MIKA TAANILA

* film director / visual artist

* born 1965 in Helsinki

* lives and works in Helsinki

SHORT BIO

Mika Taanila is an artist working fluently in between documentary film-making, avant-garde cinema and visual arts. His films deal with the issues of urban artificial surroundings and futuristic utopias of contemporary science.

The Future Is Not What It Used To Be (2002) is a portrait of one of the unsung pioneers of early electronic art, Finnish nuclear scientist / artist Erkki Kurenniemi. A Physical Ring (2002) is a short found-footage film, based on anonymous scientific test material from the 1940s. RoboCup99 (2000) is a sports film about a football World Cup tournament for autonomous robots. Reasearchers world wide have created this collective annual event to find out about the new horizons and potential dangers of artificial intelligence. Futuro – A New Stance For Tomorrow (1998) is a dramatic epoch on the rise and fall of a Finnish plastic weekend cottage for the 21^st Century.

Optical Sound (2005) is a six-minute short film based on The Symphony #2 for Dot Matrix Printers by [The User]. Obsolete office technology transforms into musical instruments of the future. The film is a haunting mix of beautiful cinematography, dirty security camera footage, and rough animation photocopied straight onto clear 35mm film without camera. The Zone of Total Eclipse (2006) is based on scientific footage shot during the total eclipse of 1945 in Kokkola, Finland. The film consists of two identical reels. The other one is positive (the sun) and the other one is negative (the moon). The reels are projected on top of each other, and a slight offset in the synchronization of the projectors creates a ghost-like, eerie flickering effect.

Taanila’s short films have been screened altogether at more than 300 international film festivals and special events. The first major solo exhibition of Taanila’s cinematic works was held at Zurich’s Migrosmuseum in April-May 2005. Before that they’ve been exhibited in dozens of international group shows, such as The 7^th Istanbul Biennial (2001), The 3^rd Berlin Biennial (2004), and Manifesta 4 (Frankfurt-Am-Main, 2002). In June 2012 Taanila participated in dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel with a premiere of a new three-channel video installation The Most Electrified Town In Finland. It’s based on a nuclear power feature documentary which Taanila and cinematographer Jussi Eerola started in 2004 (work-in-progress). Taanila’s new short film Six Day Run premiered at IFFR Rotterdam in January 2013. It’s a 15-minute piece about one of the most extreme individual endurance sports dating back to to the 1870s, featuring Finnish ultra distance runner Ashprihanal Pekka Aalto.

 

 

 

 

”An artist, filmmaker and documentarist, Mika Taanila integrates and goes beyond the different registers of contemporary art. His films are built according to the principles of connection, interaction and collaboration. Between sound and image, the latest electronic culture and the technological aspirations of the 1960s, between documentary film and advanced experiment, between fiction and reality, Taanila is working out a novel and protean approach to our representations of modernity and progress through his futuristic techno-utopias.” Stéphanie Moisdon Trembley – Manifesta 4 Short Guide, 2002

”A profound interest in science fiction, and a mastery of documentary film is evident in the work of Mika Taanila. Sophisticated in terms of research as well as in their use and editing of historical material, Taanila’s films are not only informative but also dig deeper.”  Andreas Schlaegel, Angela Rosenberg, Flash Art

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FILMOGRAPHY:

Filmografia (selection):

Six Day Run (2013, 15 min, DCP/35mm)

The Most Electrified Town In Finland (2012, 15 min, 3 x HD video)

Twilight (2010, 6 min, 2 x video)

The Zone of Total Eclipse (2006, 6 min, 2x16mm)

Optical Sound (2005, 6 min, 35 mm)

Future Is Not What It Used To Be (2002, 52 min, 35 mm)

A Physical Ring (2002, 4 min, 35 mm)

RoboCup99 (2000, 25 min, 35 mm)

Futuro – A New Stance for Tomorrow (1998, 28 min, 35 mm)

