Forgotten Home

Agata

The project Forgotten Home is a visual and audio journey through time through the history of an abandoned house located in Heposaarenniemi. The house had many owners from different backgrounds, but it has been completely abandoned for several years. Together with Aditya Radhakrishna, we decided to do some research and find out who this house used to be and show its history using projection mapping.

We used small Optima projector that was connected to a battery. We made scans of the house with iPad Pro that is equipped with a lidar. We imported scans to blender and based on them created a 3D model that was later UV unwrapped. We used the ZigSim app to get data about rotation of the phone and we sent it with OSC to Touchdesigner. With Touchdesigner and After Effects we’ve made animations and made their position dependent on the data that program got through OSC. In Touchdesigner we mapped created animations on the 3D model of the house and added a vignette effect to make the projection look like light from a flashlight.

One of the owners of the house was Hande Mertanen - sound technician who used to rent the house to musicians to record their albums and practice before gigs. Besides that he used to help teenagers from troubled homes and taught them his own profession. During summer time he used to share the house with children coming for summer camps where they were reading poems, singing and playing. After Mertanen was forced by the city of Helsinki to leave the house, a group of young squatters took over the place. They took over the house with the intention of creating an artistic community there, where workshops and various meetings could take place. Unfortunately, after some time, a fungus began to appear on the walls of the building. The teenagers tried to negotiate the price of renting the house in order to be able to pay for its renovation, electricity and water connection, but Helsinki quoted an exorbitant price that the young people could not afford. Since then, the house has been in ruins.

This work is a commemoration of the work and history of people who tried to create this place anew, who took the initiative for the common benefit of the people of Helsinki. It is also a kind of rebellion against the way the city of Helsinki manages the estates. According to the policy, it is better to sacrifice the building to waste than to give it to people who would make good use of it.

Aditya

For some time now, my work has revolved around exploring games, rides, and immersive experiences. Exploring how to use those mediums to make people move, learn, and have fun. More recently, I’ve had the itch to apply that approach to my process itself. Both my body and I are not thrilled after a day in front of a screen, dragging nodes and tweaking sliders, so I wanted to work on a project that involved movement, exploration, and education, but not just for the audience, for myself and my process as well.

Forgotten Home is an exploration of abandoned houses in Helsinki, through learning and telling the story of one abandoned house in Heposaarenniemi, made by myself and Agata Rudnicka. The project uses projection mapping and gyroscope data from a phone to overlay a virtually recreated house onto the real one. As the explorer moves the projector around the walls of the house, they experience visuals and audio that tell the stories of its previous inhabitants. Simultaneously, they explore the real rooms of the house, which tell their own stories from the house’s past.

The history of the house spans many decades, and the house was initially owned by a shipwright’s son. But more recently, it was owned by Hande Mertanen. He was a gig technician who used to organize courses for unemployed young people to train them as gig technicians. He also used to loan the house to musicians to practice and record music. One of those bands was Egotrip, who recorded an album in that house and even had a member whose bachelor party was hosted there. Eventually, the city of Helsinki made Mertanen give up the house, and it has since then been abandoned. The city of Helsinki is not what it once was; community and self-organized spaces are slowly being weeded out and replaced by malls and officially owned and operated spaces. The plans for Suvilahti, Lapinlahti, and the abandoned houses reflect that. A squatter group had even tried to negotiate with the city to make the house a community space again, but ultimately the city asked for a very high price. The most recent news we have heard about the house was that it was up for sale and being used for police and military training.

Forgotten Home was an exhilarating project to create, and I hope it provides an equally exciting and enriching experience for those who explore it. It serves as a significant piece in my ongoing exploration and refinement of my artistic practice. Moreover, it may contribute to the discourse surrounding the changes Helsinki is going through. It is crucial for us to be mindful of what we are willing to sacrifice in the relentless march of progress.