What if ? Questions in a library

November 6 - 30, 2020

What if the French Institute would be a space to intersect media-based culture and contemporary art practice? What if this space of traditional knowledge distribution would operate as a platform for radical digital practices? How to produce a space such that the social element present in the institute would engage with an artistic practice always in the making?

Insitut français de Finlande

yrjönkatu 36 00100 Helsinki

room

The exhibition departs from these questions, and aims to inquire on what may be the role of a library in the current times. A library defines a space for media, being books or audiovisual contents, where one can take time to decide what is of interest and possibly share with others. The artworks do not intend to disrupt this certain order of things. They propose an idea, a concept or a research that found digital form in this framework. Six artworks come together in the space of the library to trigger curiosity and open on questions relative to the ever-growing position of the Digital in the Arts and society at large.

The exhibition gathers six works by the artists; Felipe de Avila Franco-Br-, Steeve Bauras and Francois Bianco-Fr-, Flora Bouteille et Victor Villafagne-Fr-, Yassine Khaled-Mar- Joakim Pusenius-Fi-, Nicolina Stylianou-Gr-. Their practices have in common both a stand on political implication of arts in society and a research on material-based practice. Their visual works in the French Institute are connected and use the tiny computer RaspberryPi4. This tiny computer and the software used in the exhibition are based on Open Source technology; this open technology is free to use, improve and share. This philosophy, or way of doing and thinking, refers to digital commoning practices and operates as the vibrant core of Station of Commons work. Furthermore, the audiovisual content of the artworks will be available on-line.

Grégoire Rousseau : stationofcommons.org Nicolina Stylianou: nicolinastylianou.com /sensoriumspace.com
Felipe de Avila: imagna.wixsite/felipedeavila
Flora Bouteille: florabouteille.com
Joakim Pusenius: Joakimpusenius.com François Bianco : francois-bianco.com
Steeve Bauras: cargocollective.com/steevebauras