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F2F: NEW MEDIA ART FROM FINLAND
MAKES ITS U.S. DEBUT IN LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles -- Finland, the nation that pioneered digital
and wireless communications, premieres its showcase of digital
arts, F2F: New Media Art from Finland, at the New Wight Gallery
at UCLA on September 16.
"Finland is the world's number one nation
in terms of innovations in telecommunications," says
Anneli Halonen, cultural counselor at the Embassy of Finland
in Washington, D.C., who originated the concept of F2F.
"My hope is that F2F will put a human face
on high technology, which many people consider to be alienating,"
continues Halonen.
"Los Angeles is arguably the center of
the digital world in the new economy, and that is why we wanted
to begin the U.S. tour of F2F here," says Juulia Kauste,
executive director of the Finnish Foundation for the Visual
Arts and producer of F2F.
F2F is an exhibition of interactive experimental
installations by twelve talented media artists. The artists
combine the most innovative uses of new technology with a
sincere, yet playful consideration for human sensitivities.
They experiment with various forms of expression from infrared
sensors and custom cameras to three-dimensional synthetic
worlds.
The exhibition explores three themes - the border
between digital and analog expression; social interaction
in the digital era; and new digital worlds. The works are
out of the box and off the screen; interactive experimental
installations - organic, textural, and minimalist, allowing
the audience to interact with the artwork on many levels.
"The name F2F is derived from f2f, an acronym
used in Internet lingo for non-electronic face to face communication
that takes place outside of the computer," says Marko
Tandefelt, exhibition curator and technical advisor.
"We hope F2F will become a forum for creating
synergies, virtually and face to face, between the worlds
of art, culture and beyond in Finland and the United States,"
says Tandefelt.
The featured artists and their works are HAME/[a
dress] by Laura Beloff and Maex Decker; IceBorg by Andy Best
and Merja Puustinen; The Battle Over Indifferent Minds by
Hanna Haaslahti; mirror++ by Juha Huuskonen; SOB by Marita
Liulia; Aquarium by Teijo Pellinen & Co.; An untitled
work by Leena Saarto; hit2Morrow by Kristian Simolin; Need
by Tuomo Tammenpää; and Mother, Child by Heidi Tikka.
The exhibition was designed by Ilkka Suppanen.
The exhibition curator and technical advisor was Marko Tandefelt,
and Bryn Jayes was the curatorial advisor. The producer was
Juulia Kauste. Anneli Halonen was the project director.
F2F: New Media Art from Finland runs from September
16 to October 6 at the New Wight Gallery at UCLA, 1100 Dickson
Art Center, Los Angeles. Gallery hours: Wed. - Sun., noon
- 7 p.m. On-campus parking is $6 and is available in lot 3.
Co-organized by the Embassy of Finland, Washington,
D.C., and Finnish Foundation for the Visual Arts, F2F: New
Media Art from Finland is an international arts event with
venues in major U.S. cities throughout 2000-2001. F2F consists
of screenings, exhibitions and media art events; collaborations
through the Internet; lectures and discussion forums; as well
as artist in residence exchanges.
Local partners in Los Angeles are the Department
of Design | Media Arts, School of the Arts and Architecture
at UCLA and the Consulate General of Finland, and EZTV as
the host for a production residency to be organized concurrently
with the F2F exhibition. During the residency, a new media
project will be realized as collaboration between Jari Haanperä,
Mirka Flander and EZTV artists Michael Masucci and Kate Johnson.
F2f has been generously sponsored by: Sonera,
Unisys and William and Gloria Jackson.
Additional funding has been provided by: the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the Ministry of Education
of Finland, the Embassy of Finland in Washington, D.C., the
Consulate General of Finland in Los Angeles and the Arts Council
of Finland.
See enclosed pages for information on the artists and a calendar
of events in Los Angeles. Images are available in electronic
format from Marko Tandefelt, info@f2fmedia.net.
For Release September 6, 2000
Heather McGee, Department of Design | Media
Arts, UCLA - heather@arts.ucla.edu, (310) 825-9007
Carolyn Campbell, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture
- ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu, (310) 825-6540
Nicola Lindertz, Consulate General of Finland, Los Angeles
- nicola.lindertz@formin.fi, (310) 203-9903
Juulia Kauste, Finnish Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.
- FFVANYC@aol.com, (212) 674-5570
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