Finland will participate in the 55th annual international Venice Biennale with the most extensive set of exhibitions ever. Falling Trees, curated by Gruppo 111 (Mika Elo, Marko Karo and Harri Laakso), presents the exhibitions of the Finnish artists Terike Haapoja and Antti Laitinen in the Nordic Pavilion and in Finland’s Alvar Aalto Pavilion. This is the first time that the Nordic Pavilion will have hosted the solo exhibition of a Finnish artist.
The works of both Haapoja and Laitinen challenge the visitor to examine the relationship between humans and nature. In the Nordic Pavilion, Haapoja will construct a research laboratory of sorts, in which she will harness science and technology as tools for investigating the basic questions of art and life – memory, relationship with nature and mortality. Laitinen’s works of photographic and video art are based on performances travelling in the landscape of tragicomedy and the absurd.
Follow the progress of the Falling Trees project at the exhibition’s own blog, where the curators and artists shed light on the themes of the exhibition and talk about how they prepare for zero hour.
Follow the blog (link: www.frame-finland.fi/fallingtrees)