JANI-MATTI SALO - AT TIMES (2026)
Installation with an imitation of a museum window frame, light, sound
In Search of the Present: On Rootlessness, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art
In At Times (Ajoittain), a work conceived for EMMA, the light gradually intensifies and then fades suddenly, faster than the eye can adjust. The resulting effect shifts the viewer’s focus of attention from the external world toward an interior experience. The form of the work echoes the row of windows in the WeeGee House, entering into dialogue with the landscape, the changing seasons, and the weather conditions outside. The installation also includes a soundscape that evolves in step with the wave-like movement of the light.
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In Search of the Present: On Rootlessness is an exploration of the now, an invitation to be present both in time and in place. The exhibition delves into art’s ability to ground us, even when the world we inhabit is in constant motion. The exhibition celebrates EMMA’s 20th anniversary year and features works by Marina Abramović, Haruka Kashima, Kimsooja, Tarik Kiswanson, Germaine Kruip, Ken Matsubara, Lydia Ourahmane, Helen Pashgian, Jani-Matti Salo, Danh Võ, WAUHAUS x Reality Research Centre, Ian Wilson, and Maaria Wirkkala.
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Curatos: Ingrid Orman, Pernilla Wiik, Laura Eweis
Exhibition project manager: Pernilla Wiik
Artwork production management: Arts Management Helsinki / Outi Järvinen
AV manager: Lasse Lindfors
Lead technician: Lasse Naukkarinen
Conservator: Marianne Miettinen
Construction: Jesse Sipola
Surface treatment: Janina Junttila
LED systems: KVS Oy
Special thanks: Mikko Kaukonen, Juhani Pallasmaa
Support: Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike)
Photos: Jani-Matti SaloThe work is part of the EMMA Collection and was produced with the support of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
JANI-MATTI SALO - PINTA-YTA (2025)
Temporary public artwork, 2-channel video
Video projectors, media players
Kulturhuset Fiini, Pori
Kulturhuset Fiini’s façade combines bricks salvaged from demolished on-site buildings with new ones whose textured surfaces show firing-borne natural variations and traces of masonry. Photographed details of the bricks are transformed into a slowly drifting, landscape-like video, creating the impression of gliding above the ground. The architecture becomes both the source of the imagery and the surface for its projection, revealing subtle layers of place and time.
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Concept: Jani-Matti Salo
Curator: Senni Pöyry
Photos: Jani-Matti SaoThe work was commissioned by Svenska Kulturfonden i Björneborg and developed at Granlund Oy in collaboration with JKMM Architects.
JANI-MATTI SALO - SUN I-II (2025)
Temporary public artwork
LED lights, filters
Horisontti Tower, Helsinki
Dozens of lights installed across the windows of a skyscraper form a sun over the rooftops of Helsinki.
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Concept: Jani-Matti Salo
Created in collaboration with Satu Tammilehto-Hänninen (SRV), Heidi Tetteh (SRV), Aku Karjalainen (SRV), Heidi Helasto (SRV), Kaisa Rekola (SRV), Elias Kinnunen (SRV), and Mika Kuukkanen (SRV), Sanna-Mari Takala (Helin & Co), Marjut Kauppinen (City of Helsinki), Markku Kyyhkynen (Sun Effects Oy), Claus Lindström, Jarmo Haavisto, Petteri Salovaara, Jenna Aaltonen (Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Oy), Teemu Lehmusruusu (Kunstventures), Arttu Harjula and Riikka Linna (Granlund Oy), and Retta Management.
Photos and video: Janne Hirvonen / Majakanvahti
The work was commissioned by SRV and developed at Granlund Oy as part of the Toiveiden Kalasatama project.
JANI-MATTI SALO - REORIENTATIONS (2025)
Essay collection
Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki
Publication series of the Theatre Academy 81
ISBN: 978-952-353-086-7
ISSN: 2242-6507
The essay collection Reorientations explores how eco-socially sustainable, new media artworks and lighting design for contemporary performances can be realized. These reflective texts examine creative processes that intentionally avoid environmentally harmful technologies and working methods. What new possibilities arise when we disentangle ourselves from these harmful dependencies? Reorientations also captures a moment of transformation in artistic authorship amidst the ecological crisis.
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A further major strength of the publication lies in the way Salo weaves his personal reflections into the analytical narrative. Sometimes, this mode of writing departs from conventional academic writing and moves towards openly articulated concerns and uncertainties regarding the state of contemporary artistic and ecological conditions. For the reader, however, this authorial presence is engaging. It produces a rare sense of proximity to the researcher’s thinking process, an aspect that is largely absent from most academic writing in the field. Equally impressive is the level of professional expertise and practical command demonstrated throughout the publication. The problems addressed emerge not from theoretical positioning alone, but from long-term professional experience and a thorough understanding of the technical, organisational and artistic realities of lighting and media-based performance practice.
