Between the city and the deep sea: on the plastic nature of the Helsinki shoreline

Abstract

For over 20 years, the artist Tuula Närhinen has had the opportunity to observe the Baltic Sea at sea level from her studio located on Harakka Island in Helsinki. Having a studio on an island, which requires a short sea crossing every day, has provided her with an understanding of the intertwined nature of marine life and urban culture. On her way to the studio, the artist can touch the sea, which is one of the reasons her visual art practise is deeply rooted in fieldwork. Water is both the subject matter and the medium of her projects. Engaging and interacting with natural phenomena such as water or wind, enables her to unfurl the aesthetic and material agencies inherent in the forces of nature. Moreover, an intimate connection with the sea allows her to explore environmental threats, such as plastic pollution, from an artist’s perspective. In the following text, Närhinen focuses on a series of projects dealing with plastic waste washed up on shore, and ref lects on the complexity and controversial nature of marine plastic pollution.