Editors' introduction

Summary

In 1884 the Finnish realist artist Albert Edelfelt completed a painting entitled Boys on the Shore. In the painting three boys are playing with small handmade sailing boats on the shore. There is an expansive view of the horizon in the background, with sailboats in the harbor. The painting provides a dynamic perspective on a world of possibilities experienced in the play of the three boys. At the same time, corresponding historically consolidated activities are carried out in the background. The three boys are involved in different ways in a joint action, oriented toward the movement of a boat in the water. The painting powerfully depicts the contrast between the strength and the fragility of the collective action. Two boys are positioned precariously on rocks, while the third is about to move toward them, stepping on an uneven and slippery surface. One of the boys is leaning toward the water with a wooden stick in his hand, trying to guide his boat through the current.

The scene in this painting metaphorically illustrates key features of the process of expansion as described in Yrjö Engeström's book Learning by Expanding (1987).