Palais de Blackfoot in Nokela’s Varikonpuisto park gets more time

Ari Björn’s Palais de Blackfoot is part of the City of Oulu collection, a collection of public art managed by Oulu Art Museum. The estimated lifespan of a work built from wood in situ is five years, but if it remains in good condition it can stay in its present place for longer.

Ari Björn started designing the work and collecting material in spring 2021 as part of the City of Oulu Cultural Services and the Ministry of Education and Culture’s pilot project. Completed in June 2023, construction of the work started in Nokela’s Varikonpuisto park in May 2022. The work was highlighted in a series of events in August 2022 and June 2023.

Originally, Palais de Blackfoot was only supposed to be exhibited until the end of summer 2023. However, according to Elina Vieru, the curator of the Art Museum, it would have been a pity if the work, which was executed to a high standard and fitted in naturally with its surroundings, had remained so short-lived. Ari Björn, who lives near the work in Nokela, was willing to donate it to the Oulu Art Museum so that the temporary installation could delight the residents of the area and other visitors to the park for years to come.

The form of Palais de Blackfoot evokes its residential setting but ultimately differs from its milieu – and so does the supposed inhabitant of the work. What the work and the inhabitant have in common is deviation from the ordinary and being on the edge. The work draws inspiration from the microhistory and nature of the Nokela area. Like a bird’s nest, the artwork is constructed from collected wood material of random shapes. Built on a stone base of debarked and partially painted wooden trunks of various thicknesses, Palais de Blackfoot also features meadow flowers and white clover plantings sown by the artist in the immediate vicinity of the structure.

Oulu-born Ari Björn (1973–) has been active as an artist since 2007. In his projects, he has often addressed public space from the perspective of marginalised groups and those who plan how the spaces are used. Ari Björn is a 2011 graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts with a master’s degree in fine arts, but also holds degrees in civil engineering and carpentry. His primary media are three-dimensional expression, photography, photographic techniques and conceptual art. The Art & Process collective, co-founded by Ari Björn with artist Heini Matveinen, produces projects and works that are often based on social issues and urban environments and highlight questions such as social justice and the right to use the public space. The collective wants to engage in a dialogue about the elements that make up our shared spaces and to foster the intrinsic value of visual art as a form of critical debate – also in the public space.