on a cheapo 'cruise' to Stockholm tonight for some better 'spring' weather... hmmm, not sure that'll work out.

Being unemployed can be dull

Some things we have done this week:

• Walked on water (the sea in fact)
• Collected dog poo and vomit
  
• Watch dancers 'interpret' a range of light fittings
  
• Slept in someone else's bed
  
• Read it is okay to eat 5 or 6 loaves of wholemeal bread a day
  
• Watched 12 films
• Been asked if we want to sell our flat

One of these was a mistake...

On yer bike

Personal human powered vehicle

We met with an old friend of Konna's recently, who started working for Finland's central bank the week before Lehman Brother's hit the blender (talk about in at the deep end!).  Amongst other things we found out that the couple are on a sport and work-out kick at the momement, training for the 'Tour de Helsinki' (140km) and the Swedish Vätternrundan (300km).  Apart from being impressed, this reminded me I used to cycle a lot (maybe 100km a week), and did the London-Brighton a few times (only a measly 87km) and had at the time wanted to do something bigger... but never did anything about it. Having dragged my bike here (at great expense) I really should make more use of it.

* * *

I can really do without extra reminders of the fairly large round number of years that my birth anniversary reaches this year. But free health checks are not to be sneezed at I suppose, even if they are age related.

The capable, and English speaking, student nurse took me through the blood test results ("Well done, they are very good" she congratulated, like I had been practising for them), went through some lifestyle risk questionnaires (fairly low), checked my blood pressure and body fat ratio. Slightly high BP, and (unsurprisingly) I need to exercise more and lose some weight. "I used to cycle a lot" I said "but now hardly at all". "Well it's a good form of exercise.  It's also good to have a target to motivate yourself."

* * *

We scored free tickets for the excitingly named Go!Expo - the annual sport and outdoors exhibition in Helsinki.  Apart from avoiding the golf area, dodging people practicing casting fishing rods (indoors), being somewhat freaked by the gun display on the hunting stand, and tripping over several dozen display tents, I was mainly lusting over exotic carbon-fibre bicycles and collecting information for cycling holidays in Åland and Gotland. And then there was the stand for the 'Tour de Helsinki' in September. 

Hmm, do I feel an idea creaking into existence?

All things being equal

The military version of the Finnish State flag via

Today is a flag day - Minna Canth's day, and the day of equality, in Finland.

Finland was the first country in Europe to introduce women's sufferage, and the first in the world to allow women candidates, both in 1906. 

Kautta aikojen? Thru times?

When you compare the cakes you have eaten at your own leaving parties - Can you rank them in any kind of order? Does the taste depend on 1) time spent at the office 2) people you are sharing it with 3) country you are eating it in 4) future plans you may have 5) your mood that particular day 6) possibility of you going back to the same office one day 7) the amount of wine or type of wine/coffee/tea consumed with 'kakku' 7) type (& nicety level) work you did during your stay 8) friends you made 9) salary you had 10) or is it always as good as the previous time you were heading towards new chalenges in your life?

Who knows, but my Friday kakku was good :)

Kiitos!

Terveydeksi

Apua! Tarvitsen lisää nenäliinoja...

This week Charlie developed an irritating cold, which sat in his sinuses turning his nose on and off like a tap: "It was kind of like the ectoplasm equivalent of diarrhoea."

I know the feeling... just add window rattling sneezes to complete the scene. 

I also know that getting cold doesn't give you a cold (possibly hyperthermia, but not a cold 'cos it's a virus), but maybe standing outside with 29,000 other people all Saturday watching lunatics with planks on their feet jump off a 140m high ramp at Salpausselän Kisat in Lähti wasn't that helpful.

White fluffy stuff

Snowy Logs: From Lapland - Winter 08/09

I'm looking out of our window now, watching the post lady in her yellow uniform trying to pedal her yellow bike across the icy yard in the falling snow. There has been snow on the ground for the whole of February, as well as at least half of January, and we still have more than 10cm in uncleared areas - a proper Finnish winter in other words.  It is funny how quickly I have become used to it really, so it is strange seeing pictures from Britain of swathes of crocuses and other early spring flowers.  However according to YLE it has still been warmer this winter than average, and December was very dreary and dark - which gives me an idea of how depressing it is when there is not much snow in the winter.  Maybe I should go out and enjoy it while it lasts.  

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By the way, I hope you are liking the new look blog title headers.  The idea is to change it each month using a seasonal picture from our collection.