Free as a Bird, Open as the Sky

Mika Heinonen

1999

Scrap iron

This bird-themed environmental work by artist Mika Heinonen was erected at the new waste treatment centre in Kujala in 2000.

Entitled Free as a Bird, Open as the Sky, the sculpture is made from wrought scrap iron and consists of four rust-red oar-shaped sections rising from the ground. The oar blades have cut-outs shaped like birds in them. The corresponding iron bird silhouettes are joined to the cut-out birds wingtip to wingtip. Detaching themselves from the heavy material, the birds flying with their wings open embody the theme of freedom expressed in the title, while the sky visible through the openings evokes even stronger life-affirming perceptions in the viewer. By virtue of its material and subject matter, the work is a clever symbol of the concept of the waste processing facility as a promoter of ecological thinking and environmental accountability.

A metal sculpture placed by the side of the street with four oar-like parts rising from the ground. There are holes cut into their blades that form the silhouettes of birds. The actual iron bird figures cut from the pallets are attached to the wingtips of the silhouette birds.

A detail of the metal sculpture with two oar-like parts rising from the ground. There are holes cut into their blades that form the silhouettes of birds. The actual iron bird figures cut from the pallets are attached to the wingtips of the silhouette birds.

Near the PILLERI sorting station. – Sapelikatu 7, Lahti.
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