The Chimney Project and “We are Open!”
August 26–September 1, 2013
Helsinki, Finland
www.checkpointhelsinki.fi
The Chimney Project is the first commissioned art production of Checkpoint Helsinki. It will feature new artworks by Ahmet Öğüt, Klas Eriksson and Bita Razavi. The old chimney at the center of the Lasipalatsi square in Helsinki, Finland is the landmark of the project, but the artworks are mobile, momentary or in the process of their making.
Ahmet Öğüt’s artwork Fahrenheit 451: Reprinted brings together freedom of speech and firemen
Ahmet Öğüt’s project’s reference point is the Ray Bradbury novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and its 1966 film adaptation by Franҫois Truffaut. In the novel and film, firemen are destroying books by burning them.
Fahrenheit 451: Reprinted flips the original story. It brings forbidden books to the readers’ hands with the help of a touring firetruck and its firemen. The firetruck carries a list of books that have been forbidden for various absurd or surprising reasons. The viewer is given the possibility to choose a book from the selection, and the firemen will manufacture it on location using a set of book-printing device placed in the fire truck. Fahrenheit 451: Reprinted will be touring Helsinki and Espoo August 26–September 1, 2013. For route information, please visit www.checkpointhelsinki.fi.
Ahmet Öğüt was born in Diyarbakir, Turkey in 1981. He lives and works in Istanbul, Amsterdam and Berlin.
Klas Eriksson: Forza Rosa Fluff will momentarily take over the Lasipalatsi square
Klas Eriksson’s Forza Rosa Fluff is a temporary sculpture that will happen on the Lasipalatsi square in the center of Helsinki, and transform our experience of the location. The monumental, yet immaterial work will be a result of a collaborative act of a group of people who will gather on the square. Eriksson is interested in the collectivity of various subcultures and methods of interacting with the public space.
Forza Rosa Fluff happens on Saturday 31 August at the Lasipalatsi square. Klas Eriksson was born in 1976 is Sweden. He lives and works in Stockholm.
Bita Razavi’s Some Critique from Our Parents examines the family life of artists
Some Critique from Our Parents is a series of videos that explores the relationship of artists and their parents. The artwork consists of interviews with artists’ parents, wherein they discuss how they understand the art and practice of their children. Some Critique from Our Parents examines, in a peculiar way, the profession and personal life of contemporary artists.
In the edition commissioned by Checkpoint Helsinki, Razavi will interview the parents of Ahmet Öğüt and Klas Eriksson. The process starts during The Chimney Project, and the finished artwork will be exhibited later this year.
Bita Razavi was born in 1983 in Tehran, Iran. She lives and works in Helsinki, Tallinn and Tehran.
“We are Open! Organising openness in artistic, curatorial and institutional practices”
29–30 August 2013
The international seminar “We are Open! Organising openness in artistic, curatorial and institutional practices” is a part of Checkpoint Helsinki’s program in August 2013 along with The Chimney Project. The seminar explores the concept and practices of openness in producing and mediating contemporary art.
The two-day event starts with talks of the invited speakers. On the second day the audience and the speakers have a possibility to delve into the themes in the form of a facilitated open space-workshop, and find ways to apply the themes in their own practices and needs.
The invited speakers are Aaron Levy, Juha Huuskonen, Can Gülcü, Katharina Morawek, Matteo Lucchetti, Nora Sternfeld, Dana Yahalomi, Oliver Marchart and Ganzeer.
The seminar is organised together with Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma on 29 to 30 August 2013. Enrollment by 22 August: seminar [at] checkpointhelsinki.fi
Checkpoint Helsinki is a new, non-profit art organisation that commissions and produces artworks and projects by emerging international artists. The Chimney Project and the seminar are Checkpoint Helsinki’s launching event.
Checkpoint Helsinki is supported by Finnish Cultural Foundation, Kone Foundation, Swedish Cultural Foundation and Ministry of Education and Culture.
Further information:
Communications Officer Saara Karhunen
T +358 45 1400 405 / saara.karhunen [at] checkpointhelsinki.fi
