Oliver Soomets unveils Terra nova sculpture in Jõgeva

Artist Oliver Soomets has unveiled Terra nova, a sculpture commissioned under Estonia’s so-called percentage art law, at the Rural Economy Knowledge Centre in Jõgeva, ERR reported.

The two-metre-wide circular work, made of fibreglass and reinforced concrete, was designed for the new building of the centre’s Jõgeva breeding centre. Soomets said the sculpture reflects the research conducted there.

“It is a kind of incubator where new knowledge is combined,” Soomets said. He compared the work to a Petri dish, where experiments began hundreds of years ago, and to “a kind of porthole or window opening onto a new world” of bacteria, moulds and fungi.

Soomets has completed more than 50 large public works over the past decade. Concrete is his preferred material, although he described it as difficult to work with.

“When you can grind and process metals, everything with concrete is very honest. The way it enters the mould is the way it comes out in one piece. That is why there are also so many surprises,” he said.

The art competition organised by State Real Estate and the Rural Economy Knowledge Centre attracted 58 proposals. Centre director Andre Veskioja said the jury chose the work because it best reflected the wide range of scientific subjects covered in the building.

“Honestly, I am much more satisfied with the finished work than with what the design seemed to promise. The lighting, the wall and the room suit this building very, very well,” Veskioja said.