Competition: Public Art Agency Sweden, 2010: Proposal for a Public Commission at Campus

Helena Mutanen

Competition: Public Art Agency Sweden, 2010: Proposal for a public commission at Campus Valla sports stadium, Linköping. Third price (Not realized)

1. Sketch description: Well for Future Excavation. Size above ground: approx. 1000 x 200 mm. Material: Patinated bronze. Cylinder and container in stainless steel. Base stone in diabase.

A larger part of the coin slot piece will be situated beneath the surface of the ground. The idea is to have people deposit coins that will then be stored and preserved over time in an underground container. It can, considering the title, be seen as a wishing well, but there is also a notion that the underground coin collection symbolically replaces the archaeological findings that have already been excavated and removed from the site. The underground container will itself become an archaeological “finding” in the future and has the appearance of an ancient grave chamber. The leaning pipe hinders fishing out the coins, but also the depth of the placement plays an important role to this affect.

2. Sketch description: Coin Head. Size: 1400 x 1000 x 900 mm. Patinated bronze. Podium: Stone / light granite. Concrete podium with a granite covering. Size: 2000 x 1200 x 450 mm.

The work is inspired by the archaeological discoveries on location and by the coin collection in the curiosity cabinet and item collection at the Linköping Public Library. The surface of the large head are covered with contemporary coins of various values of different currencies and cast in bronze. It refers not only to the era of globalization we live in, but also to the students from various countries that come here to study at the University. The title Coin Head associates to the motif on the coin itself, the head in profile, but also touches upon how the site has been affected by the human activities there over time. Medals are awarded during athletic competitions at the sports stadium and the library nearby has an extensive coin collection. The coin is therefore a symbol or image that coincides well with the location.

------Helena Mutanen Gotlandsgatan 70 c 116 65 Stockholm Sweden