Video Works – Rita Jokiranta & Kari Soinio

Valssaamo is filled with exhibitions by two visual artists consisting of video works. The exhibitions are independent units, but thematically they are related, both dealing with questions about to water and environment, currents and climate.

Kari Soinio’s exhibition includes two documentary video works which explore the circulation of water and trees in the nature’s cycle.

H2O describes the beauty of water and ice, the power of flowing water, its fragility and vulnerability, the fragility of ice. The thin ice is a reminder of the impact of climate change on northern nature, snow and ice. Change threatens water and ice.

The two-channel work C2O shows the almost unbearably slow passage of timber rafts in the Karvio Canal in Varkaus. The logs reflect the power and carrying capacity of water, and the connection of inland waterways to the sea, to the world. The video of logs passing through the canal forces the viewer to stop and reflect on what they are seeing, the role of wood as a carbon storage and raw material. Logs carry the carbon sink with them.

More info: kari (at) karisoinio.com, instagram: karisoinio

Rita Jokiranta’s exhibition includes two immersive and meditative video installations. They are poetic statements on the environmental crisis.

The four-channel videoinstallation Elsewhere, So Close is based on the idea that elsewhere all is different, better, happier. We also tend to think that disasters and accidents always happen elsewhere and do not affect us. The work brings “elsewhere” close, to our everyday. Water, rivers and seas, are crucial in the videos, as also changes in them. They alternate with the flow of images from cities and nature, climate anxiety and moments of hope. The work is projected to very thin, transparent projection scrims. By letting the video images to blend on the walls behind new images are created.

More info: ritajokiranta (at) gmail.com, instagram: ritajokiranta