Disorientation brings together two recent works by Finnish artist Lauri Astala that pursue the artist’s interest in our relationship to space. By bringing forward feeling of strangeness and disorientation, the video installations presented at OBORO generate a discomfort that emphasizes the influence of affect and collective culture on our experience of intimate and collective spaces.
On Disappearance is an interactive video installation that brings the viewer inside the piece in real-time. Here, Astala represents himself returning to a familiar place after some time away. With his intimate thoughts, he challenges the viewer directly, confusing their mutual positions. Questions are posed about real space and the space of fiction, at the crux between perception and projection.
Transit poses a reflection on visual mass culture, more pointedly on the nature of cinema. In this video, the camera movements, unusual framing decisions and extensive editing work transform the scenes shot in New York City into sci-fi panoramas. With spectacular effects, this monumental video captivates the viewer with its illusion and fantasy.
With a careful selection of works, the exhibition puts forward the tenuous and complex ties that bind us to space, modulated by our own experience and the great narratives of collective culture. It also highlights the visual operating modes of displaying artworks.