Private Project

Mochovce, Slovakia

A video/sound installation connected to the photography series The Most Beautiful Nuclear Plants in Europe.

(Loop. Turn up the sound!)

Lasse Lecklin: The Most Beautiful Nuclear Power Plants in Europe

This project examines power stations in the landscape from an aesthetic point of view. The main standpoint is the relationship between human and nature.  The contrast between the beautiful sceneries and the pompous absurdity of the power plant architecture rising from the landscape creates both visible tension and industrial romanticism within the photographs. 
            Due to the risks, the power plants are not built in direct contact with large centres of population but within a “compromise distance”. However, in densely populated Europe this means that the stations are located on inhabited and farmed rural areas, in scenic and idyllic places. For security measures there should not be permanent habitation in the close proximity of the plants, but often there may be a natural park or a nature reserve. For the people living in the vicinity, the plants have become invisible, for those visiting, however, the plant is absurdly visible – often a surprising or fascinating sight sticking out of the environment.
            The prevention of climate change forces us to search for new ways of producing energy with as little carbon dioxide emissions as possible. In Finland the third reactor of Olkiluoto nuclear power plant has been under construction for 11 years now and there are intentions of constructing a new station. Germany, for instance, has decided to end the use of nuclear power by the year 2022, and Spain and Italy have discontinued construction of several plants due to political and environmental controversy. As other countries seem to abandon the atomic era, Finland, France and Slovakia are currently the only European countries to construct more nuclear power.

More:
www.lasselecklin.com
www.instagram.com/themosbeautifulnpp

  • Lasse Lecklin
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 41 seconds
  • Country of Origin:
    Finland
  • Country of Filming:
    Slovakia
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Lasse Lecklin

Lasse Lecklin (b. 1982) is a Finnish photography and video artist from Helsinki.

Master of Arts in photography in 2015 from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Helsinki, Lecklin has previously also studied photojournalism at Tampere University, photography in Konstfack College of Arts and Crafts in Stockholm and in the School of Visual Arts in New York, and fine arts at the Beaux-Arts de Paris.

Lasse Lecklin’s first solo shows took place in 2012. His works have been displayed at several group exhibitions and festivals in Finland, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

His latest solo show Expedition took place at the Photographic Center Nykyaika in Tampere, Finland, in January 2016, and dealt the themes of human’s relation and effects on nature. The video and photographic works are a result of a collaboration with natural scientists especially on the arctic areas and they form a body of work crossing between arts and sciences. He is also a member of the collective SubZero - Thematic Network on Communicating Arctic Research.

Currently Lecklin is showing his new project entitled The Most Beautiful Nuclear Power Plants in Europe in a solo show at the MUU Gallery in Helsinki in October – November 2016. The project was also recently nominated as one of the eight finalist series – out of 3200 entries – in the ZEISS Photography Awards 2016, and was shown at the Sony World Photography Exhibition at Somerset House in London, in April – May 2016.

As a logical continuation to these projects, Lasse Lecklin has started to work on a new body of work, concentrating on mining and the use of natural resources, as well as energy production and consumption. New works of this body of work realized in Finland, Sweden and Iceland will be premiering in 2017-2018.

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Director Statement

Identity of a place, constructed environment and the connection of human being to the nature are in the core of Lasse Lecklin's interest. His mediums are photography and video, and he works often on the field between documentary and conceptual art. Seriality and precision are distinctive for his work.