Public art work, commissioned by Oulu Art Museum
The Weather Cabinet is commissioned public artwork that will be for two years travelling in northern Finland from one daycare to another. Most of the works in the cabinet have been painted by inks that I made of natural materials – berries, herbs, leaves, mushrooms, barks, clay – foraged on her wanderings in forests, meadows, seashores, any environment really and have been inspired by small or big daily stories of encountering weather.
The Weather cabinet also includes booklet – a guide to Weather Cabinet that provides ideas and tools for exploring both the cabinet and the weather.
The Weather Cabinet
Weather is everywhere where you are, changing every minute, every day, all around the Earth since… forever. Weather is also more than just rain, wind, clouds, rainbows, sunshine or lightning. It affects our mood, what we do, what we wear, where we go, and what we eat.
And we talk about the weather a lot.
Weather is hidden in the smell of decaying autumn leaves and in the touch of sun’s rays on your skin. It flows in freezing air filling your lungs and takes your breath away when you look at a fiery sunset. Weather is as exciting as jumping into a cold lake, as sweet and sour as an apple eaten under the tree, as nostalgic as reading a book by candlelight during cold and dark winter evenings…
Before people invented all kinds of meteorological instruments to help them measure and predict the weather, they had to rely on observations and memories and on storytelling to pass the knowledge from one to another.
With Weather Cabinet I wish to encourage curiosity and wonder for the smallest everyday things that might sometimes be overlooked.
(…)
Credits
Weather Cabinet / Säätämö-minitaidekaappi
Artwork & text: Michaela Casková
Booklet design: Michaela Casková
Curating the commission and text editing: regional art museum researcher Selina Väliheikki, Selina.valiheikki@ouka.fi
Carpentry: museum technicians Mika Siekkinen and Mirva Ahmakallio
Materials consulting and conservation: conservator Aino Sainio
Translations and proofreading:
Antti Autio
Commissioned by Oulu Museum of Art 2021-2022