Taavet Jansen, Näyttämö ja tutkimus 1/2026 -
Author: Jani-Matti Salo
Cover image: Jani-Matti Salo
Web design: wrkshp.fi
Proof reading: Lingsoft Oy
Publisher: Theatre Academy, University of the Arts HelsinkiThe Reorientations publication is based on Jani-Matti Salo’s Finnish essays, which were published as part of the “Uudelleen suuntauksia: Askeleita kohti ekososiaalisesti kestävämpää mediataidetta ja nykyesitysten valosuunnittelua” project publication, supported by the Kone Foundation between 2021 and 2023.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS: MARK NISKANEN, MIKKO KAUKONEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - ROOM TONE / CRESCENDOS (2024-)
What kind of audio material could activate a visitor to sense the materiality of the room, as if they were inside an architectural sculpture? How can the atmosphere of a room be tuned through a soundscape – and how does it shape our sensory perceptions of place, architecture, structures, natural light, and the relationships between ourselves and objects?
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Concept: Mark Niskanen, Mikko Kaukonen, Jani-Matti Salo
Photos: Mikko Kaukonen, Jani-Matti Salo
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - PUU (TREE) (2024)
Temporary public artwork
RGB LED sign, text
Sports Hall Window, Helsinki
In the Puu (Tree) installation, a linden tree cut down in front of Töölö Sports Hall haunts through a LED advertisement sign. The tragicomic text is based on the intense tree-cutting discussions that took place on the internet. The artwork interacts with the landscape of the Mannerheimintie renovation.
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Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Curator: Eveliina Tuulonen
Photo: Courtesy of the artists
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - PILV-CLOUD (2024)
8-channel sound installation in collaboration with Inkeri Aula
Sound showers, easels, sound speakers, mediaplayers
Enter Woodland Spirits, European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024, Estonia
In the circular Pilv-Cloud sound installation, a whispering ghost guides visitors on a multi-sensory journey through the four seasons and across time. This metaphorical ghost represents our fragile relationship with our environment, highlighting the imbalance that endangers our coexistence with nature and other beings. The installation’s text, drawn from Estonian Nature Folklore Archive as well as walking interviews conducted in the Tartu area in the spring of 2024, blends humorous and poetic in its fragmented narrative.
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The international technological art exhibition Enter Woodland Spirits explores how technology-driven art can revive the wisdom of folklore and make the essence of nature tangible and perceptible. The participating artists: Bryndís Björnsdóttir, Þorsteinn Eyfjörð from Iceland, Oskar Koliander from Denmark, Tori Wrånes, Ingrid Torvund and Jonas Mailand from Norway, Hans Rosenström, Niskanen & Salo in collaboration with Inkeri Aula, Pia Sirén, Nastja Säde Rönkkö from Finland, Linda Boļšakova, ART+ from Latvia and Norman Orro and Joonas Timmi, Zody Burke, Johannes Luik, Emer Värk, Roman-Sten Tõnissoo, Mari-Leen Kiipli from Estonia.
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In technological arts, technology is often viewed similarly to nature as a neutral phenomenon. There is no assessment of good or bad, and likewise, there is usually no (in a completely Deleuzian sense) imposition of a directing central control system on the field of technological solutions. Individual machines carry out their solitary tasks and may occasionally become communicative when a suitable structure of mutual placement forms for this purpose, or when a person actively seeks contact with them. For example, the sound installation "Pilv-Cloud" by Niskanen, Salo, and Aula attempts to convey some kind of message to a receptive person in this way, but the whispering and strong ASMR reactions quickly divert attention away from the narrative part that emerges, leaving only the physical contact with the sound in focus. The panels clearly communicate more with each other than with the human listener. In this sense, forest spirits and machines can be quite similar entities on the large playing field of nature. In a Latourian sense, they may even form connections with each other more easily than either would with humans. This assumption can indeed be taken as a basis for viewing the "Enter Woodland Spirits" exhibition. (Translated from Estonian)
Sirp - Eesti Kultuurileht 23.8.2024The best work of the exhibition is probably the sound installation “Cloud”, which took place in a room with windows covered in yellow film and rock display cases from the Geology Museum. The idea is, among other things, that the patient looking out of the window sees Hurda Park, but not only in yellow, but also in double vision, as the aural ghost surrounding them (from speakers arranged in a circle) whispers what they will see there 100 years later. (Translated from Estonian)
Edasi.org 21.8.2024 -
Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo together with Inkeri Aula
Curatorial team: Henri Hütt, Evelyn Raudsepp
Voice actor: Germo Toonikus
Thank you: Stella Mottus, Taive Särg, Piret Põldve, Taavi Piibemann, Panphonics
Artist management: Outi Järvinen / Arts Management Helsinki
Support: The Finnish Cultural Foundation, Frame Contemporary Art Finland
Photos: Niskanen & SaloPilv-Cloud is commissioned by Estonian Literary Museum / Tartu 2024
INKERI AULA, MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - AISTILIPUTUS (SENSORY FLAGGING) (2023)
Temporary public artwork
Printed flags
Porin Juhlaviikot, Galleria 3H+K, Pori
The whimsical and poetic Aistiliputus (Sensory Flagging) highlights the sensory observations of the local residents regarding the changes and impacts of the Kokemäenjoki River, as well as its ghosts. The metaphor of ghosts represents fragile ecological relationships, the imbalance of which threatens our living environments. Aistiliputus celebrates the significance of local knowledge in fostering resilience as one response to the prevailing ecological crisis. Aistiliputus aims to create subtle interruptions, moments of awareness, and gestures of wonder in the everyday lives of city dwellers.
