Sombre precursors
9.–23.12.2023
Open
Tue–Fri 1–6 PM, Sat & Sun 12–5 PM
Opening on Friday 8th of December at 18 PM
Photo Joonas Jokiranta
Sombre precursors
Oksasenkatu 11 Gallery
9.– 23.12.2023
Opening 8th of November 8 PM
Open Tue–Fri 1–6 PM, Sat & Sun 12–5 PM
Joonas Jokiranta
Sara Kovamäki
Lin Wan Qian
Alessandra Svatek
Kari Yli-Annala
Joonas Jokiranta, Sara Kovamäki and Kari Yli-Annala from Tapahtujat group have invited Alessandra Svatek and Lin Wan Qian to a joint exhibition. The Tapahtujat group has been formed on the island of Harakka in Helsinki within the nomadic Academy of Experimental Arts. Lin Wan Qian is the Nomadic Academy's first artist-in-residence.
Our exhibition is about being alive, the closeness of winter, the limits of life and death, and how something new will always emerge. Our exhibition refers in its name to the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze's (1925 – 1995) concept of "sombre precursor” (often translated in English as “dark precursor”), to the intense processes of energy flows between potentials in chaos, a kind of pre-lightning. In the words of Tapahtujat group member, dancer and visual artist Sara Kovamäki: "I don't know what prevails before dimness, but I think it is something bright - energy that those who are born carry with them."
Kovamäki is interested in the possibilities for transformation, play, flame, poetics, incompleteness and hope. On Oksasenkatu, she makes a moving performance of one form of the element aluminum. At the same time, in her exhibition at Lapinlahden Lähde, she traces the shadow left by the Sun King. The exhibitions are connected by various material experiments related to the manifestations of light and the body.
Alessandra Svatek's artistic work consists of creating objects that investigate the perception and understanding of reality. Svatek uses transparent, translucent or reflective materials, creating disturbing layers that elude one interpretation. "Living beings are always convinced of their own version of the truth, which they can subjectively see," she states.
In "Evolutionary Metamorphosis: A Journey from Mushroom to Butterfly to Cicada," Lin Wan Qian documents the progression and essence of three distinct life forms—mushroom, butterfly, and cicada— from long periods of darkness before emerging into the light with transformative potential. "I capture and describe the life cycles of these three entities with a combination of sound, writing, sketches, photography and projections," she says.
Joonas Jokiranta describes the key experience behind his work: "My key experience from childhood goes back to a moment when I strongly felt that I am not human. The feeling has remained in the back of my head, and I have never forgotten it. In my artistic work, I look for humanity everywhere. My videos are visual essays, or poems. Although today's technology is digital, images of the world and the porous breath of humanity permeates it."
In his video works, Kari Yli-Annala dives into the effects of the figurative language of religion and politics in material reality, one of his references being the racism in the Finnish government in 2023.