What:Art
event;opening evening, videowork at MediaBox, Forum Box, Helsinki
Who:
Fanni Niemi-Junkola
Where:Forum
Box, Ruoholahdenranta 1, Helsinki
When:2.10.2014
03.10.2014
- 26.10.2014
Koulutie
/ Way to School (2014)
Fanni
Niemi-Junkola | FINLAND |3.08 mins loop | 2014
3.10.2014 -
26.10.2014
Video
installation
3.08 min loop of 30 mins
Music: Es, comp., adapt.
Sami Sänpäkkilä, Fonal Records
Cinematographer:
Turkka Tervonen
Editor: Ville Hakonen, Wacky Tie Films
Actor:
Juha Niemi-Junkola
Production: Fanni Niemi-Junkola
Funders:
AVEK The Promotion Centre for AV Culture, TAIKE Arts Promotion Centre
of Finland, City of Tampere
A
young school boy is running away. The camera focuses on the person
and the images are slowed down. Niemi-Junkola is interested in social
power relations and the borderline between private and public. The
starting point for the work were experiences of personal space in
school environment that can be cruel. However what comes across
in the video work is sense of hope, almost dreamlike lightness
of being.
Fanni
Niemi-Junkola, who some of you might know as a lecturer of Fine Art
in Tamk, held her opening night last Thursday in Helsinki, in
MediaBox, Forum Box, Helsinki.
Fanni
was presenting a video artwork titled "Way to
school/Koulutie".
The
singe channel video, presented on a 30 minutes loop, was very
sweet,portrays a boy running towards the sun's brightest light. While
watching you almost get a feeling of relief, of lightness and joy:
you understand how the little boy is feeling. Because you have been
that little boy, running in the sun, in a beautiful summer day,
smelling the leaves and feeling the sun's warm rays on your skin.
Sami
Sänpakkilä's music completes the experience, and you almost don't
want to leave the video box, because outside the world is grey and
sad, while in the box is full summer.
Fanni
is very much interested in the social role that art can play; with
the cooperation of TAMK and of two comprehensive schools in
Tampere(the Kaarila School and the Finnish International School of
Tampere)she managed an art project intended to give voice to the
pupils. The aim of the videoworkhops was to let the students express
their anxieties and issues on their everyday life at school.
The
works are surprising, and inventive.
For
more information: http://www.voimavirtaavideolla.net/english/
In
many cases, the point of view of an artist might be more refreshing
and effective than the usual "classic" way;working as an
artist allows one to be more creative and explore different options.
In TAMK's new Fine-Art study paths students are encouraged to have an
open attitude towards new possibilities that are not so obvious in
Fine Art practise.
About
Forum Box: Forum Box is a beautiful art space, owned by a cooperative
of artists, founded in 1996.
It
was originally a cold storage room, and was renewed by the artists
themselves and opened with a smashing joint exhibition in cooperation
with Kiasma, featuring Richard Serra and Anthony Caro.
Nowadays
the cooperative counts roundabout 80 artists, and rents the space for
solo or group exhibitions, if some fellow students are interested,
the deadline is March, 1st
2015 for exhibitions to be held in 2017.
Mediabox
is an exhibition space for small video screenings. The works are
created by Forum Box in co-operation with AV-Arkki, the distribution
centre for Finnish Media art.
Very
many compliments to Fanni, and wishes for the best-and next time
Fanni will have an exhibition TAMK blog will tell you again about it.
Here
are some links, if you want to know more(and you are too lazy to just
go and knock at the teacher's office)
The
event in Forum Box, Helsinki:
http://www.forumbox.fi/fi/calendar/736/681-fanni-niemi-junkola:-koulutie-/-way-to-school-(2014)/
Fanni's
own website: http://www.fanniniemi-junkola.com
A
preview of Fanni's artworks:
http://www.av-arkki.fi/en/artists/fanni-niemi-junkola_en/