8. Turku biennaali: Practical Ecology

The 8th Turku Biennial is undertaken by 16 top of the line artists working in Finland. Their focused works on intensive themes make this a definitive event in Finnish art this winter. The exhibition is displayed in two locations, the museum Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova as well as Turku Artists’ Association’s Gallery Å. Minna Suoniemi photographs inventions that her father produces from things and objects that have fallen into disuse. Suoniemi often names her works according to the original object: a hand truck, for example, is made of components of a backpack and a draining rack, and a luxurious bird table is made of a landscape painting. The artist has photographed these imaginative and even impractical inventions in a studio environment in the same way as consumer products. The photographs and videos feature the figure of some kind of mad inventor and themes of ecology.