Distribution Catalogue 2017-2018
Single channel works have been selected for the Distribution Catalogue 2017–2018 by guest curator, Aily Nash (U.S.), together with AV-arkki’s staff.
Saara Ekström: Amplifier (2017 | 17:03)
Time inevitably moves from past to future, passing the present moment. Mankind encloses to time its marks, stains and ruins. On the verge of vast changes time acts abnormally. It leaks, folds and fractures, allowing things belonging elsewhere, to the otherworldly, to permeate itself. In the 8mm film the Helsinki Olympic Stadium represents a historical paradigm shift. Completed in 1938 the building outlines pure functionalist architecture and stands as a landmark for landmark for optimistic utopia and the oblivion on man’s neglect of history.
Ewa Górzna: Collapse (2017 | 07:32)
“Collapse” depicts a situation where a seemingly complete and established order is submitted to a sudden surreal displacement. The camera flows slowly through a peaceful and flawless space to reveal an unexpected element. Thin surface cracks easily. Superficial comfort is shifted to unfamiliar territory.
Liinu Grönlund: It Could Have Been (2017 | 12:02)
It could have been is a video essay combining personal notes and collected ideas about the current state of the world. Rats wander around artists’ studio and over pages of books. In the center is a thought that when humans disappear from the Earth, rats might take our place as the ruling species.
Henna-Riikka Halonen: Placeholder (2017 | 07:43)
The video Placeholder comments on a thought experiment where virtual non-living material ( i.e. objects) transform into self-aware beings capable of imitating humane action, telling stories, seducing. Placeholder imagines the moment when AI comes of age. Multiple tabs, and proliferating windows give Placeholder a desktop’s point-of-view as it explores developments in biogenetics, 3D printing of skin and organs and new research into historical models of AI, such as Eliza and the Turing test. In Halonen’s kaleidoscopic new work, created entirely from found footage, open source and animated imagery, a lack of empathy from other human beings has made us to seek comfort from the voice and touch of the machines.
Hannaleena Hauru: The Ice Hockey Film by Heidi (2017 | 04:59)
Heidi’s fantasy about hockey player Lauri Mäntyvaara is continuously failing. The film studies the encounters of optical and haptic cinema, and the change in the power structures of the cinematic gaze.
Jan Ijäs: Waste no. 1 Money (2017 | 17:00)
Inflation has resulted in the Zimbabwe dollar completely losing its value. Banknotes are literally recyclable goods, turned into tablecloths and lampshades, for example. In the Harare slums, which are rife with crime, valuable US dollar banknotes must be concealed in clothing, which means that the notes quickly become breeding grounds for bacteria. According to money launderers, dollar bills can best be gently hand washed with Omo detergent in warm water.
Juha van Ingen: Hello Everybody! (2017 | 08:14)
Greetings from near to far, from us to you. All inclusive, welcoming all. Over distances, over time. You are all welcome. While greeting customs are highly culture and situation-specific, they exist in all known human cultures. The greetings that form the narrative in Hello Everybody are taking the familiar ritual one step further.
Jonna Kina: Arr. for a Scene (2017 | 05:17)
Arr. for a Scene is a documentary of two foley artists while they are producing sounds for one of the most famous film scene in the film history (the shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, 1960). This performance is documented on 35 mm film. The original film scene will remain invisible while the viewer sees only the foley artists creating sound effects for the scene, such as footsteps, shower and door closing. During the performance, the foley artists are looking straight at the camera. The film inverts the position of the screen and the gaze of the viewer. The viewer becomes part of the scene. The film examines the way sounds are constructed for the use of cinema and what happens when the structures of a film are dismantled into parts.
Reija Meriläinen: Crush (2017 | 04:44)
The video depicts gelatinous fleshy objects repeatedly crushed by a hydraulic press. The fake limbs are made from a material called synthetic ballistic gel which is analogous to flesh, so it is usually used for testing the penetrability of bullets into humans. The video is made in collaboration with the popular vlog Hydraulic Press Channel.
Anneli Nygren: PaperBabes – Age of Reason (2017 | 04:40)
Too young, too old, always the wrong age.
Jaakko Pallasvuo: Filter (2017 | 25:03)
Filter explores the ways in which nostalgia is experienced in the 21st century. Tracing a journey from Europe to New York City to Syracuse, the film considers the ways in which mediation can enhance or disrupt nostalgic sentiment. Integrating visual culture, music and performance, Filter examines the question of what is included and what excluded when memories are created.
Jukka Silokunnas: Vanishing Point (2017 | 01:01)
“When I was a kid we used to traveler a lot with my family. I used to Iook the changing landscape through the caravan window. Only older I realized: I changed, not the landscape.”
Antti Tanttu: Qualia (2017 | 06:43)
Blackboard animation Qualia seeks for the essence of experience. There is no such thing as same feeling, same pain, same colour. Qualia is always subjective. The essence of universal experience is unreachable.