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Artist of the Porin Juhlaviikot group exhibition: Inkeri Aula, Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo, Petteri Cederberg, Mika Hytti, Eemil Karila, Kaisu Koivisto, Hanna Marno & Harri Sippola, Jussi Matilanen, Milla-Kariina Oja, Laura Pietiläinen, Heta Pöyry, Nora Tapper, Johanna Väisänen, Timo Wright.
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As a corollary practice of sensobiography, art collaboration is a versatile field of possibilities in communicating about research, and in formulating environmental knowledge in multisensorial encounters. We have come a long way from a positivist objectivity to a post-qualitative field of discussion, where ethnographic data cannot be simply collected from a fixed reality, but it is produced in a collaborative process entailing particular perspectives.
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Concept: Inkeri Aula, Mark Niskanen, Jani-Matti Salo
Photos: Jan Virtanen, Niskanen & Salo
Video: Niskanen & Salo, Kata Sivunen (aerials)Collaborators: NYTE ry, Galleria 3H+K, Porin Juhlaviikot, The SENSOTRA research project/UEF, Forum Box, City of Pori, Oiva Isännöinti Oy, Housing Company Porin Yrjönkatu 4 Board, Porin isännöintipalvelut Oy, Housing Company Porin Airionkulma Board, Kotikatu Property Services, Econia Oy, Housing Company Itäpuisto 5 Board, Asiantuntijakeskus BEPOP, RKT-palvelut, Isännöinti Leivo Oy, Housing Company Porin Rautatienpuistokatu 2 Board, Sakipa Oy, and Kiinteistöhuolto Saranpää Oy.
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - A SCENE II (2021)
Public artwork
Kaivopuisto, Helsinki
A Scene II is a public sound installation based on the rhythms of sea mark lights in Helsinki harbor. The work can be experienced on the observation deck of the Kaivopuisto observatory via your mobile phone and headphones. On the hilltop, solar-powered sea mark lights are momentarily synchronized with the musical rhythms; they meet for a fleeting moment, and then the connection vanishes, over and over.
A Scene II follows the planetary movements, beginning an hour after dusk and running until sunrise. The changing weather conditions also affect the experience and make it unique for every visit. On light summer nights, the work can be viewed for only a few hours; in the winter, it can be experienced from the early afternoon.
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The view from the Ursa Observatory at Kaivopuisto park, on the southern tip of Helsinki, encapsulates the ruggedness of the Finnish capital. Beyond a wisp of beach, the Gulf of Finland stretches to the horizon, splashed with low-lying islands green with pines. As the evening light wanes, I reach for my phone and tap ‘play’, triggering a soundscape of flitting piano notes. I can’t perceive any particular melody, but there’s reason to their rhyme. Each is assigned to a historic lighthouse in the archipelago, matching their respective tempos as they flash on and off. The notes play together, then taper off, crescendo and dwindle, like a symphony of fireflies.
The sound installation, called ‘A Scene II’ and accessible via a dedicated web page, is the brainchild of Mark Niskanen and Jani-Matti Salo, local artists who work mainly outdoors to enhance our experience of nature. “This artwork emphasises human transience against the vastness of the sea,” Mark tells me later, as we sit under a sailcloth canopy on the waterfront terrace at Café Ursula, just downhill. “Nearly all maritime markers in the gulf operate on solar energy. If humanity were to disappear, these lights would continue to blink for over a decade.” In other destinations, Mark and Jani-Matti might be considered to be operating on the margins of the art world. But here, they’re simply Helsinkians, citizens of a place where nature seeps into every facet of life, especially creative life.
Ellen Himelfarb - The National Geographic Traveller October 2025On hauska seurata, miten kuulohavainto muuttuu paikan tuottaman visuaalisen ja tilallisen mutta myös ajallisen kokemuksen kanssa.
Julkisena ääniteoksena A Scene II muistuttaa äänitaiteen varhaishistoriasta ennen sen galleriakelpoistumista. Alan pioneeri Max Neuhaus esimerkiksi toteutti vuonna 1967 teoksen Drive in Music, joka koettiin virittämällä autoradio tietylle taajuudelle ja ajamalla Lincoln Parkwayta Buffalon kaupungissa radion poimiessa äänisignaaleja tien varrelle asennetuista lähettimistä. Myös Neuhausin teoksen äänellinen puoli oli eetterissä, radiotaajuuksilla, siinä missä A Scene II:n musiikki kanavoidaan kuultavaksi netistä.
Niskasen ja Salon teoskin on paikkaan sidottu, mutta tähtitornin läsnäolo lennättää helposti mieltä. Ennen valaistuja merkkejä ja majakoita merenkävijöitä avittivat tähdet, joita nykykaupunkilainen harvoin näkee keinovalon kuvun alta.
Tästä näkökulmasta, musiikkina merimerkeille, A Scene II voi näyttäytyä maallistuneena versiona “sfäärien musiikista”, kreikkalaisfilosofi Pythagoraan ajatteluun palautuvasta visiosta, jossa maailmankaikkeuden kappaleiden kiertoradat muodostavat musiikinkaltaisen harmonisen kokonaisuuden.
