The exhibition features sculptures and text-based reliefs. The reliefs are based on combinations of two, sometimes three, words. I have gathered words from various language games—words that would not otherwise encounter each other in human language. In the works, I have combined, for example, contemporary socio-political terms with concepts from human anatomy and art history. From the word pairs that emerged through experimentation, I selected for realization those combinations that opened up new ways of perceiving the present moment.
In the execution of the plaster reliefs and their typography, I drew inspiration from ancient stone tablets and medieval manuscripts. The works address, among other things, the relationship between the economy and nature, the death of utopias, and the place of our fossil-based civilization in the history of humankind.
In the sculptures, I either modify existing everyday objects or combine two objects that would not normally meet. The sculptures incorporate riot fences, grave candles, Pirkka beer, IKEA furniture, exercise weights, candy, fishing equipment, and aquarium supplies. The works deal, among other things, with letting go, the dual nature of empathy, and the evaporation of the shared boundaries that structure human life.
The relief Eyeball Slavery, part of the relief series, can be interpreted as addressing the operating logic of the digital world, or it can be seen as a general depiction of the dominance of visuality over the other senses. When perceived through the eyes, things appear precise, clearly delineated, and above all separate. The world is divided into the perceiving individual and external objects. While working on the exhibition, I was drawn to various crossings of categories, mergers, and that which is non-individual in human experience. The reduced visuality of the works reflects this intention.
The works do not share a single unified subject or theme; instead, they are connected by a certain artistic approach aimed at creating connections. Rather than subject-driven working, the method behind the exhibition has been to think of everything together and all at once.
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and the Greta and Alfred Runeberg Foundation.
Nestori Syrjälä works on themes related to ecological crises and alternative futures, using a variety of media from sculpture to performance. In Syrjälä’s works, diverse, social and personal themes dissolve and blend into each other. In recent years, Syrjälä’s works have been exhibited at the Basel Social Club, the Kiasma Collection Exhibition, the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum and the Athens Conservatoire.
Download the list of works here.
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