We carved a message onto
bedrock. It is addressed to the civilization
which will discover the Onkalo - Nuclear Waste
Repository being build at: 61°14′13″N
21°26′27″E (Finland). The radioactive
fuel rods placed in Onkalo will remain hazardous
for more than 100,000 years and as such Onkalo
is the most epic building sites in history. From
2011 to 2017 international audiences had the
opportunity to propose texts for us to carve.
After consideration we chose to send the message
using an existing graffiti as a template.
The author of the PIMPELIPOM text is unknown and
we hope that the civilization which discovers
Onkalo will find comfort in the messages
absurdity. PIMPELIPOM does not mean anything but
in this context it could be translated as "shit
happens and we cant change shit because we are
the shit". The graffiti was originally painted
using spay paint and we used rock carving
chisels to rewrite the text on site. The result
is the worlds first permagraffiti. Project was
completed 2017 (It was originally set to be
ready 2015). Special thanks to
Timo Bredenberg
for supporting the project early on!
To make
things a bit safer we manufactured the
Early Warning
System Project (EWS) in the spring of
2012. EWS's devices are a series of handmade
navigational instruments. The instrument was
embedded to bedrock etc. each facing to the
Onkalo site.
EWS1#
The first Early Warning System
(EWS1#) was forged out of CRES (stainless
steel). It was installed in a public location in
Helsinki, Finland the summer of 2012. Finnish
contemporary artist and musician
Lauri
Wuolio was contracted
to select and/or craft items for a time-capsule
which was placed behind the EWS1# and embedded
inside a boulder next to the seashore. The
device faces towards the Onkalo site. Some
details on the "EWS1# / Time-Capsule" content
entitled
"Kharon’s Obol"
(2012) by Lauri Wuolio are found on the
artists website and related
assignment
documents are found here (.pdf).
The location of EWS1# is not announced. You may
gain access to the site upon sending an SMS
request to 00-358-50-5729743 (Ore.e Ref.). Once
a message requesting instructions is received
accurate gps coordinates will be provided in
.gpx, .kml, .lmx, .loc, .asc, and/or .cvs
formats. These instructions will guide you to
the site within 10m accuracy. The location has
been announced on popular geocaching sites – But
entitled differently.
The EWS1# is located 221km from
the Onkalo site. The device and content of the
time-capsule are estimated to last intact on
location until 2500-3000 CE (If nothing drastic
happens the instrument may remain on site until
the next ice-age). On site EWS1# may be used by
people with skills in navigation and access to
maps (and knowledge on contemporary the metric-
and numeral systems) or skills in observational
astronomy (and cryptography); to find the
"Onkalo" - Nuclear Waste Repository site. After
the instrument is damaged the time-capsule and
it's content(s) will become accessible for
audiences.
Changelog:
300617 Added PIMPELIPOM and closed the project.
Heard from Emmi M. that Tatu's father had
spotted the EWS1# in the wild. He had taken a
picture of it and uses it as his FB backround
image, without knowing that it was made by us!
The PIMPELIPOM carving was made as a part of the
International Workers' Day celebrations 2017.
The sites location is secred (it's far from
Onkalo) but if someone wants to visit the site
I'll take you there. The concept of
is motivating. Wayback Machine has Wuolios
entrys intact:
original post &
media.
100912 Added images and "the message" form so
that we'll get some data! Cleaned texts. Site
online.
150812 History: The Message project started on
Facebook where
a
"page" (68 fans) was made 100710. The page
was marketed for various
environmental/anti-nuclear organizations but the
project was not noticed. The Facebook site has
"admins" and it's currently not clear how the
project will continue in Facebook. Contact to
Finnish Greenpeace was established but the
entire project was drafty and no collaboration
ideas where pushed in motion at that time. There
is now some spam on the page which seems to suit
the project in a ironic way. The Message –
Facebook page will be maintained even as the
projects focus is now guided to Ore.e Ref.
project site.