Ajatus edustaa ihmisistä usein löytyvää järjestyksen kaipuuta. A Scene II muistuttaa, että illuusioita romuttavan tieteellisen tiedon ja teknologian lävistämässä modernissa maailmassakin voi kokea kauneutta, mutta se on väistämättä erilaista kuin toisena historiallisena aikakautena.
Petteri Enroth - Iso Numero 11/2024 (pdf, 3.4MB)“In the West, the sense of sight prevails. What happens when you change the order of the senses and make the sound the most important?” Salo asks.
“Even though sound is the main material in many of our works, we still don’t want to talk about sound art, but more about creating situations,” says Mark Niskanen, who lives in New York, via remote connection. “Depending on the weather, the season, and other events in the environment, this is always a different work.”
Public maintenance of a sound artwork is significantly more demanding than, for example, a bronze statue. Outdoor audio equipment, power sources, and other technology must be monitored and serviced regularly.
“Care is important already in the planning phase,” says Mark Niskanen. “How can a work be made sustainable? Taking care of the technique of the work is taking care of the experiencer of the work.” (Translated from Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat 21.7.2023A Scene II -teoksessa ajallisuudet kytkeytyvät kiinteästi paikkaan, eikä kumpaakaan voi tarkastella ilman toista. Julkisen tilan taidetta koskevissa keskusteluissa luodataan usein erilaisia ajallisuuksia liittyen teoksen elinkaareen, esilläoloaikaan, yleisön teoksen äärellä viettämään aikaan ja teoksen pysymiseen yhteisessä muistissa. Ei-inhimilliset toimijuudet moninaistavat ajallisuuksien kirjoa ja tuovat mukanaan perspektiivin, joka ulottuu yli ihmisen.
Kristiina Ljokkoi - Solmuissa, suhteissa, kerrostumissa: Ei-inhimillisiä toimijuuksia Helsinki Biennaalin 2021 teoksissa. Taidehistoria tieteenä, 12(3), 99–110.Niskasen ja Salon A Scene II -teoksen kaltaisia kokonaisuuksia, jotka käyttävät kaupunkiympäristöä teoksena, soisi olla enemmän.
Patsastelua (episode 5), Yle Radio 1, Yle Areena 5.7.2022
Teokset, jotka onnistuvat asettumaan vuoropuheluun ympäristön ja sen historian kanssa, tekevät Helsinki Biennaalista ainutlaatuisen näyttelykokemuksen. (…) Erityisen kauniisti Vallisaaren ympäristöä hyödyntää Mark Niskasen ja Jani-Matti Salon teos A Scene (2021). Ääntä ja videota yhdistävä installaatio antaa saarta ympäröivien merimerkkien valoille omat sävelet. Vilkkuessaan merkit tuottavat meditatiivisesti aaltoilevaa musiikkia, joka muuttuu hiljalleen päivän aikana. Runollinen teos ohjaa ajattelemaan ajan monia syklejä ja kerroksia. Teoksen toisen osan voi kokea Kaivopuiston tähtitornilta auringon laskeuduttua. Kännykän ja kuulokkeiden avulla merimerkkien yösoitto antaa pimeyteen kietoutuneelle maisemalle yhtä aikaa kosmiset ja intiimit mittasuhteet.
Erilaisia tekniikoita ja teknologioita hyödyntävää teoskokonaisuutta saattaa tulla pohtineeksi aistimisen, havaitsemisen, tuntemisen ja käsityskyvyn kannalta. Ehkä tulee huomioineeksi, että aistinvarainen kokemus on itsessään läpeensä välitteistä, välittynyttä. Esiin voi nousta teknologioiden ja tekniikoiden ilmentämä olemista muokkaava ja sille rakenteen antava muotoutumisperiaate, joka kytkee kokijan ja kohteen, hengen ja aineen, minän ja muut maailmaan.
Maiju Loukola: A SCENE - [näyttämö, näytäntö, näyttö, ättä, näkymätön, näky-mä (2021)
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Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Curatorial team: Pirkko Siitari, Taru Tappola, Kristiina Ljokkoi
Artist management: Outi Järvinen / Arts Management Helsinki
Support: The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike), Uusimaa Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and the Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation
Photos, video: Niskanen & SaloA Scene II is commissioned by HAM Helsinki Art Museum / Helsinki Biennial 2021.
A Scene II is part of the HAM Helsinki Art Museum’s collection.
INKERI AULA, MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - GARDEN OF BECOMINGS (2021)
Multimedia publication, co-working platform
Photo: Niskanen & Salo
Garden of Becoming is both a multimedia publication and a co-working platform moving in the borderline of art and social research. This open-access publication in the form of a virtual 360 environment opens up and shares the accomplished work and the background elaborations of our three-member art/research collective.
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Concept & Design: Inkeri Aula, Mark Niskanen, Jani-Matti Salo
The work was produced with the support of the Frame Contemporary Art Finland.
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - A SCENE (2021)
Site-specific video installation
A video projector, sound speakers, media player, and a bench
Helsinki Biennial 2021, Vallisaari, Helsinki
A Scene invites visitors to immerse themselves in a nocturnal landscape in which every sea mark light around Vallisaari Island is assigned a particular musical note. Each light flashes at its own rhythm, creating a musical composition that slowly unfolds apace with the cycle of daylight.
