Erris: “I simply wanted to experience the energy and really get a feel of the country. It is not much bigger than The Netherlands, so driving around was great. There’s an amazing mixture of Scandinavian and (ex) soviet culture and infrastructure. Old industrial surroundings combined with a fresh and vibrant energy. While traveling, we have always been fascinated by structures we see next to the road. Everywhere you see these typical pylons, and industrial structures. Besides that, driving out of the city, the painterly autumn colors we witnessed on the road were breathtaking.”

Gysbert: “I thought that Estonia would be more Russian or Soviet influenced than it actually is. I thought the old wooden houses similar to Scandinavian houses were a nice surprise for instance in Tartu. The Eastern Europe meets Scandinavia mix is a great combination. It was quite hard to create an artwork for the print because we had so many impressions and ideas. It gives a strange feeling to travel and become inspired, knowing something has to turn out of it. Something that captures it all. The artwork we created is generated from the electricity pylons, when driving past you see them dynamically changing lines, some of them had a perfect rhombus or lozenge shape almost cut out entirely. We tried to capture the feeling of rusty and weathered steel structures that we've seen along the road by printing on brown paper. Then there is a hidden rusty brown layer behind the black that is almost not visible, but it is there.”

Travel diary

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Today we travelled from Amsterdam to Tallinn. Drove our rental car to Telliskivi road, to eat something and buy some paint. We were struck by the industrial vibe, combined with fresh energy. It feels like a subtle combination between Scandinavia and eastern Europe. Perfect. We will go back to Tallinn in a few days. Great first impression. From Tallinn we drove to our destination for today, Tartu. This is the second largest city in Estonia. This was a great trip, right through the landscape of Estonia. We were both very impressed by the sunlight playing with the autumn colors all around us. Beautiful day to take this trip. We took an off road de-tour and immediately bumped into abandoned sites… Promising. From tomorrow we will investigate more. Spending the night in Tartu, after some food and drinks at amazing places, recommended by friendly locals. Excited for tomorrow.

Erris, Gysbert, GS

Friday, October 7, 2016

We started day 02, a seemingly grey weather day, with a porridge at Karlova kohv. After that we went to Bauhof to buy masking tape. Whilst driving we were on the lookout for abandoned sites to explore, take photos and find inspiration. We found a discarded agricultural barn, partly collapsed. We took photos, and left a subtle mark. After this, we drove to Võru. A small city without traffic lights. A very non-touristic place. We simply drove through. Impressive socialist housing block remnants, and one lake. After that we headed for our cabin in the woods, at Umbsaare. Turns out, Umbsaare was not even a village, more a wood industry sawing mill. It was hard to navigate to the cabin. We navigated to Umbsaare and followed the instructions provided for reaching the cabin. These instructions were not very clear. There for, on the way we encountered a lot of interesting places we were not supposed to be… We kept them in mind. Finally we reached our pre-heated cabin. No drinking water, but sauna included. You will not believe how dark and quiet it can get in the middle of the night in the woods of Estonia… At one point the lights of our parked car would begin to blink. We still have no idea why…

Erris, Gysbert, GS

Saturday, October 8, 2016

At day 03 we woke up, had toilet paper filtered coffee, eggs and enjoyed the sauna. For Gysbert it was a nostalgic pleasure to make sure both sauna and cabin were heated by a wood stove and a fire place. A good start of a day full of rain. End of the morning we decided to take off and re-visit one of the discoveries we did the day before… We managed to paint a spot in heavy rain. From this we drove back to Tallinn, for about 260 kilometers. We are now in back in Tallinn.

Erris, Gysbert, GS

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Day 04. After a late breakfast we drove towards Virve, to search for the Hara former soviet submarine base. Nice winding roads through forests and along the coastline. In soviet times the Hara base was one of three submarine demagnetizing bases in the world with cables reaching 18 km from the mainland to the neutral waters of the Baltic sea. On our way back we stumbled upon some abandoned navy buildings in the woods. Slightly creepy but very attractive. Glad to leave just before dark. We drove back again to Tallinn and enjoyed a fine dinner at F-hoone in the Kalamaja area.

Erris, Gysbert, GS

Monday, October 10, 2016

The last day of our trip was a beautiful and sunny day. Perfect. We went to search for the Underwater prison in Rummu. About an hour from Tallinn.

Some 70 years ago, there was a limestone quarry nearby Rummu which was founded together with Murru Soviet Prison. It was quite obvious why the prison was built so close to the quarry, the convicts were sent to work in it. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 and Estonia declaring independence, the mine closed and the quarry soon enough became a quarry lake. Part of the buildings that made the prison, including a wide range of mining machinery and equipment, were covered in water. We wandered around, enjoyed the scenery and left a few marks, finishing the paint we had bought the first day.

End of the afternoon we drove back to the Kalamaja area in Tallinn, to park the car, and enjoy a last meal and some beers. We got up early to make it to the airport in time for our 07:30 am flight from Tallinn to Amsterdam. No delays, except some roadblocks, smooth sailing, like all the days we spent in beautiful Estonia. We enjoyed updating the blog, thanks for following and BIG thanks to The Jaunt for having us. Inspired. Now let’s print!

Erris, Gysbert, GS