Permanent installation in Strandnäs junior School, 2004
Andersson was commissioned by the City of Mariehamn in Aland, a small island outside Finland, to make an art work for the Strandnäs junior level school.
Aland was earlier famous for its big fleets of sailing ships. Andersson got inspired by the big ships, one of which is a museum ship, lying in the harbor of Mariehamn. He wanted to create a work of art which at the same time would be a usable object, a place where the pupils could rest and let their imagination loose. The result was a life boat for the free thinkers!
The life boat is made of fiberglass with benches and a table of plywood inside. The mast is equipped with a heart shaped sail ,hand sewn by Bertil Karlsson using a template made by Andersson. The 4,5 m long mast has a blue lantern on the top, made by glass artist from Andersson’s sketches. The work was planned along with the school building which made it possible for Andersson to design a blue sea under the Life boat, which was cut of blue linoleum and inserted in the ochre colored basic floor linoleum.
This work is the latest in Andersson’s series of permanent installations made for schools, where the art is incorporated in the architecture and in the school’s educational plan. Other examples are Pomona 2002, The Island where the Rainbow Lives 1997, The Kingdom of the Stubbles, 1994.
