LAURI ASTALAHome and away 28.4.2012 – 20.5.2012

At this exhibition with Elina Brotherus I will be presenting a video installation entitled Katoamisesta (Of disappearing), where the viewer becomes the central character, being transported on the screen to another time and place to encounter the author of the work. The work is about the experience of how technology changes our spatial and temporal reality. How do we encounter one another in this increasingly virtual world? As social relations change because of technology, are we changing as well, or are we losing something essential of ourselves?
 

Katoamisesta is a wholly fictional work. It was shot in France, but it could just as easily have been created anywhere - or nowhere. The work was prompted by my previous exhibition at Galleria Heino, where an unkown visitor had written in the guest book: "I would have hoped that you would speak to me."

There is another video work at the exhibition, also shot in France, a collaborative effort featuring Frans Ortega de Grönlund in the lead role, sounds by Jimi Tenor and Tommi Grönlund, and camera and editing by Lauri Astala and Elina Brotherus.

Lauri Astala

Lauri Astala(b. 1958) is one of Finland´s most distinguished media artists. His output consists of sculptures, videos and computer-assisted video installations. He draws on concepts and experiences of space and the cultural structures that shape them. He has held several solo exhibitions and participated in collective exhibitions in Finland and abroad since 1989. In 2007, he was awarded the State Prize for Visual Arts.