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Helsinki Biennial 2021 presented 41 international artists or groups of artists from both Finland and around the world. The artists were invited to come to Vallisaari and create new site-specific and temporary artworks or to exhibit existing artworks that will engage in a dialogue with the island. Artists: Paweł Althamer, ATTAKWAD, Pasi Autio, Samir Bhowmik, BIOS, Baran Caginli, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Kyungwoo Chun, Janet Echelman, EGS, Katharina Grosse, Gustafsson & Haapoja, Hanna Tuulikki, Honkasalo-Niemi-Virtanen, IC-98, Uwa Iduozee & Maryan Abdulkarim, Wanuri Kahiu, Marja Kanervo, Topi Kautonen, Tadashi Kawamata, Samnang Khvay, Jussi Kivi, Alicja Kwade, Hayoun Kwon, Laura Könönen, Tuomas A. Laitinen, Teemu Lehmusruusu, Dafna Maimon, Antti Majava, Inga Meldere, Jaakko Niemelä, Meiju Niskala, Niskanen & Salo, Sari Palosaari, Birit & Katja Haarla & Outi Pieski, Mario Rizzi, Rirkrit Tiravanija & Antto Melasniemi, Wauhaus, Margaret & Christine Wertheim, Maaria Wirkkala, Zodiak presents: Kärkkäinen & Tarvainen.
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Höjdpunkter är en rad platsspecifika verk som på samma ödmjuka sätt griper tag i de faktiska omständigheterna. Som Jussi Kivis lilla museum i en nergången 70-talslägenhet, fylld med bilder och objekt han funnit på ön. Eller duon Niskanen & Salo, som med videon ”A scene” har skapat ett poetiskt landskap genom att filma Skanslandet under ett dygn och omvandla de omgivande, blinkande sjömärkena till en suggestiv melodi.
Dagens Nyheter 24.7.2021 (pdf, 217kB)
Teokset, jotka onnistuvat asettumaan vuoropuheluun ympäristön ja sen historian kanssa, tekevät Helsinki Biennaalista ainutlaatuisen näyttelykokemuksen. (…) Erityisen kauniisti Vallisaaren ympäristöä hyödyntää Mark Niskasen ja Jani-Matti Salon teos A Scene (2021). Ääntä ja videota yhdistävä installaatio antaa saarta ympäröivien merimerkkien valoille omat sävelet. Vilkkuessaan merkit tuottavat meditatiivisesti aaltoilevaa musiikkia, joka muuttuu hiljalleen päivän aikana. Runollinen teos ohjaa ajattelemaan ajan monia syklejä ja kerroksia. Teoksen toisen osan voi kokea Kaivopuiston tähtitornilta auringon laskeuduttua. Kännykän ja kuulokkeiden avulla merimerkkien yösoitto antaa pimeyteen kietoutuneelle maisemalle yhtä aikaa kosmiset ja intiimit mittasuhteet.
Ett verk som infriar löftet är konstnärsduon Mark Niskanens och Jani-Matti Salos installation med ljud och video. A Scene målar upp en nattlig vy över Skanslandet. Videon visar en havsutsikt med blinkande fyrljus och i rummet ljuder musik som komponerats genom att ge varje signalljus för sjöfart en egen ton.
Det låter invecklat men det man ser och hör är enkelt.
- Videon har filmats under sommarsolståndet då solen befann sig på andra sidan jordklotet och ljuset var konstant under en halv timme. I bilden verkar tiden stå stilla samtidigt som musiken sakta förändras, säger Jani-Matti Salo.
Helsinki Biennaalin teoksia on myös Vallisaaren rakennuksissa, joihin ei aiemmin ole päässyt. (…) Yksi näistä on Kustaanmiekan patterin vieressä oleva punatiilinen rakennus, jonne taiteilijapari Niskanen & Salo on toteuttanut installaationsa. Biennaalin ajankohtaisaiheet ja yhteiskunnallinen kommentaari unohtuvat teoksen pysäyttävän kauneuden edessä. Öinen, merellinen Helsinki soi kuin Koyaanisqatsi ilman hektisyyttä. Videoinstallaation toteutus hykerryttää vielä pitkään.
Ehkä kaikkein keskeisimmin A Scene hyödyntää vanhinta kuviteltavissa olevaa tekniikkaa: kuvittelukykyä. Kuvittelukyvyn siivin saa tempautua huikaisevin siirtymin ajasta ja paikasta toiseen. Ruutikellarin armollisessa viileydessä (muista hei ottaa mukaasi pehmeä harteille kietaistava huivi) kävijä sinkoutuu outoon ajan ja paikan limboon, jossa hänen, kanssakävijöiden ja saaren historia kiertyvät osaksi kaikkia universumin kuviteltuja, aavisteltuja ja koettuja aikoja ja aistimuskartastoja. Oleminen samaan aikaa tässä ja toisaalla määrittää teoksen olemusta ja antaa sille yhtä aikaa hartaan kontemplatiivisen ja mittaamattoman kesyttömän kaikkiallisen luonteen.
