Space_Man_Technology_Order
24 January – 6 April
The Artists Kaisa Lipponen, Ron Nordström, Stefan Nyström, Sari Palosaari and Thomas Westphal examine technological and economic systems and through them, the emotional adolescence observed throughout our society aesthetically, critically, with melancholy and humour.
It is and examination of the question of architecture/space/technology/humanity (and the often hidden) hierarchy therein.
This exhibition is composed of sculptures, installations and videos along with different combinations of these mediums. The museum is transformed into an organic, layered, urban “landscape” that although planned, includes surprising deviations and coincidences to the landscape pattern.
Stefan Nyström, exhibition curator
Kaisa Lipponen
Born in 1975 Lahti, lives and works in Billnäs
The starting point for my work in this exhibition: Out of people’s belief in the omnipotence of economy and technology, invasive species are born: Water which we cannot drink, wood that does not decompose and food which cannot be eaten.
About my artistic process: My work consists of cultural disturbance, endless performances, ready-made parts re-composed, white cubes, writing and action. The technique or techniques are chosen according to the idea. I do not want to keep anything in storage; my artworks are either immaterial, or they can be assembled, dismantled and repurposed.
Ron Nordström
Born in Hanko 1971, lives and works in Fiskars
I primarily make video and sound installations. My works are also often interactive.
Last year, I worked as a gravedigger at the cemetery. My duties also included taking care of aMiddle-Age church. With this experience, my interest in religion and philosophical symbolism grew. The works in this exhibition are visual illustrations interpreting three different concepts.
Stefan Nyström
Born in 1959 Helsinki, works in Fiskars, lives in Karjaa where he moved from Jyväskylä (where he lived 2006-2013)
The starting point for my artistic process a phenomena which preoccupies me such as bodily interpretation or politics. I am a happy man if I am able to make a good work of art or exhibition. This happens when things are concentrated and shaken to a new platform of meaning just as rich as a good book. The experience of fine art happens first through the senses and wordless thought, and then is followed by a worded format. In this way, both art forms complete each other and our lives are enriched.
The in-situ work in this exhibition is based on the landscape of my adventurous childhood in the Åmannefors ironworks: At the end of the 70’s the steel foundry was closed (scrap piles on the bottom floors from the war wreckage) oxygen station and all. This work also reminds us of the thousands of lost smoke stack industry jobs – the lost communities.
Sari Palosaari
Born in 1974 Kemi, lives and works in Helsinki
My works are sculptures, installations and videos. Exploring the architectural environment is often the starting point for my work. At the moment I am working with questions of visibility in relation to architectonic glass structures: seeing, being seen and showing or being on show. I am also interested in the physical contact with the glass structures.
The installation “Minimal Romantic” I began during a residency in Chicago. The video shows a glass cube that protrudes the wall of a skyscraper. It is a look out ledge on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower (Sears Tower). The cube, or more the image of it, seemed to offer a perfect pier over the urban landscape and the horizon. But like often with touristic sights, the experience was not quite what I expected. So, I started with this image and with my expectations of the place. I then collected material that tourists had posted from the internet and animated us all onto my expectations.
Thomas Westphal
Born in 1972 Bochum, Germany, lives and works in Helsinki since 2000
Many of my recent works contain video elements in one form or another. I work with the moving image from a strong sculptural perspective. Often the projections move by themselves in the form of a kinetic video object. I don't use any effects or editing, the filming happens straight so I have to figure out the situation as a sculpture in itself. Quite often I choose unusual perspectives that play with the expectations of the viewer or with the line between documentary and the fictional because of the use of scale. The human body and its movements and sculpture issues like proportions and gravity are strongly present.
In this exhibition I am showing a kinetic video installation, several video works and a series of figurative sculptures, one containing an animation.