Focus Group is comprised of artists from diverse backgrounds – visual art, music, video, design, programming and other fields, all contributing to a variety of cross-media productions.
They maintain an open-ended approach with a changing roster of members participating in each new production. Derived from the diversity of its members and from the different media the group uses, their work ranges from art exhibitions to performances and live music concerts.
The group’s interdisciplinary efforts aim to blur the genres of fine art, performance and music.
Past events:
“Parting With Return (You’re So Busy)”
2 - 16 Sept, Wed-Sun 2-7pm
at Vapaan Taiteen tila
Exhibition: 3 - 16 Sept, Wed-Sun 2-7pm (free admission)
Performances: 2 Sept & 16 Sept 7-10pm (10€ entry)
Location: Vapaan Taiteen Tila, Vilhonvuorenkuja 15, 16
00500 Helsinki
“Parting With Return (You’re So Busy)” is not only the title of the exhibition in the Vapaan Taiteen Tila bunker in Helsinki, but a call to softly carve out time from our overstretched lives and increasingly complicated global issues in a reflective and nurturing space aimed at the celebration of artistic exchange.
Works by Aziz Hazara, Landys Roimola, KMRU, Lotta Blomberg, Sini Henttu with Sitoi and Exploited Body, Mariam Falaileh, T.E.H.D.A.S, Hexorcismos.
Performances
Fri, 2 Sept: Hexorcismos, a. Modica, Ben Glas. A collaborative club night with the wonderful Liquid<3 collective will draw the opening night to a close at a nearby off location.
Fri, 16 Sept: Biret and Gáddja Haarla Pieski, Teo Ala-Ruona and Anni Puolakka, Hayden Dean, Haesoo Jung.
With installations, sculptures, videos, audio and an extensive performance programme, the production celebrates artists who have traveled through and taken influence from Berlin and Helsinki, reflecting on the open possibilities for artistic exchange and interpersonal understanding, continuing to build on the established cultural bridge that exists between the two cities.
The Flow of Cause and Æffect
May 1-29, 2022
Ohrenhoch, der Geräuschladen
The group show parses the divide between emotional affectation and (the) phenomenological effect, in an attempt to reframe art as an experience, rather than a mere static object. This show and its theme seek to open the meta-dialogue of how we as individuals respond, react and consider the aesthetic experience.
The differences between the words “affect” and “effect” are often overlooked and or accidentally mixed up. What determines an insight response to a piece of art? Can a purely emotional/aesthetic interpretation of a work of art be only right/wrong? How can we as artists make art which helps individuals objectify their own life experiences, in a mindful manner? If art doesn’t aid in our own critical thinking or aesthetic enjoyment, what does it do?
Participating artists: Oskari Ruuska, Haesoo Jung, Hayden Dean, a. modica, Ben Glas.