Puusta puuhun, English synopsis
From a Tree to Another
The trees in Minna Kantonen’s photographs blend in yet do not quite seem to fit within their urban environments. Unnatural nature that fails to fulfill its role as an opposite of culture. Are these trees homeless, or do they create places for themselves as they define open in-between spaces with their presence? Like weeds they fill the gaps that haunt the order, and give us a glimpse of another reality or an alternative way to dwell in a city. They live their own time in the streets, frail and mortal next to the buildings, timeless compared to the constant movement. As silent wittnesses they measure the temporal rhythms of both the individuals and the society. What is the time and space of trees, in relation to us?
Taru Elfving
From a Tree to Another
The trees in Minna Kantonen’s photographs blend in yet do not quite seem to fit within their urban environments. Unnatural nature that fails to fulfill its role as an opposite of culture. Are these trees homeless, or do they create places for themselves as they define open in-between spaces with their presence? Like weeds they fill the gaps that haunt the order, and give us a glimpse of another reality or an alternative way to dwell in a city. They live their own time in the streets, frail and mortal next to the buildings, timeless compared to the constant movement. As silent wittnesses they measure the temporal rhythms of both the individuals and the society. What is the time and space of trees, in relation to us?
Taru Elfving