Tähystäjä / The Watchman

The work of the composer Aarre Merikanto’s son has often been said to be influenced by music, especially in the composition which applies, for instance, the contrapunct.

Ukri Merikanto’s (1950-2010) unaffected and polished works are characterized by a pure and lucid Modernism. There is also a metaphysical dimension, however; they seem to bring an atmosphere of longing and anticipation into the surrounding space. There is a clear binary opposition between the two parts in `The Watchman’. The small pyramid and the stone slab beside it, readily interpreted as a stylized human figure, label each other. The watchman is fixed to the subject of his gaze, while the two basic figures, the organic, curving slab and the pure-formed pyramid are locked in a never-ending contest. The icon of the Egyptian ideology of the eternal and a curving human figure, a symbol of the ephemeral and temporal meet in the ring – the fight continues…

The work was completed in 1977 and it is made of stainless steel. The work belongs to the City of Helsinki’s art collection, which is managed and curated by HAM.