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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Video: Tapio Wirkkala

Quite by accident, I ran across a beautiful video of Tapio Wirkkala at work and at his leisure. Although it's not in English, I hung on every image. Being able to look at his joyful face and his skilled hands in a way I never had before made it a memorable video. If you're as devoted a fan of Wirkkala as I am, you will certainly enjoy it too.



vimeo.com - Ullla Lundgren

7 comments:

  1. Oh, what a treat, Dana! It's a beautiful video! Unfortunately, I don't understand finnish either, but I loved watching it. What a guy! I was totally amazed by seeing his hands and face while be was creating the beautiful axe and the birds and seeing him draw his inspiration from nature. Thank you so much for sharing this!

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    1. I agree that his facial expressions and the close-ups of his hands as he worked transcended language. Also the seeing the natural surroundings was a treat. I hope people will at least try to watch this, even if they don't understand Finnish. I think it's worth a view.

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    2. Definitely!!! Thanks again, Dana!

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    3. Great video. Being a Finnish speaker I can tell you that at about 3:30 Wirkkala is talking about seeing with one's fingertips, similar to this quote at http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=1394 :
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      "In 1953 an English critic wrote: "There is, in the Finnish grasp of applied art, a constant evasion from the machine-made precision of outline and volume, and a return to the presence of the maker in the life of the object, with all the fancies and the unforeseen vibration of his creative fingers." These words are a good description of Wirkkala, who as a modernist designer seemed to have the subconsciousness of a craftsman. In Wirkkala's own words: "Working with my hands means a lot to me. I would say that it has an almost therapeutic effect when I am sculpting or shaping natural materials... It sort of transports me into another world - a world where the eyes in my fingertips follow the movement and modification of the shape even when the eyes in my head let me down.""

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    4. Thank you, Esa, for that information. That's such a beautiful concept, and I loved reading it in Wirkkala's own words. Thanks, too, for the link to that wonderful site. I intend to read many of the biographies.

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  2. Totally cool- a rare gem! Thanks so much for posting it!!

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    1. The video didn't get many comments, but I had an unusual number of page hits the day I posted it, so I hope that means people were looking at this beautiful video, even if they weren't commenting on it. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

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