Maybe it’s selective bias, but it seems a lot of dads watch a particular type of YouTube video. What sort, I hear you ask? If you’ve ever walked past a building site and pondered why there are a couple of random blokes on the street watching concrete being poured, it’s only a short leap from there.
There is something mesmerising about seeing people exercise their skills — a practice pigeonholed in the digital sphere under ambient media or slow content — but there is more to it than just zoning out to the colour and movement of physical activity.
For some, there is also a feeling of vicarious productivity that comes from watching others achieve things. Why go out and get cold, hot or dirty when you can watch all that hard work from the comfort of your iPad?
These videos are also educational, though not necessarily in a practical sense. The average bloke could happily watch a CNC machine cut out garden screens without ever intending to do so themselves — but be content with just KNOWING how it’s done. As well as esoteric curiosity being satisfied, if ever a highly selective Armageddon struck down CNC machinists across the globe, the micron-slim chance humanity could be saved by using your YouTube-gleaned knowledge to make garden screens in their stead seems worth the time invested!
What does any of this have to do with HEIA you ask (so many questions!)?
Rather randomly, I was made aware of a YouTuber from Tallinn who restored furniture. The particular dad who informed me, said he had never heard of Estonia but enjoyed the content as there was little speaking (another stereotype, but that sounds Estonian).
AT Restoration
The YouTuber in question, Ahti Toplaan and his channel AT Restoration, is the quintessential chewing gum for the visual mind. As noted, Ahti is a man of few words, and the few he uses are written. As he works with old pieces, he is part historian, part carpenter and part artist. Not only do you see the painstaking approach required to recreate broken parts on a chair, the viewer learns that the original piece was created in Poland in the ’30s, imported into Estonia disassembled (IKEA style), before being damaged in a Soviet bombing raid in 1944. History chronicled through the travails of a single piece of furniture. Ahti posts new content every couple of weeks and clearly has appeal with a following over 300k at the time of writing.
Of course, once you follow one such channel, it’s a matter of minutes before the YouTube algorithm typecasts you, and more of a similar vein start flowing. Like a water course – in the case of Fishtonia.
Fishtonia
Fishtonia (content maker’s name unknown) spends his time traipsing the rivers and coastal regions of Estonia “fishing”. There is a reason that fishing is not called catching, as the vast volume of time documented is the slow and leisurely piscatorial chase of species such as trout, perch, salmon and pike – but rarely seeing any! The fishing is more an excuse to spend time outdoors with a few friends, complete with sizeable packed lunches. Whether greeting local swans, spotting frogs or hiking through a wooded area, the charm of the channel is the environment in which it’s filmed.
The cinematography of Fishtonia is better than the average fare, complete with drone footage, and the editing is crisp. With only 470 followers, Fishstonia is a niche offering despite posting over 70 videos. Truly a labour of love.
Ants Pants
Lastly, we will cover Ants Pants. Editing is not a priority on this channel – this is the long-form version of YouTube stretching into the multiple hours. So much so, another unrelated Youtuber has created a channel editing the best bits of Ants Pants (with permission) called Ants Pants Edits.
Andris Arike is the Estonian behind the hundreds of hours of footage and he describes himself as a homesteader that makes and repairs stuff, from saunas to soviet tractors. In some ways, such a description is a disservice. His world is a window back into the 20th century, but without the pastiche of recreation – its just the way he lives.
Take the restoration of his family’s homestead. It came into his grandfather’s possession, buying it from the Government many years after it was seized from the original owner that was deported to Siberia, never to return. Every part of that rebuild is a journey through the decades via understanding the building’s purpose relating to the needs of each stanza of the past. Andris’ work is just another step in the continuum as he modernises (noting that modern includes concreting over earthen floors for the first time in 110 years!) and repurposing for today’s needs. Andris has a hardcore following of 70k subscribers – who clearly have a lot of time on their hands!
These three content providers provide an insight into Estonian culture without trying too hard. Being in English, they are trying (and at least in Ahti Toplaan’s case – clearly succeeding) to draw global audiences, but not at the expense of their culture. Rather than an Instagrammer filming the reactions of English speakers pronouncing kaksteist kuud (12 months), these three just film as they live and/or work. With all of them, the minimalist Estonian dry wit shines through, making a stark difference to the prevalent “look at me” overbearing offerings on YouTube.
For those members of the Estonian community in Australia who visit Estonia infrequently, channels such as these provide a portal into Estonian life. And for the global audience of dads with no link to Estonia at all, it provides slow content, Eesti style.
Watch more
AT Restoration: https://www.youtube.com/@ATRestoration?app=desktop
Fishtonia: https://www.youtube.com/@Fishtonia
Ants Pants: https://www.youtube.com/@Ants_Pants