Pori (1998, 35 min, 3 x 16mm, live music by Circle)

solo exhibitions:

(TITLE TO BE CONFIRMED), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art In Helsinki, 1.11.2013 – 2.3.2014

CAM, Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Louis, 24.5.-4.8. 2013

The Most Electrified Town In Finland, TENT, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 23.1.-3.2.2013

Installaatioita, Galleria Heino, Helsinki, Finland 12.6.-4.7.2010

On The Spot #4, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany, 25.7.-7.9.2008

Zone d’éclipse totale, Dazibao, Centre de photographies actuelles, 11.10.-10.11.2007, Montréal, Canada

Lost and Found, S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Belgium, 2.12.2006 – 18.3.2007 (catalogue, together with Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen)

Valotuksia / Exposures, Galleria Heino, Helsinki, Finalnd, 12.8.-3.9.2006

Une histoire saccadée, 9.3. –28.4.2006, Institut finlandais, Paris, France (together with Erkki Kurenniemi)

Human Engineering, 2.4. – 22.5.2005 Migrosmuseum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland (catalogue)

Hotel Futuro, 5.3. – 23.4.2005, Spacex Gallery, Exeter, UK

The Future Is Not What It Used To Be, 21.10. – 14.11. 2004, HTTP:// Gallery, London, UK

Fysikaalinen rengas / A Physical Ring, Kontti, Kiasma The Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, 6.9.-27.10. 2002 (four screens)

 

group exhibitions (selection):

Aichi Triennale, Nagoya, Japan, 10.8.- 27.10.2013

 

Social Videoscapes from the North Looking to the World and Viceversa,  Elverket, Tammisaari, Finland,

24.5. 2013–8.9.2013

Systemics Series #1 Certain peculiar things and ideas, often failed, or on humans, machines,

and running algorithms, Kunsthal Aarhus, Denmark, 11.1.-13.3.2013

dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Geremany, 9.6.-16.9.2012

 

Architektonika, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany, 15.9.2011-12.2.2012 (Futuro)

La chanson, Sevilla Museum of Contemporary Art, Spain, 21.6.-13.11.2011 (Stimulus Progression)

Arctic Hysteria: TranceStates, Visions, and Hallucinations in Contemporary Finnish Art, Kuntsi Museum of

Modern Art, Vaasa, Finalnd, 20.8.-19.9.2010 (Futuro, RoboCup99, The Future Is Not…, Sommerreise)

Arctic Hysteria: TranceStates, Visions, and Hallucinations in Contemporary Finnish Art, DA2 Domus Artium 2002, Salamanca, Spain, 30.3.-20.6.2010 (Futuro, RoboCup99, The Future Is Not…, Sommerreise)

Arctic Hysteria: TranceStates, Visions, and Hallucinations in Contemporary Finnish Art, Kunstahalle, Helsinki, Finland, 21.8-4.10.2009 (Futuro, RoboCup99, The Future Is Not…, Sommerreise)

Arctic Hysteria: TranceStates, Visions, and Hallucinations in Contemporary Finnish Art, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary, 5.2.-12.4.2009 (Futuro, RoboCup99, The Future Is Not…, Sommerreise)

Arctic Hysteria: TranceStates, Visions, and Hallucinations in Contemporary Finnish Art, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York City, U.S.A., 1.6.2008-15.9.2008 (Futuro, RoboCup99, The Future Is Not…)

Des usages de la technologie, Quatre artistes finlandais, Espace multimédia gantner, Bourogne, France, 5.4.-28.6.2008 (RoboCup99)

New Stance for Tomorrow, Sketch Gallery, London, UK, 19.1.-29.2.2008 (Futuro – A New Stance for Tomorrow)

 

Kuvan jälkeen / Image And After, Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, 11.1.2008-11.1.2009 (A Physical Ring / four screens, Optical Sound)

 

Wäinö Aaltosen museo, Turku, Finland, 25.5.-16.9.2007 (Futuro – A New Stance for Tomorrow)

