SURFING

SENSING, SURFING, SURFACE

Kuvataide gallery, Helsinki, Finland 2002 The work draws from modes and power of display. How art is complicit in fetishizing. In order for things to be bought in a store they need to be isolated from their environment. My departure was the term ‘surface’, in memories and in surfing culture and lifestyle. On entering the gallery the observer meets a shop-like room with an inlaid varnished floor that hits the walls in waves. Cast slip-on shoes and surfboards. In the second room hangs a mother-of-pearl varnished speaker sending out an audio loop inspired by a head wind rushing past your ears. The design of the speaker affects the quality of the sound, and due to resonances the wiever cannot locate the origin of the sound. In the third room the wiever meets an 8 metre long, trumpet shaped tunnel (tube) made of a stretchy material. The installation relects on our common desires and our haptic and sensual experiences. The entire installation points towards a physical presence, where every room can be used in a variety of ways. The floor points the attention to the room itself. The tunnel warps the scale of another room. Standing inside the bell-like speaker makes you easily loose the perspective.