Worldmaking with the Aesthetic Apparatus:

Tracing Vision back to the Embodied Observer

The 2024 main project entitled Lithological Studies is part of the Art of Heritage initiative, organized by the Baltic Art Center (BAC) in collaboration with the Gotland Museum and the Uppsala University Graduate School in Sustainability Studies (GRASS).

The study results in site-specific artistic interventions both at the Gotland museum and in the Visby church ruins.

The presentation of the outcomes is planned to take place during 19.10.2024–26.1.2025 in the form of an installation at the Historical Museum (Strandgatan 14, Visby) accompanied by guided visits to the Visby city church ruins.

Tuula Närhinen

Lithological Studies

The project studies the geological history and cultural traditions associated with the uses of limestone. Focusing on lithological matters and studies of the petrificata, Närhinen explores cycles of sedimentation and erosion. The work draws from the ongoing operation of littoral processes (the elemental forces of nature that constantly layer, expose and erode sediments of the beach banks) as well as from the human cultural techniques in their futile attempt to preserve memories in limestone – only to end up with weathered church ruins, partly erased inscriptions and fragmentary collections of fossils.

The inquiry is structured along three components:

1.  The Reef Atlas imagines the fossil flora of the ancient seabed using Gotland museum's limestone floor claddings as a starting point. In mapping the fossil imprints found in the floor slabs of the Historical museum's staircases, Närhinen will try to re-trace outlines of the 400 million years' old tropical coral reefs by means of ink drawings drafted on translucent sheets of vellum. The depictions marked with code letters will be displayed in the staircase, and the indexes will be printed on vinyl and placed directly on the floor to allow the audience to locate the correspondent fossil imprints on the floor slabs.

2.  Whispers from the Past pays tribute to rune writing through temporary graffities, which use natural ingredients such as twigs, pine needles or seawater as writing materials. Based on old inscriptions retrieved from Gotland museum's archives and collections, fragments of script will be recreated on abandoned blocs of limestone left in Visby church ruins.
These new rune inscriptions will be executed by a group of high school students from Wisbygymnasiet who in a workshop led by a rune expert will learn the basics and start working as “ghost writers”. In evoking proper names or magic words from generations past, the youngsters will revisit the ancient tradition and bring it back to life.

3.  A RC exposition Gotlands Lithological Society offers a platform for the artistic portrayal of Gotland's natural history and culture. This rich media exposition is available online at the Research Catalogue (RC) for artistic research. The online archive is created to disseminate the project, to document the working process and to store its outcomes.

2024 Programme, schedule and events

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