Project

Interpreting the Frame

Juuso Noronkoski & Mikko Rikala, Abandoned Fingers (2015), Two-part installation, transit case, vibration speaker, pigment print, 61 x 71cm

The exhibition Interpreting the Frame, curated by Boshko Boskovic, uses several photographic archives as a point of departure to commission new works by Helsinki and New York based artists. The primary source of inspiration was the rich collection of the Finnish Museum of Photography along with several photography collections from Russia and the United States. This initiative portrays artistic responses to the past through pictures from private family albums, institutional archives and historic documents. The works presented take many forms, including sculpture, drawing, film, video and site specific installation. The participating artists are Zeljka Blaksic, Liinu Grönlund, Tatiana Istomina, Jonna Kina, Tanja Koljonen, Juuso Noronkoski and Mikko Rikala.

Interpreting the Frame was on view at the HIAP - Helsinki International Artist Programme's Augusta Gallery, January 30 - February 22, 2014. The project was enabled by FCINY's Mobius Fellowhip Program. 

Reinterpreting the Frame was the second edition of the exhibition Interpreting the Frame, and was presented at the Finnish Museum of Photograpy, March 4 - June 7, 2015 . The exhibition featured comissioned works from Liinu Grönlund, Jonna Kina, Tanja Koljonen, Juuso Noronkoski and Mikko Rikala. In the new edition, less works were featured, but as a new twist, they were seen together with the original archival images that were chosen as their starting point. Here, the perspective of the archive came more clearly into focus. The exhibition was on view at the Finnish Museum of Photography's Angle space which gives Museum’s collections more visibility.

Liinu Grönlund, East River (2015), Video - loop, 6:40

Juuso Noronkoski  & Mikko Rikala, Abandoned Fingers (2015), detail of an installation

Juuso Noronkoski & Mikko Rikala, Clouds Over the Library (2015), Book, 196 pages, pigment print, 36 x 26cm

Juuso Noronkoski & Mikko Rikala, Pleased With Modernism (2015), Two pigment prints, 40 x 30cm & 27 x 23cm

The seven contemporary artists initially excavated and analysed materials by well-known as well as amateur photographers from different eras and topographies. Their working method is an act of translation where the original images become a foundation for creating new artifacts. The artists are challenged to come up with visual solutions through different modes of engagement, generated as a direct response from their interaction with archival materials. The resulting illustrations unlock and foreclose interpretive possibilities, allowing viewers to experience historicity affectively, creating an atmosphere and a space for reflection on the passage of time.

Tanja Koljonen, Sentiment (2015), Sculpture, wood, 135 cm x 105 x 20 cm

Jonna Kina, Translations (2015), Pencil on paper, 15.5 x 21.7cm, framed

Jonna Kina, Translations (2015), Pencil on paper, 15.5 x 21.7cm, framed

The aspiration for this project is to build a framework within which artists are inspired to produce new compositions by employing archival photographs that are subsequently decoded and reconstituted. This undertaking establishes an open field of dialogue between historic collections and diverse contemporary practices, leaving room for surprises and unexpected developments. Each newly commissioned work becomes an imaginative narrative placing the viewer between several realities, which continuously travel backward and forward. This proliferation of prospects is one of the most stimulating and rewarding outcomes that a perspective spectator discovers in experiencing the exhibited works.

Tanja Koljonen, What We See We Remember I (2015), Daguerrotype, late 1800's, United States, 9,7 x 8cm, What We See We Remember II (2015), mirror 33 x 27cm

Tatiana Istomina, Narrative machine: How we lived then (2014), Still image from a multimedia projection

Tatiana Istomina, Narrative machine: How we lived then (2014), Still image from a multimedia projection

The Interpreting the Frame exhibition is part of the FCINY's MOBIUS Fellowship Program and collaboration between FCINY, Boshko Boskovic and HIAP - Helsinki International Artist Programme. Boskovic spent a research period in Helsinki in June 2014 in order to familiarize himself with HIAP’s working methods and furthermore to do background research for the exhibition.

Exhibition documentation by Juuso Noronkoski. 

 

Zeljka Blaksic, Clearing Agent (2015), Video, 5:40

Exhibition view. Tatiana Istomina, Narrative machine: How we lived then (2014), Zeljka Blaksic, Clearing Agent (2015)

Boshko Boskovic presenting the Interpreting the Frame exhibition as part of Diving Through the Archive: A panel on artistic work with archive material at the Finnish Museum of Photography on January 28, 2015.

Boshko Boskovic is the Program Director of Residency Unlimited, an international residency program for artists and curators located in Brooklyn, New York. He is interested in interpreting curatorial trajectories and analyzing the role and function of other cultures, their hierarchy and implications in the art world system. Boskovic's curatorial practice is concerned with rethinking the common perception of the art world as a coherent, univocal system centered in New York.

HIAP 

HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme is one of the largest international residency centers in the Nordic and Baltic region. The activities at HIAP are based on thematic projects that focus on specific contemporary topics or aspects of artistic practice, collaborations with local art and cultural organizations, and open calls.

http://www.hiap.fi

RESIDENCY UNLIMITED

Residency Unlimited (RU) supports the creation, presentation and dissemination of contemporary art through a unique residency program and year-round public programs. We forge strategic partnerships with collaborating institutions to offer customized residencies designed to meet the individual needs of participating artists and curators.

http://www.residencyunlimited.org

MOBIUS

MOBIUS is a fellowship program for visual arts, museum and archive professionals based in New York, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Finland. The program enables transatlantic mobility and collaborative practices and supports long-lasting professional relationships.

http://m0bius.net

http://www.fciny.org/program/mobius-markus-strm
http://www.fciny.org/program/mobius-jenni-nurmenniemi
http://www.fciny.org/program/mobius