Jaakko Kahilaniemi
100 Hectares of Understanding/百頃理解
芬蘭,全國境總面積的 71,6 %被森林覆蓋,共有2600萬公頃。無庸置疑在歷史、經濟上,森林是最重要的部分。
百頃理解,我嘗試去理解我1997年繼承來的林地。成年以來,我對這繼承而來的森林的態度,一直都有種疏遠感和漠不關心。直到最近在林業管理領域間的探索研究,才促使了我對這陌生的遺產的興趣。我研究自然如何提供、餵養給都市化的人們,同時試著創造新的體驗與感知森林的方式。透過我的鏡頭捕捉大自然,再應用「煉金術」使藝術更貼近我們:任意混合各式各樣的照片影像,匯集成一個巨幅的視覺映像。我將主要的目標放在解構方法上,非去創造森林裡例行的、私人的行動帶來的結果,是透過攝影為媒介而展示其結論。從未知到熟悉,需要小心翼翼的身體力行:去養育、去訓服、去支配卻也屈服。
我的攝影是一個見證,見證我在渴望理解的路途中。攝影,對我而言是通往內在的中心,也是思想和想像的中心。這些我在森林裡的行為藝術家漢彌許・佛頓斯的作品「行走」相似,用相片和詩歌記錄。同時我也從激浪派和貧窮藝術取得靈感,探尋以歡愉且開闊的方式與森林共舞。百頃理解這個作品包含了我探尋的物件、行為攝影、雕塑以及我創作的視覺密碼。
It’s impossible to overstate the significance of forests for Finland, both historically and economically. 71,6 % of the total area of the country is covered by forests — that’s over 26 million hectares. I own 100 hectares. 100 Hectares of Understanding is my attempt to understand the forest area I inherited 1997. Throughout adulthood, my relationship with the forest has been somewhat discordant and attitude towards my inheritance has been indifferent. Recent explorations in the forest, and in the world of forestry have managed to provoke my interest in unfamiliar inherited property of mine. I study what nature has to offer to urbanized people and I will try to create new ways of thinking and ways to experience and feel the forest. I capture nature through my lens before applying the alchemical process that makes art out of the familiar. I arbitrarily mix various types of pictures with each other and define them as part of a larger visual entity. I am working with the method of deconstruction, but rather than creating physical work out of the results of my private rituals in the forest, I unveil the result through the medium of photography. For the unknown to become familiar requires both physical and delicate acts: to nurture and to tame, to master and to yield. My photographs are testimonial, traces of my aspirations towards understanding and awareness. Photography, for me, is a gateway to the very core of my thoughts and imagination. I see similarities between my acts in the forest and walking artist Hamish Fulton’s walks, which he records with photographs and poems. Taking inspiration from Fluxus and the traditions of Arte Povera, I seek to encounter the forest with a playful and open approach. 100 Hectares of Understanding consists of the objects that I’ve found, the acts that I’ve photographed, the sculptures I’ve made and visual secrets that I have created.
About the photographer:
Kahilaniemi was born in 1989 in Finland. He earned his BA in Photography from Turku Arts Academy (FI) in 2014 and his MA also in photography from Aalto University, the School of Arts, Design and Architecture (FI) in 2018. Kahilaniemi has exhibited at Denver Art Museum the US, Voies Off Arles, Benaki Museum Athens, Klompching Gallery NYC, Robert Capa Center in Hungary, FOTOFLUSS Wolkersdorf, Fotografisk Center Copenhagen, Tampere Art Museum, Organ Vida Festival Zagreb, , Unseen Amsterdam, Noorderlicht Photofestival, Northern Photography Center Oulu 33rd Festival de Photographie Hyères, Fotofestiwal Łódź, Kunsthalle Memmingen, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Potentiale Festival Austria, OFF_Festival, Photo Is:rael, the Latvian Museum of Photography, the Finnish Museum of Photography, Kunst Haus Wien and others. Kahilaniemi is a recipient of the ING Unseen Talent Award (NL, 2018) and the Backlight Price (FI, 2017). Kahilaniemi was one of the selected Lens Culture Emerging Talents in 2017, and he also was one of the ten finalists in Hyéres Photo Festival and in Fotofestiwal Łódź in 2018. Kahilaniemi is one of the exhibiting artists in Festival Circulations (FR), Format Festival (UK) and Fotografia Europea (IT) in spring 2019. Kahilaniemi’s work has been featured in many publications, including Fisheye Magazine, Das Magazin, Eikon Magazine, Europe Now Journal, Fotografi Norway, GUP magazine, Greenpeace Magazine, Der Greif and HANT Magazine.
Website: jaakkokahilaniemi.com