Rantojen miehet/The Beachmen
When I was a kid in Espoo the fun part of living was adventuring through the then endless forests that seemed to start from your backyard and lead everywhere. Sometimes we’d come across these weird huts or shacks in the woods which of course would excite our curiosity.
The image of homeless drunks camped out somewhere out of sight from the more regular daily life in suburban Espoo quite easily takes mythical forms in the minds of children as they spread stories of their findings.
For this work I have taken this concept a step further and have tried to combine the image of the homeless living in the woods and shores around Otaniemi with the imagery commonly found in animistic pre Christian traditions.
I ones had a conversation with a man who identified himself as a “Rantojen mies” which is an old Finnish name for the hoboes and drunks that have opted out or have been forced out of society to live on the beaches and woods surrounding common peoples habitats. This concept of this dangerous and wild society of people reminds me of stories I’ve read about the spirits living in dark forests, which are to be watched out for and feared. An attitude that in my opinion, is not that far from the general atmosphere that surround present day discussion about the more disenfranchised part of Finnish population. As if in the borderlines of our minds and our civilization there starts this murky area where only the dangerous and unwanted are to dwell.
-Juha Hilpas