Director of Photography, editing and visual effects (non 3D) by Aleksandra Näveri
Urban Chaos
two channeled video and thesis work | spring 2021 | 8 min
Exhibited in Kuvataiteen Valtakunta in Mänttä-Vilppula 11.6.-29.8.2021
Exhibited at TAMK Fine Art 2021 graduate degree show in Finlayson Art Area 5.- 28.11.2021 .
During my daily walks near the Ranta-Tampella shore area, a huge construction project was started in the hopes of building a new neighborhood. From the spring 2019 to the winter of 2020, the area changed radically every week, and I was fascinated by how connected I became with that environment. I was mesmerized of how exciting it was to wake up at 5 am to see the first rays of light hitting the rough concrete and stone piles, or how well you could discover glowing city lights on the opposite shore of the lake at midnight. Eventually I realized that while the space developed and grew, I also could recognize evolvement in myself. There was demolition and reconstruction, ugliness and beauty, hustle and calm, strength and vulnerability… In some funny way it felt like a peer support, and I wanted to document that period of time and connection as much as I could before it was gone forever. Due to these experiences, Urban Chaos, a two-channel video installation, was born to portray today’s contemporary world in city areas.
The sense of attachment towards urban spaces can mean different things to different people on both emotional and cognitive levels. Certain environments might bring memories from our personal life, and others just easiness for our everyday work trips. What I’m interested in showing in the video is the way we can search freedom within urban chaos. Certain natural elements and the structure of areas can become personal havens for certain populations, and we can find a piece of quietness or security in the most bizarre places in that urban environment.
In the video we see young adults move in slow motion in a very mixed urban space, such as construction areas, tunnels, streets, parks, and even a church. The style is high-powered and dramatic, while the camera follows the movement of the models through the urban space; it easily reminds one of commercial film, with high-toned rhythm and energetic cuts. I grew up around media, whether that was TV, movies, magazines, or advertisements; it was my first touch to visual world and creativity. For a long time, those pieces of media were my art galleries, and I became fascinated by how I could create something like it too. It was much later, when I discovered installations and contemporary art videos, that I learned there are much bigger worlds available to explore.
Today the mix of art and media in the medium of video has become a popular subject of controversy. Commercial films might follow a more artistic vision than before, and still be aware of current trends and styles, while art videos might borrow typical mass media topics and characterizations to experiment with. It is fascinating to see how both art and media are beginning to borrow qualities from each other and to be able to open new windows of perception on the creative culture which is constantly changing.
