STILL LEBEN (2000)

The theme of this exhibition was an encounter between different cultures. In my installation Still Leben I observed the extremes of this relationship. The work is built of three steel constructions; the first of them symbolizes war, burnt ground and death. The trunk and coffin-like wall is made of terracotta burnt dark with iron oxide. The element in the middle is transparent empty space, leaving space for the viewer to reflect on their own mental image. The third element consists of five video screens, symbolizing life, fruitfulness and possibilities.

 

The video shows close-ups of breathing bellies of females with different cultural backgrounds. When seen in monitors lined up side by side, the images create a wavelike forward movement, a continuing swell - the first sea. In the darkened gallery space a special soundscape  is created by the subtle use of recorded breathing, silent and imperceptible, as we hear our own breath or that of ones nearby. Still - as a meaningful and remarkable factor.
 

 Kunsthalle, Helsinki 2000. Choreochraphy of dance: Marianne Rouhiainen.
Structures planned together with Mervi Ala-Luusua.