Tuhoon sopeutumisen instituutti
Institute for Coping with Destruction
(Heini Aho, Leena Kela, Eero Yli-Vakkuri)
In 2020 artists Heini Aho, Leena Kela and Eero Yli-Vakkuri formed the Institute for Coping with Destruction, which operates at the Archipelago Sea near the island of Örö. The Institute for Coping with Destruction exists as a physical site called Tuhon tila (Area of Destruction), which consists of 42 hectares of land formed by almost 300 islands, islets and underwater rocks the institute co-owns with many others.
Co-ownership gives them rights to camp, make fire and use the islets for making art, but not to insert any permanent buildings there. By physically working at the Area of Destruction they are devising methods for coping with the present environmental destruction of the Baltic Sea and beyond. Dansangrundet is one of islets, which the institute acquired in order to establish environmental degradation and destruction observation posts into the Baltic Sea.
tuho.org
Islet Borewell / Luodon porakaivo
2018
The video follows a process of drilling a borewell on the Dansangrundet islet, which is located east of Örö island in the Baltic Sea. The borewell was drilled to the small bedrock island and produces drinkable water from the surrounding brackish seawater, which seeps into the borewell through microscopic cracks in the bedrock and between sedimentary layers. The barren islet acts as a filter, removing salt and organic matter from the sea.
Current land use and real estate laws outside of town plan areas in Finland conceive land ownership on the ground surface, on the horizontal plane. The laws do not determine ownership in the direction of height, for areas located above and below the ground. The use of land or airspace on a vertical level confronts questions regarding ownership on vertical planes, but also about how we perceive our responsibility in relation to the environment.
The quality of the borewell water has been assessed by the staff members of the Institute for Coping with Destruction on 25th May 2023. The assessment of the quality of the water was done by tasting. As part of the drilling process, stone dust was brought to the surface from deep in the bedrock, which the Institute collected as a material for pottery. The audience is invited to take a cup and visit Dansangrundet to taste the borewell water.
Dansangrundet coordinates: Lat: 59° 48′ 10,015″ Lon: 22° 22′ 55,968″
Video was shot and edited in cooperation with photographer Jussi Virkkumaa.
6” MATSALEN / 6” RUOKALA / 6“ CANTEEN


Verket och dess genomförande har väckt debatt och kontroverser. Du kan läsa artiklarna och konstnärernas svar (på finska och svenska):
Teos ja sen toteuttaminen on herättänyt keskustelua ja ristiriitoja. Voit tutustua uutisartikkeleihin ja taiteilijoiden vastaukseen (suomeksi ja ruotsiksi):
The work and its implementation have sparked debate and controversy. You can read the news articles and the artists’ response (in Finnish and Swedish):
Hufvudstadsbladet: Ödrama på Rosala
Helsigin Sanomat: Taiteilijat porasivat kuvioita ja syvän reiän kallioon luodolla
Voima: Vieraskynä: Mitä tuhoutuu, kun taiteilijat tekevät luodolle kaivon?