Review 1

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=75 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" StudioSoto Home Page"><U><B><IMG SRC="ceb2c340.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="52" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="home.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Info"><U>Info</U></A>   |   <A HREF="shows.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Shows"><U>Shows</U></A>   |   <A HREF="home18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Artists"><U>Artists</U></A></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=185 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="home595.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="new media"><U>new media</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="home596.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Haaslahti"><U>Haaslahti</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="home598.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Långström"><U>Långström</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="home599.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rouhiainen"><U>Rouhiainen</U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700a080808000.png" HEIGHT="11" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Review 1</B></div> <div> <A HREF="home5a8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Review 2"><U>Review 2</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id1431.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Comment"><U>Comment</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=405 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.weeklydig.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.weeklydig.com"><U><IMG SRC="16b4a1510.gif" border=0 width="673" height="81" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="16b5f4640.gif" border=0 width="500" height="100" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Photography: Nolan Gawron</div> <bR> <div> <B>Electronic fairyland</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Kate Ledogar</B></div> <bR> <div> Finland is one of those places that I know very little about. All I have is an amalgamation of impressions composed of tall pine trees, moss, salt water, steam baths, jovial rotund people with reddish cheeks and a full cast of line-drawn characters from Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books. It's a little prosaic, and doesn't take into account the country's disturbingly high rates of suicide and alcoholism. Digital technology has never been part of the fantasy either. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I><IMG SRC="16b795950.gif" border=0 width="149" height="149" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">New Media Art from Finland</I> at Studio Soto has given me a more reality-based view of the land of Moominmamma and Snufkin. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the exhibit was Minna Långström's <I>Kupla</I>. A bulbous anime-style mouse head hung from the ceiling, in front of a projection screen which filled with big pink bubbles when the viewer/participant blew upon a breath sensor mounted in a bubble wand. Some of the bubbles featured grainy, translucent media footage of war atrocities-executions, explosions and the like, and some were empty. Pulling the mouse head activated a soundtrack of screams, gunfire and such. On the bottom of the screen, a series of URLs listed what I am assuming are the web sources for the images and sounds. The piece gave a nice perspective on our collective disconnection from historic atrocities suffered by other people. Flashed on TV screens and scanned on web pages, they rise, linger for a moment, then pop, disappearing like the people they feature. I also read into it a commentary on how, as adults, we surround ourselves with technological amusements that allow us to ignore-or even make a game of-the awful things in the world. </div> <bR> <div> Across from this was <I>Mir</I> by Simo Rouhiainen. This installation involved a keyboard, which, when the keys were pressed, caused large images to be projected onto a screen. These images were colorful still photos and short video clips of factories, people on an escalator, water bubbles, cars and (at least I think I saw this) Michael Jackson. Certain images were layered over other ones and the process was accompanied by electronic music, via a pair of headphones. I stood there and, prompted by the music, flashed and repeated and overlaid image upon image, obsessively mimicking the stylings of our split-second, schizophrenic, multitask-minded global culture. I found it quite enjoyable. It was like being my own private DJ.</div> <div> In the next room <I>White Square</I> by Hannah Haaslahti (the most talked-about piece of the show, and one I found lovely but the least engrossing) was an illuminated square on the floor that, when the viewer/participant stepped into it, caused little twirly shadow folk to gather in a circle at the person's feet. When a second person stepped into the square, a pair of the two people's shadow folk joined hands and eventually vibrated with electronic pleasure and communion. </div> <bR> <div> What impressed me about <I>New Media Art from Finland</I> is that these Finns are using technology in a way that binds it seamlessly with art. They seem to be comfortable with digital media, and able to use it in a way that doesn't call attention to the technology itself-or make it seem that showcasing the technology was the goal of the piece. As a result, their pieces look like art, rather than something that belongs in a science museum. I think Europeans are generally more comfortable with technology than Americans are. Remember that it took us much longer to accept cellular phones and electronic music. In the same way I think it is going to take American artists a little longer to master digital media for art pieces.</div> <bR> <div> And I also think it's time I expanded my view of Finland to include computers and cell phones. Nokia is a Finnish company, after all.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>