Shadow of a Pine – Remix, Video 4k 19 min 15 sec.
Shown in the exhibition Artists’ Island on Harakka Island 10-28. September 2025.
 
In spring 2024 I returned to a pine tree growing on the western shore of Harakka Island – I had performed as the shadow of that tree weekly in the year of the dog 2006-2007 – and repeated for the camera what I remembered of my performance. Now I inserted the old video work Shadow of a Pine I-IV into this new material.
The old video work is part of the series Animal Years (2003-2014), performances for camera filmed for twelve years on Harakka Island and named after the Chinese calendar. The performances were repeated for a year about once a week in the same place, with the same framing of the image, with the video camera on a tripod.
Since 2023 one can get acquainted with one work from each year of the series on Harakka Island. On twelve filming locations there are aluminum signs with QR codes, which link to a video work online filmed on that site. Shadow of a Pine, however, is not part of that selection but can be viewed only here.
 

 
 

Now they work again, the QR codes linking to a selection of videos from Animal Years performed and recorded on Harakka Island 2002-2014. They are in the same places as before. Some of them are easy to spot, others are harder to find. Here are close-ups of the sites, in the order they were performed:
 

Year of the Horse 2002-2003

Year of the Goat 2003-2004

Year of the Monkey 2004-2005

Year of the Rooster 2005-2006

Year of the Dog 2006-2007

Year of the Pig 2007-2008

Year of the Rat 2008-2009

Year of the Ox 2009-2010

Year of the Tiger 2010-2011

Year of the Rabbit 2011-2012

Year of the Dragon 2012-2013 (East)

Year of the Dragon 2012-2013 (South)

Year of the Dragon 2012-2013 (West)

Year of the Dragon 2012-2013 (North)

Year of the Snake 2013-2014
 
 
 

In the year 2023, as part of the project Pondering with Pines, I conversed repeatedly in English with a pine tree in Kaivopuisto Park about my current concerns. A series of video works of the conversations Pondering with a Pine in the Park 1–22 is shown in the Telegraph Gallery on Harakka island from 20 August to 1 September 2024, Tue-Sun noon to 5 pm. For more information, see https://ponderingwithpines.com and https://harakka.fi/annette-arlander-2/
 
 
 

I had the great honour of being chosen as one of the three alumni of the University of the Arts for the year 2023, to represent the Theatre Academy, where I first studied 1977-1981, finished my doctoral studies in 1999 (1998) and later worked as professor in performance art and theory and professor in artistic research. For the announcement of the three Uniarts alumni of the year, see news here
For the Uniarts alumna interview with me, “I wanted a big stage and a small audience”, see here
The recording of the whole event, including the alumni conversation (starting at 1 h 53 min and ending at 2 h 18 min) is available here
The photos by Minna Hatinen were taken next to my pine collaborator in Kaivopuisto Park:

Pondering with Pines – video works in the Telegraph Gallery on Harakka Island 6.-18.June 2023. Open Tue-Sun 12 (noon) to 5 pm.
Welcome to the opening on Monday 5 June at 6 pm.
 

 

 
Information about the project:
https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1323410/1589526
 
Other exhibitions on the island:

For the events celebrating Helsinki day on 12 June I chose a few examples of the videos depicting the yearly cycle of the landscape on Harakka Island that I recorded during the years 2002-2014, as a pilot version of sorts of the whole series of Animal Years. Two videos recorded in the year of the ox (2009-2010), one in the year of the hare (2011-2012) and four in the year of the dragon (2012-2013) can be viewed via QR codes placed in the landscape from these webpages of mine. Here below images of the sites.