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, USA, 7.4.2007-7.4.2008 (Future Is Not What it Used to Be)

Eclipse, RAM gallery as a part of the IFF Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 25.1.2007-25.2.2007 (Zone of Total Eclipse)

Dreamlands Burn, Kunstahalle, Budapest, Hungary, 7.12.2006 – 28.2.2007 (Futuro – A New Stance for Tomorrow, Future Is Not…)

Ear Appeal, Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria, 18.10.-18.11.2006 (Stimulus Progression)

Shanghai Biennale, China, 5.9. –  5.11.2006 (Futuro)

Thank You For The Music, Gallery Sprüth Magers Lee , London, UK, 29.6. – 2.9. 2006 (Thank You for The Music)

Lustforlife, The Breeder Gallery, Athens, Greece, 22.6.-29.7.2006 (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Tracking the Traces, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montréal, Canada, 23.4.-3.6.2006 (A Physical Ring)

Music For  People, Dundee Center for Contemporary Art, UK, 25 February 2006 – 26 March 2006 (Optical Sound)

Thank You For The Music, Gallery Sprüth Magers Lee, Munich, Germany, 24.11.2005 – 11.2.2006 (Thank You For The Music)

Electrohype, The 3rd Nordic Biennial for Computer Based and High Tech Art, Konstmuseum Gothenburg, Sweden, 19.2.-17.4.2005 (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Etelä-Karjalan taidemuseo, Finland, 26.2. – 27.3.2005 (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Electrohype, The 3rd Nordic Biennial for Computer Based and High Tech Art, Malmö Konsthall, Sweden, 27.11.2004-23.1.2005 (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art, Yerevan,  Armenia, 26.11.-30.11.2004 (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Situations construites, Attitudes, Space for Contemporary Arts, Geneva, Switzerland, 23.11.-18.12. 2004 (Futuro)

Ipeg.image.sound.machine,  Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany, 25.3. – 18.4. 2004  (Thank You For The Music)

Gokann, The 109^th Exhibition of Finnish Artists / The Fourth Triennale, Taidehalli / Kunsthalle, Helsinki, Finland, 13.3. – 4.4.2004 (Futuro)

3rd Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, 14.2. – 18.4. 2004, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Heavy Snowflakes: Exteresa Space for Contemporary Art, Mexico City, Mexico, 30.1.– 29.2. 2004,

Capacete Entretenimentos, Escola de Cinema e Audiovisual Darcy Ribeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8.5.-6.6.2004, Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires – MAMbA, Argentina 25.11.- 30.12. 2004
Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru 12.1. – 27.2.2005, Lönnströmin taidemuseo, Rauma, Finland, 12.3.-29.5.2005. (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Prosessi / Process, Kiasma Museum of Contemprary Art in Helsinki, 17.10-16.11. 2003 (Maus & Orlovski: Valuma-alue)

 

GOKANN, The 109^th Exhibition of Finnish Artists / The Fourth Triennale, Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto, Japan, 5.-7.10. 2003 (Futuro)

SonarMatica 10 Years, Sonar, International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Arts, Barcelona, Spain, 12.-14.6. 2003 (Futuro, Thank You For The Music)

Prophetic Corners, The 6th Periferic Biennial, Polytechnic Museum, Iasi, Rumania, 30.5. –14.6. 2003, Bucharest, Rumania 27.6. – 25.7. 2003 (Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Todos somos pecadores, Arte Nórdico Contemporáneo, El museo de Arté Contemporáneo, Monterrey, Mexico,  27.3. 2003 – (Futuro)

Transparente: interni e esterni, Centro Nazionale per le Arti Contemporanee, Rome, Italy, 20.3. – 11.5. 2003 (Futuro, Future Is Not What It Used To Be)

Media City 9, Artcite Inc. Gallery, Ontario, Canada, 12.2. – 8.3. 2003 (A Physical Ring / three screens)

