calendario eventi  :: 

X

26/3/2009

Tracking Traces

Kiasma, Helsinki

The world that surrounds us is full of signs and messages – traces of the world that contemporary art makes use of by copying, recycling, sampling and commenting on them. Traces can be found near and far: on the human body, in advertising images, on cereal packets and in the urban space. The traces can be physical imprints, visible signs, actions or memory traces. Some of the traces are left consciously, others are accidental. The one thing shared by the traces in the exhibition's works is that they transmit as well as shape our idea of ourselves and of the world. They are about life and the need for interaction.

This, Kiasma's tenth collection exhibition, explores cultural traces through 122 works by 51 artists. The exhibition is divided into three thematic sections: Smudge, Bar Code and Imprint. Each section also includes past contemporary artworks.

Contemporary cities are teeming with messages that use signs which are intended to guide, attract or limit us in some way. There are also signs left by the citizens. Marks left by car tyres on the asphalt, stickers, posters, roadwork signs, graffiti and also sounds are all ways of temporarily reserving part of the urban space for some particular purpose. Signs tells us something about whoever put them up, but they can also be used to propagate and communicate attitudes, ideas and comments.

Works explore signs as active messages, viewpoints and expressions of opinion. They also include traces in the mind, such as memories of upheavals or faded images of products from the past.

Artists: Mauricio Dias & Walter Riedweg, Ulrika Ferm, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Jukka Korpihete, Tuomas Laitinen, Jani Leinonen, Liisa Lounila, Bjarne Melgaard, Kukka Paavilainen, Mimmo Rotella, Jani Ruscica, Riiko Sakkinen

The world abounds in reinterpreted images. Product images, ads and logos are the currency of signs in contemporary art. The bar code, familiar from the world of trade and commerce, contains coded information about a product. Contemporary art occasionally operates in a similar way; a familiar thing is presented in a new context or in a different package. Searching for material for their work, artists sometimes explore the history of art, or borrow elements from the world of entertainment or advertising. A reinterpretation often reveals the artificiality of things.

The works comment on everyday things, either tongue in cheek or by challenging accepted truths. By presenting things in new ways, the works also challenge our ideas as to what art should be about and how it should be made.

Artists: Cory Arcangel, Jiri Geller, Ilmari Gryta, Juha van Ingen, Humberto Junca, Anssi Kasitonni, Jani Leinonen, Roy Lichtenstein, Zoltan Popovits, Heikki Ryynänen, Lena Séraphin, Zhao Shaoruo

Life's traces are seen as imprints on the body, as sleep wrinkles, bites or bruises. Traces such as fingerprints, handprints or other bodily marks in the works are direct imprints of the artist, a kind of personal stamp. An imprint can also be indirect, as for example a depression on the surface of a sculpture made by an explosion. Imprints in some of the works point to memories or some long-forgotten event. An imprint left by a memory can often be more permanent than one left on the body.

The starting point of is the human body and the traces left by and on the body. The works bear witness to the many different ways in which interaction with our visual environment can take place also through the body.

Artists: Adel Abidin, Vito Acconci, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Stig Baumgartner, Peter Buggenhout, Mervi Buhl-Kytösalmi, Richard Deacon, Lucio Fontana, Veli Granö, Terike Haapoja, Annika von Hausswolff, Maarit Hohteri, Aarne Jämsä, Marja Kanervo, Aino Kannisto, Hannu Karjalainen, Jouko Lehtola, Anni Leppälä, Cristina Lucas, Pekka Luukkola, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Fanni Niemi-Junkola, Zoltan Popovits, Laila Pullinen, Seppo Salminen, Anssi Törrönen, Milja Viita, Pinar YolacanViita, Pinar Yolacan

Image: Maarit Hohteri, Mikko, Sleep Markings, Helsinki, 2000, Photo: Petri Virtanen / Central Art Archives

Communications Manager Kaija Suni
+358 (0)9 1733 6507 kaija.suni@kiasma.fi

Kiasma
Mannerheiminaukio 2 - Helsinki
Opening hours:
Tue: 10-17
Wed-Fri: 10-20.30
Sat-Sun: 10-18
Closed on Mondays
Admission
Tickets 7e/5e
Under 18 year-olds free.

stampa

permanent link