Martta Tuomaala‘s installation FinnCycling-Soumi-Perkele! Volume 2 is shown at the Light Moves Festival of Screendance in Limerick, Ireland until the 11th of November.
FinnCycling-Soumi-Perkele! dives into the dark side of Finland. Perkele is a cursing word in Finnish and refers to the devil. Suomi means Finland in Finnish, but Soumi means absolutely nothing. It is a combination of politics, dark humour and protest rap in a form of an indoor cycling exercise: one woman’s gritty protest against all-male austerity politics. The director of the work has had enough. She serves as a fitness instructor in the workout program and the message is clear: ”Yes, You Can-NOT take this anymore!”.
Martta Tuomaala (b. 1983) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Helsinki and she gained a Master’s degree in Fine Art from Aalto University in 2014. She focuses on various forms of film, video and installation. Tuomaala’s artistic practice also involves elements of socially engaged art and militant research. Common themes in her artworks are workers’ everyday life, struggles of different individuals and communities, and abuse of power. Tuomaala has worked in different low-income fields for several years, and her own experiences have inspired her to create projects emphasizing workers’ rights issues.
Light Moves Festival of Screendance 8.-11. November
www.lightmoves.ie/installation-film1/finncycling
FinnCycling-Soumi-Perkele! –Facebook page
FinnCycling-Soumi-Perkele! Volume 2 -Video installation snippet
Images: Still shots of the installation FinnCycling-Soumi-Perkele! Volume 2