Maiju Loukola - A SCENE - [näyttämö, näytäntö, näyttö, ättä, näkymätön, näky-mä (2021)
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Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Curatorial team: Pirkko Siitari, Taru Tappola, Kristiina Ljokkoi
Artist management: Outi Järvinen / Arts Management HelsinkiColor: Michael Macalincag
Construction: Kari Jääskeläinen, Tuomas Siltala, Jesse Sipola, Titta Vilhunen and Eero Yli-Vakkuri
Thank you: Vanessa Kowalski, Emilia Lindholm, Eeva Semerdjiev, Heidi Soidinsalo, Teemu Vilén, Mana Contemporary, and Väylävirasto.
Support: The Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike), Uusimaa Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, and the Greta and William Lehtinen Foundation
Photos, video: Niskanen & SaloA Scene is commissioned by HAM Helsinki Art Museum / Helsinki Biennial 2021.
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - CLARE (2021)
Three-channel sound installation
Directional speakers, chairs, media players
Forum Box, Helsinki
Clare is a sound installation that creates intimate moments of hypotheticals. Clare filters thoughts from a 14-year archive of tweets and organizes them according to the psychoanalyst Karen Horney’s theory of inner conflicts.
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Kokemus pienten suurten kysymysten äärellä istuessa on intiimi, herkkä ja rauhoittava. Neliönmuotoisesta kaiuttimesta muodostuu kuin jonkinlainen maallinen alttaritaulu, jonka edessä pysähtyä, hiljentyä ja reflektoida. Tai kenties portaali, jonka kautta salaisuudet tulevat kuulluksi.
Maarasen maalausten vastinparina Forum Boxin parvella on Mark Niskasen ja Jani-Matti Salon kolmikanavainen ääniteos Clare (2021). Suomeksi ja englanniksi lyhyitä lauseita supattava Clare perustuu neljäntoista vuoden ajan kerätylle twiittien arkistolle, joka on järjestetty psykoanalyytikko Karen Horneyn teorian mukaan eri kategorioihin. Horney puhuu neurooseista, jotka saavat ihmiset liikkumaan toisiaan liki, nousemaan toisiaan vastaan ja etsimään itsenäisyyttä muista ihmisistä. Claren hiljaiset kuiskaukset kuulee vain, jos asettuu istumaan suoraan kaiuttimien eteen sijoitetuille tuoleille. Teoksen esillepano tuo twiittien paranoidin yksinpuhelun yhtä aikaa lähelle ja pitää sen käsivarren mitan päässä kuulijasta. Clarea kuuntelee kuin puhetta, jota ei ole tarkoitettu omille korville.
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Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Photos: Niskanen & Salo
The work was produced with the support of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - MURMURATIONS (2020)
Temporary public sound installation in collaboration with Inkeri Aula and SENSOTRA research project
Directional speakers, c-stands, chairs, media players
Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York
Photos, video: Niskanen & Salo
Murmurations evokes cultural memory and aesthetics of the past while attempting to expose translocal truths of the present. Murmurations creates a visceral sensation of physical proximity in a time when distancing and division are the forced norm. The work is based on anonymous, fragmentary passages of sensory observations collected during sensobiographic walks with voluntary local participants, conducted near bodies of water in Europe and the United States.
The method and part of the material is derived from transdisciplinary research project SENSOTRA that investigates transgenerational changes in people’s sensory environmental relationships. In Murmurations, these observations are divided into three parts – the no longer, the now, and the not yet. These categories refer to the observed metaphorical 'ghosts' of our environment in the more-and-human past, present, and future.
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Ääniteoksissa kontekstissaan irrotettujen lauseiden toistaminen eri äänellä uudessa ympäristössä voi tuottaa kummalisen outouden tunteen. Äänellinen ilmaisu tarjoaa keinoja herättää affektiivisia mielleyhtymiä ympäristön ei-inhimillisistä toimijoista, läsnäolosta ja omasta suhteesta eri paikkoihin.
Inkeri Aula: Keskinäisen vaikuttumisen tiede ja taide ympäristökriisien keskellä (2022). T Kinnunen & J Venäläinen (toim), Kulttuurintutkimus tietämisen tapana. Tampere.
Withstanding: Making art in the public realm 2.7.2021
Svenska YLE 1.11.2020 -
Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo in collaboration with Inkeri Aula
Curators: Ilari Laamanen, Kaarina Gould
Artist management: Outi Järvinen / Arts Management Helsinki
Support: AVEK - The Promotion Center for Audiovisual Culture, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, and Panphonics
Photos: Uwa Iduozee, Niskanen & Salo
Video: Niskanen & SaloMurmurations is commissioned by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York and realized in collaboration with SENSOTRA research project.
INKERI AULA, MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - SADE ON TOISENLAISTA NYT (2020)
Three-channel sound installation in collaboration with SENSOTRA research project
Directional speakers, profile lights, media players
Poriginal Gallery, Pori Art Museum
Photos: Niskanen & Salo
The sound installation Sade on toisenlaista nyt (The Rains Are Different Now) is a flow of sensory observations gathered from various locations. Constantly in flux, the work invites viewers to pause and perceive what the ghosts of our environment have to say. The piece consists of three simultaneous parts: no longer, now, and not yet.
The text of the sound installation is based on walking interviews conducted as part of the multinational SENSOTRA (Sensory Transformations and Transgenerational Environmental Relationships in Europe 1950-2020) research project. These interviews explore people of different ages and their experiences of changes in their living environments over the past decades. The work also incorporates local observations and memory material collected from the Kokemäenjoki River area using a sensory biographical method during the summer of 2020.
