New publication:
IC-98. Hours, Years, Aeons – Moving Images and Other Projects 1998–2015
Published on the occasion of the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia in 2015, the artist monograph Hours, Years, Aeons – Moving Images and Other Projects 1998–2015 maps out the practice of artist duo IC-98 over the past two decades. It contextualises their new work, created for the Alvar Aalto Pavilion of Finland, in the continuum of their artistic investigations, as well as in a broader framework of poetics and politics.
IC-98′s artistic practice unravels the workings of time, uncovering hidden structures and foundational orders—and, in particular, their limits. In Venice, the ground on which European cultural hegemony is built is now giving way, drowned by forces both human-made and natural. The Giardini di Biennale, representing modernity as well as nation-state ideology, is being challenged by globalization as much as by the climate crisis. Here, the work of IC-98 reminds us that human power to control and conserve has its own definite bounds.
The monograph offers a rich spectrum of insights into the practice of IC-98: The introduction by curator Taru Elfving serves as a bridge to their new site-specific work in Venice, followed by an essay by professor Jukka Sihvonen, which guides readers through the conceptual labyrinth formed by their earlier works. A comprehensive selection of IC-98′s moving images, installations and publications is presented by the artists, while an interview by critic Martin Herbert delves into the wealth of cross-disciplinary cultural references and research that inform their oeuvre.
About IC-98
IC-98 (originally Iconoclast, founded in 1998) is an artist duo comprising Visa Suonpää (b. 1968) and Patrik Söderlund (b. 1974). Their projects often take the form of installations or publications combining research, text, drawing and animation. Their intensely abstracted, readily identifiable visual language weaves myriad bridges between the material and the mythical, the individual and the collective, nature and culture. Their work is rooted in investigations into the body politic, social formations, architectural constructions, different ecologies and the presence of human and natural history in everyday life.
IC-98 has exhibited extensively both in Finland and internationally. Their solo exhibitions include Conde Duque Madrid, Spain (2014), Beaconsfield, London UK (2014) and Turku Art Museum, Finland (2013). Their works have been presented in numerous group exhibitions, most recently at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Germany (2014), Laboratorio Arte Alameda, Mexico City (2014), Quartair, Netherlands (2014), Moonshin Museum, South Korea (2014), Kiasma, Helsinki (2014), MAMBA, Argentina (2012), Reykjavik Arts Festival (2012), Kumu Art Museum, Estonia (2012), Loft Project ETAGI, St Petersburg (2011), IPCNY, New York (2011).
About Frame Visual Art Finland
Frame Visual Art Finland, the book’s publisher, is an advocate for Finnish contemporary art. Frame supports international initiatives, facilitates professional partnerships, and encourages critical development of the field through grants, visitor programmes and residencies, seminars and talks, exhibition collaborations and network platforms. Frame is the coordinator of Finland’s participation in the Venice Biennale as well as other major international art events.
The monograph is available online at Issuu. The book can be ordered by mail from Frame Visual Art Finland at info [at] frame-finland.fi, and it will be available at the Biennale bookstores in Giardini and Arsenale.
Editors: Taru Elfving & Patrik Söderlund
Design: Minna Luoma / Candy Graphics Oy
Publisher: Frame Visual Art Finland
ISBN 978-952-68337-0-5 (hardback)
ISBN 978-952-68337-1-2 (PDF)
