Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen - The Most Valuable Clock in the World

Tour
Science advisors
Art and science
Artist’s bio

Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen have worked together for 25 years, creating temporary communities through artworks that take forms ranging from public-space interventions and reality games to participatory cinema and interactive media. For their internationally acclaimed Complaints Choir concept, they invite regular people to form a choir with the help of a local musician and sing their complaints together. Their work fosters creativity and playfulness while posing essential questions about how different people and species can live together.

The duo have built a clock that displays and preserves moments considered valuable by the people of Oulu, Finland, during 2025. The value of the clock comes from personally meaningful moments which were donated through an open call:

• The minute hand is composed of 60 everyday moments contributed to the clock by residents of Oulu.
• The second hand is composed of fleeting moments captured by 106 locals.
• The hour hand, formed from twelve one-hour videos, depicts species, habitats, and natural phenomena in the Oulu region whose continued existence in their current form is under threat. The hour hand is made in collaboration with researchers and other nature experts from Oulu and Rovaniemi.

The final artwork created with locals is a large wind-up mechanical-electronic clock, in which wooden clock gears control six screens that showcase the recorded moments in cycles of hours, minutes, and seconds. The physical clock has been built together with a dedicated group of eight local participants at Orava’s old school building in Kello.

“It has been wonderful to see how many people have wanted to take part – by building the clock or by donating one of their own valuable moments to it. It will become a time capsule for future generations, capturing what life in Oulu looked like in 2025 and what people valued,” says artist Tellervo Kalleinen.

As part of Climate Clock, the artists played a key role in introducing the concept and engaging local communities before the six permanent commissions across Oulu were realised. It is the only Climate Clock artwork that stretches across the whole region. The project involved consultation with local people through facilitated dinners, which informed the subsequent participatory creation of the electro-mechanical marvel.

Tour

Opened in May 2026 Orava School in Haukipudas.

2 June 2026 Yli-Ii (Kierikki)
23 June 2026 Oulu (Cultural Centre Valve)
27 July 2026 Ylikiiminki (community house)
1 October 2026 Kiiminki (Syketalo)
1 November 2026 Oulunsalo (library)
10 December 2026 Tornio (Aine Art Museum)
18 June 2027 Hämeenlinna (Art Museum)

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who signed up for The Most Valuable Clock in the World!

Science advisors

Pertti Ala-Aho, The University of Oulu
Alun Hubbard, The University of Oulu
Essi Keskinen, Metsähallitus
Niina Kiljunen, The University of Oulu
Marko Mutanen, The University of Oulu
Markku Orell, The University of Oulu
Veli-Matti Pakanen, The University of Oulu
Sirpa Rasmus, Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland
Veronika Rohr-Bender, Max Planck Institute in Seewiesen, Germany
Annu Ruotsalainen, The University of Oulu
Sari Stark, Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland
Anne Tolvanen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Other nature experts:

Ecological surveyor Lassi Kalleinen, nature photographer and nature pedagog Markus Hanhela (Luontolive), Conservation Specialist Ulla Matturi (Metsähallitus) Juha Parkkinen (chairman Kiiminki Reindeer Herding Cooperative).

Art and science

The artists met a bird scientist who explained that one of Oulu’s nesting birds would become extinct with the flooding of their nests.

This artwork was developed in close collaboration with scientists from the Arctic Centre and the University of Oulu. From the outset, it became clear that selecting which species, ecosystems, and natural phenomena to include from the Oulu region to include was an impossible task: the possibilities were endless. Rather than forcing a definitive choice, the artists allowed the process itself to guide us. Our focus gradually settled on those aspects of nature most vulnerable to climate change and other human pressure, reflecting the way we often recognise value only when something is threatened with loss.

The project was shaped through extensive conversations with researchers, building on insights gathered from local residents through the Dinner for 12 discussions. Together, these exchanges revealed the extraordinary richness of Oulu’s environment, from ice and snow to coastal meadows, unique brackish-water ecosystems, and reindeer husbandry. What began as research evolved into an ongoing dialogue and even friendships were formed.

Artist’s bio

The artists have worked as an artist duo since 2002. Exhibitions include Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), P.S.1 and The Kitchen (New York), Shedhalle (Zürich), Kunsthalle Fridericianum (Kassel), Kiasma (Helsinki), KUMU Art Museum (Tallinn), S.M.A.K. (Ghent), Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum and Ars Electronica Center (Linz). The ‘Complaints Choirs’ has spread to 200 cities worldwide as an open-source project. They created a reality game for a new parkin Rauma, Finland 2018/20 and Conversation Park – A Public Space Game, publication (Lönnström Art Museum, 2022). Awards include the 2012 AVEK media art award and Ars Fennica in 2014. They are the authors of A Public Space Game (Lönnström art museum. 2022).