Liinu Grönlund

Red Herring Fieldnotes

I came to Hiiumaa in the middle of the night, on a ferry over the dark water. The air was cold and dreamlike, and a house stood on the edge of the sea. The next day it started to snow and it seemed like it would never stop snowing. I attuned to the slow rhythm and silence of the island. 

It was a strange feeling being on this island at this particular moment in time. Me recovering from a surgery, healing my scars, aching. The sea and its shores under a growing tension. I’m afraid to lose my balance and fall. On the other side of the bay, Finland had detained a cargo ship suspected of sabotaging an underwater cable. The military had increased its presence in the sea. In the MarineTraffic app, I could see how an Estonian border patrol vessel was constantly guarding another cable, making its route back and forth over it. 

The Baltic Sea was already so vulnerable before its NATO era. Suddenly every moment has got a new fragileness to it. I try to shake off the melancholy filling my head. I try to enjoy being present here, observing the crystal clear waters of the winter and the birds that sustain the cold. There are hardly any cars passing by. People live their private lives inside these silent houses. This island seems to be a perfect place for listening. 

From TalTech scientists, we learned how different kinds of industrial pollutants have invaded the Baltic Sea. The sea is amazingly resilient, even when declining. Looking closely at already declined and only half-there habitats, in a place that, for most people, seems to be on the edge of the map—I’m interested in exploring this further. 

Snow turns blue and everything is still. A muscle relaxant puts me to sleep. Life goes on in its flawed and damaged ways.

About the artist:

Liinu Grönlund is a Helsinki-based visual artist and filmmaker who mainly works with moving images. In her works, Grönlund often reflects on animals and nature. She collects observations and makes notes about the world, returning to these notes when creating new work. Some of her pieces take several years to develop. cargocollective.com/liinugronlund

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