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Reviews:
Inkeri Aula (s. 1978), Mark Niskanen (s. 1991) ja Jani-Matti Salo (s. 1984) ovat luoneet ihanasti supisevan ääniteoksen. Lausunta muistuttaa kuiskausvideoita, joissa pyritään tuottamaan mielihyvän väristyksiä erilaisilla hiljaisilla äänillä. Suurimman eron YouTuben niin sanottuihin ASMR-kokemuksiin tuo kolmikon tilateoksen ankara kauneus.
Kazimir Malevitšin (1879–1935) maalaamiin mustiin neliöihin kiteytyi moderni ajatus luonnon alisteisuudesta ja toisaalta pyrkimys tavoittaa jotain ylevää ja ihmisen ymmärryksen ylittävää. Samat teemat löytyvät ääni-installaation kolmesta turkoosista neliöstä. Ne ovat kaiutinpaneeleja, joihin kätkeytyy uutta äänitekniikkaa ja kierrätysmuovia, nykyihmisen ylivertaisuuden ilmentymiä.
Keskilattialla kuulijan ympärille piirtyy sisäkkäisten äänten kehiä. Ikään kuin kuiske, galleriatila, ulkoa kantautuva liikenne ja koko maailma pyörisivät kokijan ympärillä.
Sade on toisenlaista nyt kertoo jokikokemuksista ja elinympäristön muutoksista. Malevitš kutsui maalauksiaan paljaiksi ikoneiksi. Nyt suhteesta pyhään vihjaa akustiikka. Kaiutinpaneelit luovat vastaavia ilmiöitä kuin kirkkoholvit, jotka kuljettavat hiljaisiakin ääniä salin laidalta toiselle. (…)
Molemmat näyttelyt kuvaavat hienosti, kuinka muistaminen ja menneisyyden läsnäolon havainnointi lisäävät ymmärrystä kaiken yhteenkietoutuneisuudesta.
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Concept: Inkeri Aula, Mark Niskanen, Jani-Matti Salo
The work was produced with the kind support the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike) and Satakunta Regional Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
INKERI AULA, MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - GHOST LIGHT (2020-2022)
Video and temporary public artwork in collaboration SENSOTRA research project
The Finnish National Theatre, Viirus Theatre
In Ghost Light stories of interconnectedness of species are told by an undulating light on an empty theatre stage. The work is built around the concept of “ghosts”, traces of the past in our lived environment.
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Urban-Related Sensoria, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu (2020)
Online Program, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City (2020)
Split Video Art Festival, Sveučilišna galerija Vasko Lipovac, Split (2021)
Gender Studies Conference, Tampere University (2021)
Uncommon Senses III, Concordia Universit, Montreal (2021)
Forum Box Market, Forum Box, Helsinki (2021)
Pebbles Underground, Toronto (2022)
Joensuun kirjallisuustapahtuma (2023)
Viirus Theatre (2022) -
Concept: Inkeri Aula, Mark Niskanen, Jani-Matti Salo
Voice actor: Noora Dadu
Special thanks to The Finnish National Theatre, Kalle Ropponen, Eliel Kilkki, Teemu Vilén, and Outi Järvinen / Arts Management Helsinki.
This work was partly supported by Taike - Art Promotion Centre Finland through a working grant for Mark Niskanen and Jani-Matti Salo. Inkeri Aula's work received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (694893).
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - BEING THERE (IF YOU COULD WALK IN MY SHOES) (2019)
Sound installation in collaboration with Inkeri Aula
Headphones, chairs, binaural microphones, media player, and a monitor
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City
Being There (If you could walk in my shoes) is a sound installation, in which the anonymous person in a distant location is given a pair of small binaural in-ear microphones. Through the immersive binaural audio technology, the viewer vicariously lives through another person’s auditory experience.
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Photo: Niskanen & Salo
The work was produced with the support of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - OHIKULKIJALLE (FOR THE PASSERBY) (2019)
Public artwork
Repurposed advertising light sign (aluminum, plexiglass acrylic sheets, polycarbonate sheet, led lights) and vinyl
160 x 20 x 160 cm
Baana, Helsinki
Mounted in a standard advertising light box, the work is based on motion and ephemerality and will appear different to every passer-by. The subtle changes in the work are produced by three superimposed patterns that give rise to a moiré or interference pattern when they move. The moiré patterns appear differently to all passers-by depending on the height, direction and distance of viewing.
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Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Curators: Taru Tappola, Kristiina Ljokkoi
Video: Niskanen & Salo
Ohikulkijalle was commissioned by HAM Helsinki Art Museum and is part of the City of Helsinki Art Collection.
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - FOCAL POINT (2018)
Installation
Headphones, a chair, pinspots, microphone stands, dimmer, pressure sensor, Arduino
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City
Focal Point is an installation composed of light, sound, and radiant heat. The visitor sits on a chair and puts on a pair of headphones. As the experience begins, the light emitted by a set of pinspot fixtures positioned in front of the viewer gradually intensifies, while their radiant warmth becomes perceptible on the skin. The sound heard through the headphones moves from a vast, austere interior space into an acoustically open outdoor environment before returning again. The light follows a wave-like cycle, fading from dim to bright and back to dim.