Radar, Tyco Brahe Planetarium, Copenhagen, Danmark, 27.-29.9. 2002 (A Physical Ring / three

screens)

Animation: videos, Centre d’édition contemporaine, Genève, Switzerland, 17.9. – 22.11. 2002

(A Physical Ring / one screen)

Ars Electronica / Cyberarts 2002, O.K. Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz, Austria, 7.-12.9. 2002

(A Physical Ring / three screens)

Todos somos pecadores, Arte Nórdico Contemporáneo, The Museo Tamayo, Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico,  29.8. 2002 – 12.1. 2003 (Futuro)

Viva Helsinki, Sonar, International Festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Arts, Barcelona, Spain,

13.-15.6. 2002 (A Physical Ring / three screen installation)

Manifesta 4, European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, 25.5. – 25.8. 2002

(A Physical Ring / three screen installation)

Whirlpool And Surfaces, Art Moscow, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia, 23.-28.4. 2002 (Futuro)

Popcorn And Politics, Kiasma, The Museum of Contemporary Art In Helsinki,

16.2. 2002 –2003 (Birdy)

The 7^th International Istanbul Biennial, Turkey, 22.9.-17.11. 2001 (Futuro , RoboCup99)

Voltti, Rauma City Art Museum, Finland, 18.8. –25.11. 2001 (RoboCup99)

Entropy in The Living Room, Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany, 14.7-9.9.2001 (RoboCup99)

Les Années Pop, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France 15.3.-18.6. 2001 (Futuro)

Vision & Reality, Lousiana, Copenhagen, Danmark 25.9.2000 – 14.1. 2001 (Futuro)

Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria 9/2000 (RoboCup99)

Media Art Fest, Pietari,  Russia 19.6. – 12.7. 2000 (RoboCup99)

The Future Is Now! Stockholm Art Fair / 1% Artspace, Sweden 5/2000 (Futuro)

Ektroverde@Galleria Kari Kenetti, Helsinki, 23.3. 2000 (Ektroverde installation)

Outoäly / Alien Intelligence, Kiasma, Helsinki, 11.2.-28.5. 2000 (RoboCup99)

The Day of The Donkey Day, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland 11/1999 (Futuro)

 

awards:

2007:

Kettupäivät, Helsinki, Main Prize in the first national competition for Experimental Films (“The Zone of Total Eclipse”)

45^th Ann Arbor Film Festival, U.S.A. Honorable Mention (“The Zone of Total Eclipse”)

2005:

19. Stuttgarter Filmwinter – Festival for Expanded Media: Honorary Mention for Team Work (“Optical Sound”)

Hamburg Short Film Festival International Competition: Honorary Mention (“Optical Sound”)

Tampere XXXV Film Festival: First Prize in National Competition in the category for films under 30 mins (”Optical Sound”)

2002:

Art Book of The Year, Finnish Art Society  (“Futuro. Tomorrow’s House From Yesterday”)

Ars Electronica, Honorary Mention in the category of Digital Musics (“A Physical Ring”)

2000:

ZKM Internationaler Medien Kunstpreis. Honorary Mention. (“Inauguration Of A Spacebank”)

1999:

Tampere XXIX Film Festival: First Prize in National Competition in the category for films under 30 mins (”Futuro – A New Stance for Tomorrow”)

1998:

Blue Sea Film Festival, Rauma 8/98, Third Prize (“Thank You For The Music”)

1997:

Best TV-film at Avanca ’97-festival in Avanca, Portugal (“Thank You For The Music”)

Tampere XXVII Film Festival: First Special Prize in National Competition in the category for films under 30 mins (“Thank You For The Music”)

1996:

Oulun 3. music video festival: a mention of honour (“Valerian”)

ÄKT’s Muuvi music video competition: 2nd prize (”Gimme Some Water”)

1995:

Oulun 2. music video festival: 1st prize (“(Just A) Little Bit More”)

Oulun 2. music video festival: a mention of honour (“Gimme Some Water”)

