Printed matter

NONHUMAN

Cooking For the Apocalypse / Joint and curated Exhibition 20.11.–9.12.2020

Expositio to Barnacle Geese: HD video, 2019-2020, duration 5:56 The Electronic Image Recovery Box: 2020, mixed media

https://www.artandeducation.net/announcements/358480/cooking-for-the-apocalypseeco-noir-a-companion-for-precarious-times

Expositio to Barnacle Geese focuses on the interaction between the Arctic migratory bird and human. It is the result of field experiments, I did with Barnacle Geese (Branta leucopsis) in the Porolahti region of Helsinki from 2019 to 2020. Expositio is about being with geese and having the effects of a pictorial approach to interaction.

Conflicting attitudes towards Barnacle geese have increased in Finland in recent years. Geese have started to be seen as a problem that needs to be addressed. This experiment got its starting impulse from the question: for whom, or for what species, is the use of public space really allowed? When people complain about the “harm” of geese, gulls, wolves and many other species that needs to be addressed by removing them, the question arises, is a bird living in its own nature “harmful”? Are all species that cause humans any discomfort “harmful animals”? Addressing the topic in this work can be seen by the use of the “off-painting” method. The method evokes the impression of an inverted painting process. However, this is a photograph printed on a canvas base as a digital print reminiscent of a painting. Off-painting is done by hand with water and brush, emphasizing the idea of a painting event, or imitating that event in reverse.

In practice, the reactions of the geese to the interaction were cautiously promising at first. They seemed to recognize me during the repetition of the interaction so that the leader goose of the flock stopped showing its tongue. I tried to move along with the geese, showing them their own images, while realizing that I was no longer the only ‘author’ of the piece, but almost completely exposed to the influence of them. It also became clear to me that presenting a picture of geese in the gallery longed for another intense phase, so I decided to try to rebuild a picture of the removed birds. This paradoxical nature of image rebuilding is shown in “The Electronic Image Recovery Box” work. The piece is about an attempt to revive the image of geese activated by electricity. It is also about the challenge of presenting an image in the presentative space, detached from the event it refers to.

Expositio to Barnacle Geese (2019 – 2020)