LXD

Timo Vaittinen’s (b. 1976) work LXD rises up from the waste land between Sakarinmäki School and Knutersintie road. Resembling a tower or totem pole, the sculpture is made of about a thousand painted sheets of aluminium. Each sheet has its own individual shape. The colours of the work come alive when light is reflected from the metallic prime coat through layers of coloured varnish.

“I wanted the sculpture I designed for Sakarinmäki to embody the kind of collective meanings that totem poles possess. I wanted it to serve as a totem pole for the students and staff of the school and for residents in the area, a kind of emblematic symbol in the public space,” the artist says.

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.