• Alicja Kwade: Big Be-Hide, 2019 ©Maija Toivanen/HAM/Helsinki Biennial 2021

    Last chance - Helsinki Biennial 2021

    Written by Art Editor

    The Helsinki Biennial opened in Vallisaari Island in June 2021. With only one week to go, do not miss out on the chance to experience over 40 artists from Finland and beyond if you are in the area. Artists and artist groups like Alicia Kwade, Rirkrit Tiravanija & Antto Melasniemi as well as Birit & Katja Haarla and Outi Pieski are among the participants.

    The biennial is curated by the head curators of Helsinki Art Museum, Pirkko Siitari and Taru Tappola, who state that “The ecological crisis means we are now on the cusp of enormous changes and this is defining our common future everywhere. The biennial’s subtitle, The Same Sea, refers to this situation, which concerns everyone but affects different places in different ways”.

    Shown here are two works by Alicja Kwade, Big Be-Hide (2019) and Pars pro Toto (2018). Kwade consistently explores matters of “deep time” – a concept which refers to the vast time scale of geologic events in comparison to the brief life span of human beings. A common subject within Anthropocene art that reflects the state of climate crisis that we find ourselves in. 

    In the words of hydrofeminist Astrida Neimanis: ”We live in a watery common, where the human infant drinks the mother, the mother ingests the reservoir, the reservoir is replenished by the storm, the storm absorbs the ocean, the ocean sustains the fish, the fish are consumed by the whale.” (Neimanis, Bodies of Water, 2017)

    Helsinki Biennial 2021 closes on September 26.

    Alicja Kwade: Pars pro Toto, 2018 ©Maija Toivanen/HAM/Helsinki Biennial 2021

  • Adam Katz Sinding

    Susans 7 picks for fall

    Written by Susan Stjernberger by Elva Ahlbin

    Even though it’s still summer, I have already fallen into Fall. Isn’t it amazing how we look forward to this time of year? As everything transitions, so do your wardrobe, skincare, and beauty routines. Here I’m going to talk about my 7 picks for this Fall, from skincare to color and even scent!

    #1 Juliette Has a Gun “Vanilla Vibes” by Sniph
    Have you heard of Sniph? Well, this gem of a company finds the most unique niche scents from around the world so you can get a new scent each month bottled up in an 8ml spray which you subscribe to monthly. Say goodbye to all those unused wasted bottles that sit there in your drawers or on your shelf that you get tired of and say hello to a small perfectly sized spray that you can use for a month and get a new scent the month after. I’m looking forward to my new French scent with vanilla vibes called Juliette Has A Gun.

    #2 Botanical Glow Oil by Emma S.
    How can I keep my glow from the summer sun you ask? Well, look no further than this delicious smelling glow oil that you can use every day as the first step in your skincare routine. I massage it into my face and neck and let the glow continue through Fall. This has become one of my favorite products that I simply can’t live without. 

    #3 The Dream Mask by Mantle
    All the Mantle hype is 100% right! And how can it not when its main ingredient is CBD. If you can’t smoke it then let your skin relax and enjoy it. All kidding aside though, I love a mask that I can leave overnight on my face and neck and it helps me sleep better at night (wink wink).  I don’t mind my skin getting addicted to this at all. Sweet dreams!

    #4 Brun Fumé Nail Polish #905  by Chanel
    One of the easiest transitions and fun as well as to update and change your nail polish. When I saw this dirty khaki color by Chanel, it was love at first sight. I’m done with the pale, pastel bright colors of summer and ready for a darker more mysterious everyday color that goes with any tone. This color will carry me all through Winter as well. I actually think I need to stock up on this one!

    #5 Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils by YSL
    I don’t usually wear mascara during the summer months because I’m either at the pool or the beach with the kids. It just isn’t very practical unless I’m going out. Now going back to work it feels good to darken my eyes a bit with this mascara. I dab a bit on the top and bottom ends to liven up my eyes and I find this YSL one to be a constant for me.

    #6 Cera Repair Barrier Cream by Biotherm
    After a summer filled with sun, beach, and ocean, you can put some of the ocean back into your skin! More specifically I’m speaking about the plankton, which repairs and strengthens the skin barrier to act on the first signs of aging. And another great thing about this cream is that you can use it both day and night. 

    #7 Studio Fix Conceal and Correct Palette by M.A.C
    Usually, after the summer, my face has different tones from the sun. I have been using this concealer for a while now and it comes with 6 different shades that I mix together to correct any blotchiness on my skin. I don’t know how I ever did without this! It’s perfect going into Fall with my skin tone lightening up again and being able to even it out. 

     Now, this is a Fall to look forward to!

  • Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Berl-Berl (2021). Live simulation (stills). Courtesy of the artist.

    Berghain Transformed

    Written by Art Editor

    Jakob Kudsk Steensen
    “Berl-Berl” at Halle am Berghain
    July 10-Sept 26, 2021

    Artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen’s immersive installation Berl-Berl has transformed Halle am Berghain into a virtual wetland. Even though clubbing in one of the world’s most famous clubs might have felt like a liminal, sticky and wet experience for some, as art installations go, this is a first as far as we know. This is an experience you do not want to miss – catch it before it closes on Sep 26.

    Nine large scale LED screens and multiple channel sound mediate the live stream footage and sound from the virtual landscape constructed by Kudsk Steensen and his team. The impressive work, commissioned by LAS Foundation and curated by Emma Enderby, has been two years in the making with extensive research carried out in the wetlands surrounding Berlin.

    Kudsk Steensen is known for his work mixing storytelling and science with avant garde gaming and virtual reality tools to reinterpret landscapes. The near hypnotising site-specific soundscape has been created in collaboration with musician Arca and sound artist Matt McCorkle combining archival recordings of wetlands accessed at the Museum für Naturkunde—with samples of Arca’s voice and spoken examples of the various names by which Berlin has been called over the centuries.

    “Berl-Berl is a song and an organ for swamps, mourning the lost and embracing the new (being in the moment of transition), reviving wetland sensibilities and perspectives, making people appreciate the complexities and beauties of swamps around Berlin” - Jakob Kudsk Steensen.

    Check out Berl-Berl World for further information.

    Jakob Kudsk Steensen, 'Berl-Berl', Halle am Berghain, 2021. © Timo Ohler

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