Two men wearing black suits and ties are hiking in the middle of Finland’s best-known national landscape. They are Harri Piispanen and Aleksi Jaakkola, the National Romantics. Under the name National Romantics, the two artists carry out, according to their own definition, performative explorations. They are carried out with the dignity the landscape deserves, without forgetting humor. The method used during these artistic explorations is several days of hiking in the forest wearing suits.
A landscape is concrete. A national landscape, on the other hand, exists in people’s minds. How can something immaterial be turned into a tangible form? What does it feel, smell or taste like? Can it be turned into a product? Can it be laughed at? And above all, who does it actually belong to?
The National Romantics have visited Koli. During the exploration, a new description of the iconic national treasure was developed: The Essence of Koli. It is a concentrate of the national landscape, an extract, a miracle tincture and a luxurious elixir.
Essence of Koli - National landscape in liquid form, 23 cm x 12 cm mouth-blown glass, extract (tincture), sealing wax,
2017
