Apropos of Seeing
Lauri Astala
The conventional film presents an illusion. The material world it shows is absent. The aim of ‘Apropos of Seeing’ is to break the cinematic reality of the black cube, which restricts the viewer's role to that of an outsider and a passive observer. In viewing the piece, what does the viewer actually watch: a film, him/herself, his/her own gaze...? Where is the viewer: in a gallery or a museum, a Roman palace, in the virtual space of a film...? The installation makes visible the viewer's reality of the here and now in relation to the reality happening in another place and time, the one traditionally depicted in pictures and films.
Production Year
2008
Type
Genre
Tags
Original Title
Näkemisestä
Finnish Title
Näkemisestä
English Title
Apropos of Seeing
Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
No
Sound
No
Cast
Lauri Astala (Author)
Press Photos
Lauri Astala lives in Helsinki, Finland and Avalon, France. He graduated from the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 1989 and Chicago Art Institute in 2001. Astala is one of of the most distinguished media artists in Finland. He makes sculptures, videos and installations, that concentrate on our concepts and experiences of space and the ways in which cultural structures shapes them. His works have been presented at numerous solo and group exhibitions since 1989, including Eyebeam in New York (2013), Helsinki Art Museum (2010) KUMU art museum in Tallinn (2008) and Institut finlandais in Paris (2008). In 2007, Astala was awarded with the Finnish State Prize for Visual Arts.
15 works