Timo Viialainen: Engagement
Saturday 4.9. 21:00
Address: Vanha Viinatehdas (Manilla) – Itäinen Rantakatu 64b, 20810 Turku
Duration: 30-40 min
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Engagement
Almost every building has a cabinet that has a handle inside it, and turning that handle shuts down electricity. After the blackout all the electronic devices with a battery will eventually shut down too. It is possible to shut down every space that is connected to electricity, as all spaces are always behind a main switch.
Main switches have been used to ensure safe electrical working during emergencies and life-saving operations such as bank robberies and controlling crowds, or ending unwanted happenings like political and religious gatherings. They have also been used to instantly stop electrically amplified musical events – especially when the music has been loud and interpreted as disturbing noise. Often the decision to shut down electricity has been made spontaneously during a live situation and under pressure. Maybe because it has been possible, and maybe because the impact is so instant and effective.
Manilla’s Vanha Viinatehdas first got connected to electricity probably in the early 1900’s after the booze factory became a rope factory. Nowdays the space is used for many different purposes. Multipurpose space is supposed to transform to fill various wants and needs. In this case I want to examine the powers that are activated here in this space, and examine the conditionality of the existence of those powers in relation to electricity and the change caused by a sudden blackout.
Timo Viialainen works in the fields of visual art, performance art and sound art. Though most part of his work has been live performances his contemporary work usually takes its shape in conceptual sculptures that often have some activating element in relation to the viewer. His interest lay in intuitive prelinguistic experience and contradictory concepts that can be found in the different capitalised environments that we exist in. As a performance artist he has been performing actively since 2011 in numerous different festivals and events in 19 different countries. He is a graduate from the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki.