Kuvasto A Vision of the Future, The Birth of Vallila, Love Magnus Scharmanoff Stadin ammatti- ja aikuisopiston Sturenkadun toimipaikka, Nilsiänkatu 6 (ent. Vallilan tekniikan alan ammattioppilaitos), 00510 Helsinki Indoor Sculpture Three photographic works by Magnus Scharmanoff (b. 1964, Porvoo) are installed in the landings of the stairs in Helsinki Vocational College, Nilsiänkatu 6 facility. Entitled A Vision of the Future, The Birth of Vallila and Love, the photographs are mounted on aluminium and dimensioned 80 x 160 cm. The starting point of all works is the artist’s interest in the history of Vallila, the tradition of art history, and the human ability to imagine the future. The stories in the images interlock in layers, the three photographs building into a single narrative series. The situation in each picture is staged: Scharmanoff has used no digital effects, and the objects and people are either real or miniatures. In spite of such realist elements, the scenes in the photographs are entirely fictitious, their richly detailed reality artificial. According to the artist, the photographs are a tribute to the power of thought, the skill of construction, and love. Scharmanoff wants viewers to interpret the pictures any way they like and refuses to provide a definitive interpretation himself. He has nevertheless offered one possible interpretation of the motifs and events in the pictures. The old man in A Vision of the Future is a Renaissance philosopher who studies the laws of nature and builds visions of the future. The toy bear in a space suit is a reference to the conquest of space. Behind the philosopher are elements of classical architecture, a grapevine and the tools of a blacksmith. The subject of the second image is the construction of the Vallila district, with scaffolding rising out of the sea and recognisable buildings from the area. A piece of undeveloped bedrock remains intact at the left side of the picture. In Love the eye is drawn to the couple in the centre of the picture, with glitter raining on them in the night-time scene. The work points to the present and to the students of the college, whose important task, according to the artist, is not only to study but also to find meaning in life – including love. The work was produced under the Percent for Art programme, and it belongs to the collection of the City of Helsinki, managed by HAM Helsinki Art Museum. At map
