21.4.2018
Altered Flakes at SIC
Hi, It´s time to celebrate the past 6 years in Jätkäsaari. In this time of change, we want to come together and draw attention to the space which has defined our operation during these years. Before the upcoming renovation of the L3 warehouse, you are warmly welcome to the exhibition opening at SIC once more.
Altered Flakes exhibition is on view 21–29 April 2018. The gallery is exceptionally open every day, Monday–Friday at 14–18 and Saturday–Sunday 12–16.
See you!
SIC
Sauli Sirviö Cold War III in the Offing (2015), hand-dyed textile, metal, concrete pedestal
Niina Tervo Untitled (2015), mixed media on canvas
Aino Lintunen Annunciation (2018), oil on canvas, Mika Palonen – (2018), tea, paper, beeswax and pigment on canvas,
Niina Tervo Untitled (2015), mixed media on canvas, Konsta Ojala Untitled (Mount Kailash) (2018), aluminum, cardboard, spray paint, acrylic, led light, fimomass, roots
Konsta Ojala Untitled (Mount Kailash) (2018), aluminum, cardboard, spray paint, acrylic, led light, fimomass, roots
Aino Lintunen Untitled (2018), oil stick on paper, Annunciation (2018), oil on canvas
Maija Luutonen B-Scroll (2015-18), air brush on paper, weights, Niina Tervo Japanilainen talo (2017), natural rubber, pigment
Timo Vaittinen Altered Flakes (2018), portrait oriented digital video
Laura Wesamaa 2012_2014_2016_2018 up down strange charm top bottom, magnifiquement (2018) oil on canvas
Mika Palonen – (2018) pencil, beeswax, paper and pigment on canvas, – (2018), coffee, tea, pencil, colour pencil, beeswax and pigment on canvas
Niina Tervo Untitled (2015), mixed media on canvas, Mika Palonen – (2018), tea, paper, beeswax and pigment on canvas, Olli Keränen Ware (midnight) (2017), epoxy, Bogna Wisniewska All I Ever (2018), oil on canvas, chair, Maija Luutonen B-Scroll (2015-18), air brush on paper
Niina Tervo Untitled (2015), mixed media on canvas, Bogna Wisniewska All I Ever (2018), oil on canvas, chair
Installation view photos by Tuomas Linna
SIC catalog (2018), risograph, 150 copies
Sauli Sirviö Cold War III in the Offing (2015), hand-dyed textile, metal, concrete pedestal
6.4.2018
GRAFFITI, HAM April 6th-September 9th 2018.
Exhibition explores graffiti culture and ownership of urban space.
Graffiti, explores the historical roots of graffiti and its present manifestations, with particular focus on the links between Helsinki graffiti culture and the international field. The show also features contemporary artworks that bear an affinity with graffiti through their autonomous mindset and use of urban space. The exhibition includes artworks and documentary material by international and Helsinki-based artists.
The exhibition sheds light on a phenomenon that is both illicit subculture and a figurative language visible to everyone in public spaces.
Mounted in the museum’s two large vaulted galleries, the show is divided into two parts. The first examines graffiti as a subculture, lifestyle and form of art. The roots of graffiti culture are presented through Martha Cooper’s iconic photos of subway trains and graffiti artists in NYC. A mural created for this exhibition by legendary graffiti artist Blade will bring history to life in the present, and Swedish Nug will paint his latest work directly onto the gallery wall. The exhibition also features a brand new piece by Finnish graffiti artists Egs and Trama.
The colourful history of graffiti in Helsinki from the 1980s to the present is illustrated in a timeline highlighting the major shift in local citizens’ attitude toward the public space in the past ten years. Graffiti first appeared in Helsinki in the mid-1980s, influenced by films and photography books on New York City’s graffiti culture. Ten years ago, in 2008, the City of Helsinki discontinued its anti-graffiti project, Stop töhryille (Stop the Scrawls). After the unconditionally negative public attitudes, the different forms of street art have received more favourable attention.
The exhibition presents the roots of graffiti with photographs, films and works by field’s iconic names.
The second part of the show consists of works of art that feature the public space and its utilisation as a place for art. The American group Guerrilla Girls presents an installation of posters and videos that illustrates their campaigns over the past few decades combating inequality in the art world and society at large. Urban Space Occupation Kit by Otto Karvonen will give audiences a chance to appropriate a space for themselves. The exhibition also includes works from the HAM collection by artists whose first visual inspiration was graffiti.
The exhibition is curated by Heli Harni, Satu Oksanen and Sanna Tuulikangas from HAM. The exhibition architecture is designed by architect Tuomas Siitonen.
Never Going Home 2012, Full hd video, 33.30 min.
Sauli Sirviö & Johannes Rantapuska Useless Exercise 2016, interactive video installation with exercise bike and projector. Documentation by Maija Toivanen/HAM
5.12.2017
Pyhä kaaos (A Holy Chaos), SIC
A liminal space is a kind of limbo between two states of being. Pyhä kaaos (A Holy Chaos) seeks out unknown futures, hiding spots, immersion, ruins and new traditions. If the system only offers strict roles, Pyhä kaaos begs to answer whether it is possible to get rid of them.
The human species daily evokes conflicting feelings that are hard to handle — it has enormous potential which is unfortunately wasted in spades on a daily basis. Man is self centered, arrogant, lazy, wasteful, unempathetic, aggressive and destructive — all the while backing up his actions with an incomprehensible array of fictitious justifications.
Then again, the spectrum of human life can be dazzling when viewed from a distance as a generalized mass — our travels across history are nothing short of heroic in this cold and empty universe.
At their finest, art and science help us understand humanity objectively, in more comprehensible fashion, sometimes even in the form of proper entertainment for the escapist in all of us.
In day-today life, the human individual is a hard mess to understand; moody, hard to interpret, dull, loud and sweaty. Then again, the human individual seems to flourish in a written fictitious state — delving into a well thought out fictitious world can easily make one lose track of time.
Thoroughly honed, distilled, well packaged and crystallized thoughts — be it books, articles, plays, exhibitions, recordings, concerts, movies or any other great works of art and science — are the epitome of humanity. One can experience many eras and time scales through such works — consuming and analyzing culture can be as addictive as any drug out there.
Pyhä kaaos is a part of the Helsinki University Art as a Work and Working Tool project, carried out together with Kiasma’s URB festival. The contents of the exhibition is gathered from material assembled by researchers and the workgroup.
Working group
Sauli Sirviö, Elina Izarra, Are Nikkinen, Niroz Haji, Sawuli, Iita Järn, Jani-Matti Salo, Mark Niskanen, Tomi Visakko, Liisa Raevaara, Marjo Savijärvi, Annika Turunen, Jonna Malaska, Katja Orpana, Laura Ihalainen
Supported by Kone Foundation.
Thank you: Koneen Säätiö, Museum of Impossible Forms/Ahmed Al-Nawas, Mikael Aaltonen, Niina Tervo, Arto Tommiska, Bogna Luiza Wisniewska
Documentation: Tuomas Linna
Alkumetreillä (2018) Publisher: Kiasma Theatre-URB Festival & Art as a Work and Working Tool project. Edited by Elina Izarra & Sauli Sirviö. Texts: Mikael Aaltonen, Elina Izarra, Sauli Sirviö, Marjo Savijärvi, Tomi Visakko. Graphic design: Rastapunka. Pictures: Veera Konsti, Kira Leskinen, Tuomas Linna, Susanna Kesänen, Liina Aalto-Setälä. Fonts: Mikko Varakas. Printed in Livonia Print, Latvia (200 copies).