N.B! The exhibition contains strong, flickering lights that can be harmful to some viewers.
Artist duo Grönlund-Nisunen return to Turku after 30 years! Aboa Vetus Ars Nova’s solo exhibition Häiriötiloja / Interferences brings together a contrapuntal mix of works, where curious experimentation meets analytical reflection.
Artist duo Grönlund-Nisunen are known for their kinetic installations and sculptures that combine space, light and sound. The duo’s professional backgrounds are in architecture and music. The works are often site- or situation-specific in nature.
The works are based on everyday observations. They are connected to physical phenomena, including electric currents, radiation, gravity, magnetism and the properties of matter and sound. They are experiments, a form given by the artists.
They focus on the essentials. They do not symbolise or represent anything specific; rather, the observation focuses on the existence of something, or something happening. The minimal aesthetics do not take a position on beauty, instead offering a pathway to a sensory experience.
Although the Grönlund-Nisunen duo are known for their subtle and refined style, they are interested in the imperfection of materiality. Interference – often perceived as an error, a bug, an anomaly or an interruption – offers an opportunity for aesthetic experimentation. In the same way, the avant-garde and the experience of sublime art need a divergent element.
The duo’s approach is to explore perception through man-made technology and architecture. At the same time, these are put under observation. The exhibition includes works in which a physical experimental situation has been transformed into a spatial work. The mirror projection Eclipse (2007) creates a shadow and reflection effect familiar from celestial bodies. Color Mixer (2016) mixes the colour combinations of light.
In many of the exhibition’s works, interference becomes the subject of the work. Interference that challenges perception, sometimes even causing visual illness, is met with interest. The large silk-screen prints 50 Circles and 100 Circles (2009) create a disturbing moiré effect. Two Views (2022), consisting of a tablet and a light panel, highlights the interference of the image-subject effect produced by video technology The perforated plexiglass sheets in the 3°/4° work (2023) are a typical example of how interfering patterns operate.
Often the essence of the works is related to the properties of the material. Although the works are industrial, minimalist and even cold, they require a sentient observer. In the sculptures Restless Horizon (2016) and Falling Water (2020), translucent liquids (water and silicone oil) repel each other The tension between the forces they generate is obvious. Frozen Sphere (2023), filled with cold gel, causes the steel to “sweat” as the humidity condenses on its surface. The changes are noticeable, even if they are quite slow. The sine wave of the Beat Frequency sound work (2016) can be felt in the room.
Tommi Grönlund (b. Turku) and Petteri Nisunen (b. Helsinki) live and work in Helsinki. Both studied architecture at Tampere University of Technology. Nisunen also studied industrial design and furniture design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki.
In addition to his artistic work with Nisunen, Grönlund played a significant role in the arrival of electronic music and DJ culture in Finland. In the 1990 s, he was part of the Hyperdelic Housers collective, which actively organised electronic music party events in Turku. Today, he runs Sähkö Recordings, a label he founded in the early 1990 s. Nisunen previously worked as an architect, designer and Professor of Contemporary Art at Aalto University. He is currently the Vice Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts.
The collaborative duo Grönlund–Nisunen organised their debut exhibition, Currents, at the Titanik gallery in Turku in 1993. Since then, they have built a solid career by participating in many exhibitions and art events worldwide. A few museum exhibitions from recent years: Flow With Matter (Minsheng Art Museum Shanghai, 2020), Imminence / Time Slip (with Ivana Franke, MMSU Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, 2019), Grey Area (Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa, 2018 and Helsinki Art Hall, 2017). Gallery exhibitions, including Latent Spaces (LA BIBI Gallery, Palma, 2023), Scattered Horizon (Galerie Esther Schipper, 2023) and Imminence (with Ivana Franke, Galerie Anhava, 2020).
In 1997, the Grönlund–Nisunen duo received the Young Artist of the Year award. In 2001, they curated the Nordic Pavilion for the 49th Venice Biennale, and they also participated in the exhibition themselves. In 2021, they were awarded a five-year Artist Professor’s Grant by the state.
Known for their various public art pieces, the collaborative duo Grönlund–Nisunen were selected as designers for the artwork to be displayed outside Turku Music Hall Fuuga, which is set to be completed by the end of 2026. Recent public works include Sidos (Wintteri education and well-being centre, Uusikaupunki, 2025) Puolenvaihto (Tammela football stadium, Tampere, 2024), Yhteispeli (Valkealan multipurpose hall, Kouvola 2024), Auringonpilkut (As. Oy Jyväskylän Hjalmar, 2023), Split Views (Hotel AX, Helsinki 2022) and Triad (Kalasatama School, 2020).
Their works can be found in collections such as: Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Finnish National Gallery / Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Pori Art Museum, the Saastamoinen collection, EMMA – Espoon Museum of Modern Art, WAM – Turku City Art Museum.
The artists have received support from the Arts Promotion Centre of Southwest Finland. The exhibition has received funding from the Finnish Heritage Agency.
”The best way to predict the future is to design it.”
– Buckminster Fuller
More information
Curator
Niina Tanskanen
niina.tanskanen@avan.fi
040 585 4499
