Give a little bit



Give a little bit

 30.10.2015 – 29.11.2015
opening: October 30th, 6pm

Alkovi Galleria
Helsinginkatu 19
Kallio
Helsinki
Finland



Takala & Befeldt write about their piece:

Give a little bit takes the format of a karaoke song video as a subtle means to invite the viewer to participate, to play along even if it's just by reading the lyrics of the song in their head. The video takes place at a career fair where corporate representatives stand at their booths all day, giving out information about career opportunities to people who have paid an entrance fee. They offer giveaways such as chocolates, pens and printed materials. These ‘giveaways’ are not gifts in the purest sense – the visitor is expected to give their time and attention in exchange and to show interest. These fairs are also about exchange in a larger sense: they delineate what the worker must give in order to receive something later on in their professional career. Just grabbing the giveaways without respecting this unwritten rule violates the 'cultural code' holding sway in the fair environment and the visitor who does so starts to appear as a perpetrator. Fair workers – who might themselves behave as the visitor does in another context – feel irritated and protective of their giveaways when at the fair. The fear of someone possibly exploiting the system and a requirement that we follow the rules of is often greater than common sense. We easily fail to asses the real losses or benefits in someone just taking a giveaway apple because they want to eat it – and prefer to offer it to a person who presents their commitment to our rule system.

curated by: Miina Hujala & Arttu Merimaa


The exhibition is supported by Goethe-institut.
www.goethe.de/ins/fi/de/hel

THIS STICKY MESS WILL GET US THERE









THIS STICKY MESS WILL GET US THERE

opening: October 22nd, 5pm
Nordic Contemporary Art Space
14 rue Château d’Eau
75010 Paris
France

The artist/curator Andreas Emenius & Jacob Valdemar introduces with NORDIC CONTEMPORARY the exhibition ‘THIS STICKY MESS WILL GET US THERE’, showing seven contemporary Scandinavian and Nordic artists presenting new interpretations of paintings, sculptures, drawings and video.

Being ‘messy’ is usually connected with a negative association, since the concept of order has overtaken our society: things should be clear, and organized. There’s angst for things imperfect, things that appear out of focus, so we keep polishing all the edges, in the name of progress. The exhibition is a celebration of the unpolished, of the work itself but also the act of working. The titles reference ‘sticky mess’ as being something dystopian, while ‘‘get us there’ stands for an almost metaphysical belief that things will be all right. Or as Vivienne Westwood once said, ‘cash for chaos’. Many of the exhibited work have a sense of desperation, yet there are elements of beauty, order and control.

They are pointing back at the work itself, rather than a certain discourse, simultaneously driving towards a freedom and subjectivity, with an instinctive, existential trust in the material.The exhibition attempts to break down hierarchies. High culture meets low culture, polished meets raw, natural meets clinical in an eclectic brew that aims to clash more than to harmonize; yet somehow linked through the artists view, set against the backdrop of the dark Nordic cultural history at its meeting point with the modern urban being. The opening is activated by a live performance that further interacts with the artworks and the space itself creating an experience where all connections are made visible as a whole.

Supported by
Nordisk Kulturfonden
Frame

Artists: Viktor Rosdahl, Peter Bonde, Jim Thorell, Ditte Ejlerskov, Jan S Hansen, Andreas Emenius, Rauha Mäkilä, Tuomo Rainio, Pilvi Takala

curated by: Andreas Emenius & Jacob Valdemar
  
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