Tidskojan

Commissioned by: Örebro Municipality, Lillån Preschool

Tidskojan ("The Time Hut") is the name of an artwork made up of several parts, of which the sculpture in the image is one. You are welcome to step aboard and play. The platform is a raft that stands on land but floats on water in the event of floods. A promise to offer dry ground even if climate change melts the ice.

Themes such as the future, memory, sustainable energy, self-sufficiency, the environment and the climate question are starting points for the project and have been a thread running through the production.

It is an interactive sculpture, meaning it is open for anyone to use in different ways: you can play in it, sit in it and watch the sunset or the stars. Take shelter from cold, rain and wind and reflect on our role in the world. Withdraw to be alone. A sheltered place that is not about sport and competition but about calm contemplation and the gathering of knowledge. Perhaps we can become accomplished planet-keepers if we learn how? The raft's base has twelve sides, referring to the clock and our time on earth.

It is also a kind of cultural escape pod — a small sculpture in indestructible metal that can float and withstand frost, radioactivity, fire and break-in attempts. Inside the dome are several kinds of locked safe-deposit boxes full of information and small objects. Some of the boxes can be filled by the children themselves, for example with drawings, small mementos and messages to their future selves. Together with artists and researchers from different fields, content is created for other boxes — drawings, artworks, cultural memories, DIY information, seed capsules and survival equipment for a coming generation. In the event of societal collapse, cultural life, certain technical knowledge and methods of self-sufficiency from today could partly be revived with the help of this artifact. The children can place objects relating to their thoughts about the future. An opening ceremony will take place in 2045, when the children are 30 years old. A number of keys are produced and given to the preschool staff.