ÄKT’s Muuvi music video competition: 1st prize (“(Just A) Little Bit More”)

1994:

ÄKT’s Muuvi music video competition: 2nd prize (“Birdy”)

1993:

MTV Europe – European Video Song Contest: 5th place (“Birdy”)

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弥卡 塔尼拉

* 电影导演 / 视觉艺术家

* 1965年出生于赫尔辛基

* 现生活并工作于赫尔辛基

 

简介

 

弥卡 塔尼拉是一名艺术家，其创作在纪实录像、前卫电影与视觉艺术之间游刃有余。其影像作品讨论城市中的人造环境与当代科学的未来式乌托邦。

 

《未来不再是从前那样了》 (2002)重现了芬兰核研科学家、艺术家Erkki Kurenniemi，他是少为人知的早期电子艺术的先锋人物。《一枚物理圆环》 (2002)是一部由搜集到的素材剪辑而成的短片，这些素材大多来自上世纪40年代的无名科学实验。《机器人世界杯99》(2000)是一部体育影片，讲述了自动机器人的世界杯足球锦标赛。来自世界各地的研究者通过创办这一年度赛事来找寻人工智能的新视野及潜在威胁。《未来：为未来的一种新姿态》(1998)则记录了21世纪位于芬兰的一所塑料建造的周末度假屋戏剧性的起落沉浮。

 

《可视的声音》(2005)是一部时长六分钟的短片，一首由“用户”通过操作针式打印机而创造的第二交响曲。过时的办公科技转变为未来的乐器。这部影片是严肃摄影、安保监控录像与粗拙的动画抓拍的可怖合成，最终呈现在清晰的35mm电影胶片上，而非摄像机。《全日食地带》(2006)的创作基于一部记录下1945年芬兰科科拉全日食的科学录像片段。这部影片分截然不同的上下两卷，上卷为正片（代表日），下卷为负片（代表月），这两卷在投映时相互交叠，由于投影机的同步性所产生的轻微抵消，让画面笼罩在一种鬼魅怪异的闪烁效果中。

 

塔尼拉的短片曾参展300余场国际电影节与特别活动。塔尼拉的首个主要个展是于2005年4月至5月在苏黎世Migrosmuseum举办的电影作品展。在那之前，这些作品也曾参与过十几场国际展映，比如第七届伊斯坦布尔双年展(2001)，第三届柏林双年展(2004)，第四届欧洲宣言展(Frankfurt-Am-Main, 2002)。2012年6月，塔尼拉参加了第十三届卡塞尔文献展，其全新三屏影像装置《芬兰最电气化的城镇》在此首映。自2004年至今，塔尼拉与电影放映技师Jussi Eerola合作创作的一部讲述核能的纪实片是上述新作的发展基础。塔尼拉的最新短片《六日追[LG1] 》于2013年1月首映于鹿特丹电影节（IFFR）。这部时长15分钟的影片讲述了早在19世纪70年代的一个个人运动承受极限的个案，主人公是当时的芬兰超长跑运动员Ashprihanal Pekka Aalto。

 

“弥卡 塔尼拉是一名艺术家、电影人与纪录者，并将当代艺术融入其间甚而超逾之。其影片构建于关联、互动与合作的原则之上，同时跨越声与影，最新的电子文化与上世纪六十年代的技术启迪，纪实影片与先进实验，和科幻与现实。塔尼拉通过其新颖奇特、千变万化的未来式技术乌托邦揭示了我们对现代性与人类进步的表述。”Stéphanie Moisdon Trembley – 第四届欧洲宣言展导言, 2002

 

“显然，弥卡 塔尼拉的创作彰显出其对科幻的深刻兴趣、对纪实影片的驾轻就熟。塔尼拉的影像作品是复杂而极具洞察力的，这来自其丰富的研究及对历史素材的征用与剪辑，因而它们不只具备充实的信息，更深挖向本质。” Andreas Schlaegel, Angela Rosenberg, Flash Art