For Finnish viewers, the title of Whip Master in Finnish, Koivuniemen herra, meaning a birch twig for punishing children, brings to mind common sayings related to punishment, such as “to be raised without discipline is to die without honour” in the Finnish tradition or the Biblical classic “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” (Proverbs 13:24) Discipline plays an important role in issues of raising children and education: the order of the day, eating hours, and corporal punishment are different aspects of the same ideology. At the same time, Heino analyses in his work the bureaucratic violence of society. Whip Master unravels a complex mix where pain and pleasure intermingle. The rubber is like a metaphor separating beings or acts already entwined with each other that are called opposites. Heino demonstrates gently or cruelly that images make us different, standing apart from us in their sameness. His work does not let the wound of subjectivity be shut.

© Juha-Heikki Tihinen, 2007