Harri Piispanen:
PLAYDATE
7.10.–28.10.2023
Wed-Fri 16–19 / Sat 12-17
Opening fri 6th October 18–21 - Welcome!
Harri Piispanen's exhibition Playdate is a collage of modified toys. They toys become a part of an installation where sawn-off heads have switched owners and each object has begun anew as something playful and performative. The modification of 80s and 90s toy favourites as well as the subsequent performative aftermath is accompanied by electronic beats. During this Playdate we take headlock from scuffed action figures and will not let go - at least not until the brutality of everyday life and the world of play begin to mix and plastic junk starts turning into art.
In the exhibition two video works are in the spotlight: Castle Greenskull and Metallic Politics 2.0.
Castle Greenskull is essentially a dollhouse with a constantly changing facade. The cube-shaped headpiece is inhabited by both Barbie and Action Man.
Metallic Politics 2.0 on the other hand serves us bourgeois tidings of joy with a twist: in it the performance persona Poroosi channels the former Finnish prime minister Sipilä via a Teletubby.
Now doesn’t that sound good? Let’s go on a Playdate!
The music of the works is created by Puoluehallitus.
All the material of the objects* in the exhibition are used, found or recycled.
__
*Plastic toys and cat pillows were harmed during the process (but they are all much better now).