A Eulogy to the Looking

A EULOGY TO THE LOOKING

- REFLECTIONS ON SEEING -

The looking via a work by Claire Aho

It all begun with Jorma Puranen

It was a fall day in 2010. I was visiting EMMA, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, to have a look at Jorma Puranen’s partly retrospective exhibition. As I was looking at the works I became acutely aware of the extremely reflective quality of the surfaces of the works exhibited. It was like looking into a mirror. For a moment I could not see past the surface, but at the surface, and I realized how I had inadvertently chosen to see the looking. I saw the reflection of myself and what was behind me: the exhibition space, lights and shadows, more works, other people. In one way all this became a part of Puranen's imagery which lay as the base of the reflection. Then again, in an another way this was not about what was on display but something completely separate. This was my independent view, I saw my own looking.

The looking via a work by Elina Brotherus

The looking via a work by Jiang Pengyi

This wasn't the first time I had noticed the reflections on the surfaces works on display, but at Puranen's exhibition I didn't get annoyed or distracted. I reacted as if it was an invitation to see a bigger picture than what was presented. To me this was both a dialogue with not only the work but with the presentation in its entirety as much as it was at the very same time a monologue in some ontological level. I was both puzzled and delighted about this dualistic experience. A need to explore the observation of the looking I experienced at Puranen's exhibition grew in me.

The looking via a work by Jorma Puranen

In recent years I have often examined and tried to visualize the concepts of seeing and looking through photography. Therefore I felt it was only logical for me to continue on the same path. I started to collect images to this series in the beginning of March 2011 and continued until the end of March 2012 during which time I had the luck to encounter Puranen's work once again.

The looking via a work by Michael Wolf

The looking via a work by Ola Kolehmainen

Since many of the museums and galleries don't allow photographing I had to do my documenting in secret and usually quite fast, which is the reason to the often hasty compositions. The secrecy of the shooting led me to choose my mobile phone as my imaging tool since it is quiet and unnoticeable. The usage of a low quality camera added also a layer of technical contrast to my images as I wasn't trying to capture the glory of the displayed images or in anyway reproduce the works I was looking at, but rather just document, perhaps in a rather crude way, the looking.

The looking via a work by Saara Salama

I can't say that I've had any particular reasons for choosing any of the specific surfaces used in this series, except the reflective quality so that I have had a canvas that works in favor for my need to explore and capture the looking. In a way this is a motley collection of images from different exhibitions I've visited. That said, I have to admit I'm very pleased to have included some of my favorite image makers in my observations.