Kadri Toom

Installation_Ode to the Seagull

2006. aastal kolisin elama Eesti pealinna Tallinnasse. Uues keskonnas hakkas mõjutama mind väga intensiivselt üle linnahelide kostuv kajakate kisa. Lindude ilmumine vaatevälja sai positiivseks märgiks. Olin omastanud neile romantilise tähenduse. Alati, kui nägin nende kauneid valgeid kehasid, tähendas see minu jaoks head. Kui on kajakad, siis lootust on.

Hakkasin neid jälgima ning võtsin ette teekondi lindude järel minnes. Liiikusin nende tekitatud häälte poole. Seega lasin uues linnas oma trajektoori juhtida kajakatel.

Kohad, kuhu sattusin, lõikasid välja mind igapäevarutiinist ning liikumise valmisstruktuuridest. Kohtasin kesklinna tühjasid maju ja räämas hoove. Nende kohtade esteetika jutustas üksindusest linnas. Kajakad viisid mind külma betoonini ning näitasid kohti, kuhu ma ilma nendeta sattunud ei oleks.

Lindistasin lindude poolt tekitatud helisid, mis kajasid valjemalt kui linnaliiklus. Pildistasin maju ning talletasin mällu idealiseeritud lindude siluetid.

Sellest teekonnast sündis installatsioon nimega “Ood kajakale”. Näitus dokumenteeris mu teekonda ning kohanemist linnaruumiga, kus elan. Samuti peegeldas kesklinna anonüümsust ning üksildust.

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2006 I moved to Tallinn. In this new environment I became very intensively affected by the constant screaming of seagulls that at times muffled all other city sounds. For me the appearance of birds in my field of sight became a positive sign. I gave them meaning of romance. Every time I saw their stunning white bodies I got a good feeling. Whenever and wherever there are seagulls, there is hope.

I started observing them and often I took on long walks following the invisible trails of birds. I followed the sounds they made. Thus, in this new town, I let the seagulls to fix my trajectories.

Places I got to cut me off from my daily routine and fixed structures. I encountered abandoned houses and shabby courtyards of the downtown. Aesthetics of these places told me about the seclusion in this town. Seagulls took me to the cold concrete, and revealed to me places I would have never gotten to.

I recorded sounds created by those birds that were louder than traffic. I took photos of the houses and stored the silhouettes of these idealized birds in my memory.

My installation “Ode to the Seagull” occurred from this journey. The exhibition was the documentation of it, and expressed my acclimatization to the urban space I inhabited. Also, it reflected anonymity and seclusion of the downtown.