The Railroad
A Symbol of Breaking Barriers and Altered Landscapes
The railroad, a symbol of industrialization and the breaking of distance barriers, has long fascinated society. It represents a significant shift in how we perceive time and space, compressing distances and altering landscapes. This fascination is evident in the works of Sara Pajunen, an audiovisual artist whose projects explore the intersection of history, identity, and environment.
The Mesabi Iron Range and the Railroad
Pajunen's long-term project, "Mine Songs," uses violin, environmental sound, image, and archival material to reframe the altered landscape of Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, her childhood and ancestral home. This landscape was shaped by the iron ore mining industry, which dictated the region's development and brought her European immigrant family to Northern Minnesota.
The railroad was instrumental in this transformation, transporting iron ore and people across vast distances. It was a symbol of progress, but it also represented a shift in the relationship between humans and their environment. The mining industry, driven by non-renewable profit extraction, forever altered land that had been the same for millennia, disrupting the symbiotic relationship Native Americans had with the environment.
The Railroad and Time-Space Compression
Pajunen's work deeply embodies the concept of time-space compression, using digital media as a modern reflection of the transformative influence of the railroad. The railroad's advent dramatically reshaped our understanding of time and space, reducing lengthy journeys to mere hours and marking a significant societal and cultural shift.
Pajunen mirrors this phenomenon in her art through her use of digital media. Her projects encapsulate the instant connectivity of the digital age, where we can reach people and places worldwide in an instant. Just as the railroad made distant locations accessible, digital technology collapses diverse social geographies into a single, navigable platform.
However, Pajunen's work transcends the use of digital media as a tool. The digital medium itself becomes the message, symbolizing the instantaneous travel that the railroad represented in the 20th century. Her art explores the digital landscape as a medium that not only enables traversal of geographical and temporal boundaries but also signifies these acts of traversal and compression.
In essence, Pajunen's work witnesses and comments on our evolving relationship with time and space, from the railroad era to the digital age. Her use of digital media is not just a means to communicate but a potent message about technology's transformative potential, echoing the societal revolution sparked by the railroad in the previous century.
Sara Pajunen's Exhibition at Joseph Nease Gallery
Pajunen's work is currently featured in a solo exhibition at the Joseph Nease Gallery. The exhibition showcases her audiovisual work, sound art, and photographs from her projects “Mine Songs: Sounding an Altered Landscape” and “The Places We Know.” These projects use field recording, violin, aerial image, and archival material to focus on themes of long-rhythm and broken connections with the environment, dominant cultural narratives, and listening as presence.
The exhibition provides a unique lens through which to reflect on the stories we tell ourselves about history, power, identity, and agency. It invites viewers to consider the complex relationship between humans and their environment, and the profound impact of industrialization and technology on our perception of time and space.