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IC-98 (Patrik Söderlund ja Visa Suonpää)

Family Trees: Betula pendula (1948–2016)

IC-98

Maunula-talo, Metsäpurontie 4, 00630 Helsinki

Indoor Sculpture

Created by artist duo IC-98 (Patrik Söderlund, b. 1974 and Visa Suonpää, b. 1968), Family Trees at Maunula House comprises two elements: a grove of apple trees in the park outside the building, Malus Domestica 2017–, and a series of prints hung inside the house, Betula pendula (19482016).

Referring to the Latin name of the silver birch and to the lifespan of two individual trees, Betula pendula (1948–2016) is a series of eight prints. Most of the materials of the work come from two birch trees in Maunulanpuisto park that were felled during park renovation. The frames, printing plates, ink and paper were all made from wood that was processed and worked on in various ways. Eight intersections were cut from one of the trees at regular intervals, from bottom to top, their growth rings clearly visible. These cut-outs were used as printing plates. The paper was made from the same tree by first processing it into chips, then into cellulose and finally into paper. The remaining material from the tree was burned to make charcoal, which was ground into pigment and mixed with a binder. The resulting ink was used to make the prints. The frames of are also made from the same birch trees. Although the tree is dead, its life continues in its original place in the form of images and concrete material. The prints are framed and hung on the wall of the library in a time scale in which the intersections of the tree are placed in order of size, indicating the growth of the tree over the years.

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.

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