| 22.10.2019

Video art at Hanken

The Pro Artibus Foundation celebrates its 30th anniversary by depositing works of art. At Hanken in Helsinki, we have a short-term video festival, with videos that are shown in different parts of the main building.

The screens on which the videos appear are in the following spaces: Torget (Hanken Business Lab), Skogen, Parken, and on the second floor in the corridor near Auditorium Maximum.

The selection is a versatile compilation of the Pro Artibus video art collection. Although the artists belong to the same generation, their works are very different from each other. In the field of video art and moving image it is therefore possible to create very different kinds of works, whose mood can be anything from sublime to humorous.

In Sara Ekström's Body All Eyes, two black and white images are displayed in parallel. The work is about man's eternal longing to be able to fly and look into the future. In the dreamlike work we see birds, a dancer, airplanes and the sky. The image stream takes us on a journey to both inner and outer realities.

In Gun Holmström's Archipelago, islands that resemble ancient sculptures float around in something reminiscent of a sea. Disintegration and perishability are not definitive dooms when looked at from different perspectives. Instead, the work offers a kind of flow to find new dimensions in.

Hanne Ivar's puppet theater Power & Glory is a trilogy that explores the possibility of finding a positive attitude to life. Can you trust that everything will work out in the end? The fabulous work addresses major issues such as pollution and death.

Stefan Ottos Descent (2015) is based on the artist's grandfather's life during and after the Second World War. The work has a slow pace. The past and lost seem to manifest themselves for a moment, and then disappear again. History is visible in the fate and stories of both society and individuals.

My Dinner with Andre is a clipped version of Louis Malles' (1932-1995) movie (1981) of the same name. The original film is known for its brilliant dialogue. Mika Taanila has cut away all dialogue and created a completely different film of the same material. The end result is more like a slapstick comedy than a talkative French film. The interpretation is radical and very entertaining.