TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Right at the beginning of our time reckoning, in Dorset in England there was a Roman city called Durnovaria. As memory of this, there remain only a few marks in earth depressions, protuberances, and the directions they run in - straight lines. But nevertheless, they seem to be powerfully present, because they are so absolute. And then, when we walk along the route of an old aqueduct, over the ground on which it was once built, it feels as though we were walking step by step into something important. Time begins to take on a life its own.
Hannu Siren´s works contain something of the same, something architectonic, sure, and yet undefined with regard to time, something of its powerful presence. We can mirror ourselves in his works. Their size often challenges us to that dialogue, while their good-humouredness baffles us. Siren is one of those rare Finnish artists who have a supreme grasp of the shape and of its various historical, practical and metaphorical properties. He also understands how the work is specifically located via its numerous makers in the mode of culture that is typical of our time.
Our environment has been created by a number of people. The method of production of the work thus matches that multiplicity. In this way, Siren is like a director, whose clear vision is reflected in the viewer's pleasure. In a feeling of an organised whole, via the kind of root point that Siren creates. A feeling of certainty amid chaos. And out of the certainty that is felt by both the viewer and the creators he meaning of the work arises.
Lauri Anttila
Extract from "Experiental Environment Kuopion Tienoo", Kuopio Art Museum 1995