Logistics Profiles
Eye, Hand & Thought – The Art of Logistics
Hailed as the “poet of wood and glass,” Tapio Wirkkala (1915-1985) rose to international acclaim in the 50s, securing Finland’s place in the world of art and design. Half a century later, Helsinki has the proud title of one of “Europe’s Cities of Culture” for the year 2000, and Finland’s leading post-war designer is being commemorated for his life’s achievements.
Curated by the Museum of Art & Design in Helsinki and the Finnish Glass Museum in Riihimaki, Eye, Hand & Thought is the largest retrospective of Wirkkala’s work to date. The exhibit showcases more than 600 objects in a multitude of materials, from sculpture and glassware to silverware and vodka bottles, highlighting Wirkkala’s remarkable diversity as an artist.
The exhibition was unveiled to the public at the Museum of Art & Design on August 25, 2000 and will continue to tour internationally for three years. Schenker Finland was elected as the exclusive provider of customs, freight forwarding and material handling services, partly due to the long-standing reputation of Heikki Mattola, manager of Fairs & Exhibitions.
“I have been working with Mr. Mattola for a long time,” says Marianne Aav, Senior Curator at the Design Museum. “It’s the way things usually happen, with a long-term perspective, because you know you can count on them.”
Schenker had to prove its reliability to deliver within strict time constraints during the exhibit’s second stop at the Museum of Applied Arts in Tallinn, Estonia. “The exhibition ended in Tallinn just two days before the ocean vessel was leaving from Helsinki to Canada,” says Mattola. “We had so little transit time before the vessel’s departure, via Bremerhaven, but everything went well.”
North American debut – Toronto, Canada
Eye, Hand & Thought marked its North American debut at the Design Exchange (DX) in Toronto on June 11, 2001. Marita Maranto, Cultural Attaché at the Finnish Embassy in Ottawa, collaborated with DX to bring the exhibit to Canada.
“This is the first time a retrospective of this magnitude has come to North America,” says Maranto. “Toronto is the first stop, so I feel very blessed that I have succeeded with my work.”
The Design Museum in Helsinki opted to employ Schenker’s ocean freight service to transport the artworks overseas. “It’s always a big risk, because most of the pieces are one-of-a-kind,” explains Aav. “We debated whether to use air or ocean freight carriers, and we decided it was better to use one container from Helsinki to Toronto.”
The ocean vessel arrived at the Port of Halifax, and was consequently shipped to Toronto via rail. Temporary importation clearance was provided at Schenker of Canada’s bonded warehouse in Mississauga.
Elise Hudson, director of Public Programs at DX, coordinated the movement of freight with Schenker, on behalf of the exhibit designer. Each crate was individually numbered and delivered to DX, accordingly. “There were 80 crates of varying dimensions and weights, the heaviest weighing up to 600 kg,” says Hudson. ”The cargo was unloaded at the Schenker warehouse and shipped in truckloads to DX.”
It’s all a matter of logistics
The Design Exchange is located at the Bay Street TD Centre in Toronto, where approximately 12,000 employees occupy 32 floors of offices, shops and food courts, and three times as many people walk through its doors in a single day. One loading dock receives deliveries for the entire building, inevitably resulting in congestion delays.
“There are certain cut-off times when you’re not allowed to bring freight into the building, since it might impede the pedestrian flow,” explains Peter Elek, logistics manager, Fairs & Exhibitions for Schenker of Canada. “So, there’s a lot of freight coming in and dock space is limited.”
Schenker was obliged to employ three five-ton trucks to transport the freight into the underground parking facility. However, the initial delivery didn’t quite pass the clearance height of 12 feet. “The first truck was able to enter the loading dock, because the freight weighed it down,” says Hudson. “Once the freight was unloaded, the truck was too high to get out of the underground lot and they had to deflate its tires.”
Approximately 1,000 metres of underground passage separates the loading dock from the freight elevator, the length of a full city block. Each crate was individually removed by hand and placed on a dolly or pump truck — the lack of mechanical instruments making for an extremely labor intensive task.
The dimensions of the art crates, in relation to the corridors also called for strategic maneuvering - the largest crate standing tall at 20'L x 10'W x 2'H, and the hallway from the elevator to the exhibition floor, a mere 8'4" H x 6'6" W. “A lot of time was spent bringing each individual piece down the corridor,” says Elek. “That particular elevator services the entire building.”
An international success
Despite the logistical challenges, the exhibit was transported successfully and presented in a stunning visual display, courtesy of the Juhani Pallasmaa architectural firm.
“For the past ten days, we have watched in amazement as these fantastic pieces on paper and in glass, ceramics, wood and metal, have been unwrapped from the crates and assembled for this show,” says Lynda Friendly, president & CEO at DX. “We are so fortunate to have gathered so many of Mr. Wirkkala’s works under one roof, with such a beautiful presentation.”
Eye, Hand & Thought seeks to reflect Wirkkala’s sources of inspiration, from the initial sketches and prototypes through to production and the final object. “For Wirkkala, the form of an object was not just an aesthetic goal or intellectual perception, but the outcome of a dialogue between hand, eye and material,” says Juhani Pallasmaa, exhibition architect.
Even 16 years after his death, Tapio Wirkkala continues to captivate audiences, urging DX and the Helsinki Design Museum to extend its tour date until November 30, 2001. “Visitors have been very impressed with the quality of the exhibition and are amazed with the variety and breadth of Tapio Wirkkala’s work,” says Hudson.
Schenker of Canada will coordinate the return shipping and handling of the artworks with Schenker’s Finland division, whereupon the exhibit will travel to Gent, Belgium in the spring of 2002.