Hämeenlinna landmark sparks debate over its €300,000 price tag

A new kinetic artwork near Hämeenlinna railway station is dividing residents over its size and €300,000 cost, Yle reports. Called Päivän peili, or “Day’s Mirror,” the sculpture is still being installed at Mensa Square.

The work, designed by visual artist Johanna Rope, has a seven-metre-wide white steel ring weighing about 1,500 kilograms, mounted on eight-metre-high black steel pillars. A motor will turn the ring and lights will illuminate it once electricity is connected. Planting around the sculpture is also yet to be completed.

Some passers-by told Yle they thought the work was too large. Heikki Tuominen, who lives beside the square, said it makes people stop and think, and praised the quality of its construction.

The price has prompted extensive discussion on social media. Rope said the cost was typical, or possibly low, for a public artwork of this scale and technical complexity. Hämeenlinna Art Museum director Jenny Valli said the work was expected to remain in place for about a century, contrasting that with marketing projects that can cost tens of thousands of euros but are short-lived.

The funding comes from fees specified in land transfer and land-use agreements for the development area. Eight euros is allocated to art for every square metre of floor space built in Asemanranta. Valli said investment in the quality of the built environment could also help make the station district feel safer.

Rope said the slowly moving ring is intended to offer a counterpoint to digital noise and draw attention to how people experience time. It will not rotate steadily, but will pause and start again at its own pace. The artwork is scheduled to begin operating on October 23.

The design also anticipates the end of the mechanism’s working life, expected decades from now. Rather than forcing repairs, the ring will be locked in place and trees and climbing plants around the pillars will be allowed to grow over the steel.