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Mana Contemporary, Jersey City (2018)
Miami Art Week, AD Astra, Mana Contemporary, Miami (2018)
HAM Helsinki Art Museum, HAM Corner, Helsinki (2018) -
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The work was produced with the kind support of the Arts Promotion Centre Finland (Taike).
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - WHEN I’M GONE, PLEASE DELETE MY VOICE MEMOS (2018)
Performance-installation
Live audio stream, headphones, light bulbs, microphone, microphone stands, and dimmers
Art Quarter Budapest
When I’m Gone, Please Delete My Voice Memos is a performance-installation for light and sound, based on anonymous group conversations between two locations.
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Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Video: 235 AIR
The work was produced with the kind support of Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Art Quarter Budapest and Telepart. Production management by Let it be! Art Agency.
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - NO NAMES (2016-2018)
Performance-installation
Live audio stream, headphones, microphone, microphone stand, light bulb, chair, and a dimmer
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City
No Names is a performance-installation that creates an intimate platform for communication between two people. The installation consists of a light bulb attached to a microphone stand, a chair, and headphones. Unknowingly, by encountering the installation, a visitor becomes connected with a stranger. Their conversation remains private. Coincidently, the scene becomes a performance to those surrounding and observing the conversing participant.
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Mana Contemporary, Jersey City (2016)
Hango Teaterträff, Hanko (2017)
Alt-ARS17, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki (2017)
Miami Art Week, Mana Contemporary, Miami (2017)
CASA Gallery, New York (2018)
ArtPrize, Grand Rapids Art Museum (2018) -
Concept: Mark Niskanen & Jani-Matti Salo
Photos: Niskanen & Salo
The work was produced with the kind support of the Frey Foundation, AVEK, and Frame Contemporary Art Finland.
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - PALMUDISKO (2017)
Interactive installation
URB Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
Photos: Niskanen & Salo
Palmudisko is an installation that consists of video projection, audio, and a palm tree. The museum visitor is invited to play music of their choice for the palm tree. The visual environment and the movement of the palm tree reacts to each visitor's songs.
The work was commissioned by the URB Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma.
Read more:
Niskanen & Salo’s webpage
Articles:
YLE Kultakuume 2.8.2017
URB Festival - Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma
MARK NISKANEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - TÊTE-À-TÊTE (2016)
Performance-installation
Mana Contemporary, Chicago
Mana Contemporary, Jersey City
Photos: Niskanen & Salo
Tête-à-tête (‘involving or happening between two people’ or, literally, ‘head-to-head’) is an improvisatory, multi-modal live performance, which derives many of its components directly from each space where it is performed.
The work was produced with the kind support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
KASPERI LAINE, JANI-MATTI SALO, VILLE SEPPÄNEN & HEIDI SOIDINSALO - SOUND OF MUSIC (IN A BOX) (2014-2016)
Performance-installation
MUU Gallery, Hietalahti Square, Helsinki
Prague Quadrennial, Colloredo-Mansfeldský palác and Ovocny Square, Prague
Suvilahti, Helsinki
Photos: Jani-Matti Salo, Uupi Tirronen
A piano that spent a year by the sea in south-eastern Finland and a gramophone left for a year in the forests of Satakunta with a clay record of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons were transformed from musical instruments into sound environments. Their familiar voices had given way to creaks, rustles, and other traces left by time, weather, and their surroundings. The work invited visitors to listen to what emerges when instruments are approached without preconceptions—at the broad and shifting boundary between music and sound art.
Sound of Music (in a box) was developed as part of Weather Station, a project organized by the Finnish OISTAT Centre. Weather Station was first presented at MUU Gallery in Helsinki in 2014 and continued in 2015 as part of the Finnish Pavilion at the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, where the weathered piano became the centerpiece of a shipping-container installation.
The project concluded in 2016 with the ceremonial burning of the piano at Suvilahti as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Department of Lighting and Sound Design at the Theatre Academy.
Weather Station was organized by the Finnish OISTAT Centre in collaboration with MUU Gallery and supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, AVEK (the Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture), Kone Foundation, Wihuri Foundation, the City of Helsinki Cultural Office, Kiasma Theatre, and EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art.
Articles and reviews:
Helsingin Sanomat 23.6.2015
Aalto University’s blog 24.6.2015
Deutsche Welle 24.6.2015
HEIKKI PAASONEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - LINEAR ARRAY (2013)
Temporary public artwork
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
Photo: Jani-Matti Salo
Linear Array is a site-specific installation in which dozens of fluorescent lamps illuminate the façades of Kiasma and Sanomatalo, highlighting their architectural rhythms and forms. The term linear array describes a linear arrangement of repeated architectural elements.
TIMO MUURINEN & JANI-MATTI SALO - KIASMA 5TH FLOOR (2012)
Site-specific installation
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki
Photos: Timo Muurinen
Kiasma 5th Floor is an installation that explores how the experience of space is shaped by materials, sound, and the spectator's movements. The work was inspired by architect Steven Holl's idea of a dialogue between light and space in the design of Kiasma. According to Holl, "space without light is oblivion." A floor plan of Kiasma is projected onto a wall, while a moving cursor traverses the image, continuously transforming the lighting and soundscape of the gallery.
The work was created as part of the Naked Kiasma architecture event.