Artist Joni Kärkkäinen and dance artist Jukka Tarvainen create their first mutual artwork for Helsinki Biennial. The Wall (2020) invites people to encounter art through movement and self-initiated activity. The work, placed at Töölönlahti in the center of Helsinki, is produced by Zodiak.
Ramps, slopes, and a giant gaping hole in the middle: the visitor is offered various ways of going over, under or around The Wall, an installation by Joni Kärkkäinen and Jukka Tarvainen that invites people to encounter art through movement and self-initiated activity. Tarvainen will additionally direct a performance Alas sieltä – ja muita huomautuksia (Get Down From There – And Other Warnings) at the end of August, in which pro parkour athletes and professional and amateur dancers interact with The Wall.
Joni Kärkkäinen (b. 1988) is an up-and-coming artist who is currently studying sculpture at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts. Kärkkäinen uses his art as a lens for studying the world and attempting to come to grips with the social structures around us, offering an alternative take on reality through sculpture, photograph and video. Kärkkäinen says that his ideas are inspired by found materials and the stories they tell.
Jukka Tarvainen (b. 1979) is a dance artist who has performed in a wide variety of works by numerous choreographers and directors. He also works as a choreographer himself. Tarvainen has been an accomplished practitioner of acrobatics and parkour since 2003. Performances staged in settings outside the theatre and movement in public spaces are among his special areas of interest.
There will be different kind of activities and small events organized around The Wall throughout the summer. The events calendar will be published later on in the spring.