[spectre] A Screening-evening of WALLFLOWER by Pilvi Takala (Finland) in TAZ Tallinn

[TAZ Tallinn (Rael Artel Gallery)]

A Screening-evening of WALLFLOWER by Pilvi Takala (Finland) in TAZ Tallinn

TAZ TALLINN (Rael Artel Gallery: Non-Profit Project Space)
Pärnu Road 27-13, Tallinn, Estonia
October 6, 2006
www.moskva80.com

The video work Wallflower is  based on a simple performative event in a
dance-evening, a version of the traditional Finnish summer pavilion dance.
Mostly elderly couples enjoy themselves dancing to old-fashioned music
while the artist, a younger woman, is sitting in a shiny dress alone the
whole evening waiting for somebody to ask her to dance. But everybody is
dancing only with their partners and never ask the stranger to dance, as
it would be appropriate in the proper dance-events in Finland. So the girl
is sitting, the hours are passing, the band finishes and everybody is
about to leave. What a unpleasant situation! What a foolish situation! On
the one hand, the piece evokes embarrassment and sweet-bitter discomfort
as well as raising the question, what is the artist looking for from the
territory that is clearly not hers? The territory she tries to "fish" is
shared by a particular community with a clear set of rules shared among
them. This in-between contradictory feeling seems to be shared among the
dancers in the some kind of spa in Pärnu as well as among viewer in front
of the screen. Wallflower is a smart interference, which points to the
characteristics and value system of one generation as well as unwritten
rules shared on national bases. The performative experiment comes to an
end with the same result as several of Pilvi's works before: the social
structure is functioning and protecting itself.

The artwork Wallflower was commissioned by Rael Artel Gallery: Non-Profit
Project Space in summer 2006.

The show is supported by Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, Finnish
Institute, Tallinn and Estonian Cultural Endowment.

A poster with a text by Rael Artel is available to download here (about
200 kilos):
www.moskva80.com/taz_tallinn_poster_pilvi.pdf

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Forever Yours,
Rael Artel
+ 372 56 460 983
+ 372 56 229 213
moskva80 at moskva80.com
www.moskva80.com