Framework: The Finnish Art Review
Issue 9 June '08: Arctic Hysteria: TranceState of Finnish Contemporary Art

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Issue 9 is a special issue that focuses on the exhibition Arctic Hysteria: TranceState of Finnish Contemporary Art, which was on view at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York from June 1 through September 15, 2008.

Using cultural clichés as a catalyst, this exhibition focused on a label which has given cultural meaning to the specificities of a given region, Finland. Finland does not belong to the Arctic in any literal geographic sense, but the Finns are – as are, say, the French and the English – believed to have specific national characteristics. Marko Tapio, a major Finnish novelist of the post-WW2 decades, considered Arctic Hysteria a neurotic, irrational mood that held the Finnish people in its grip:

“Arctic hysteria is not a disease. We don’t know what it really is. It is a phenomenon in our life amidst a harsh climate and unpitying conditions. It is a dejection that, when it breaks loose, knows no boundaries.---”

With regards to contemporary art, it is hard to say to which extent cultural traditions contribute to it today. A persistent cliché often repeated, when discussing Finnish art, is its supposedly close connection with nature. In fact, and quite unexpectedly, the humanity-nature relationship emerges as a sort of connecting thread throughout this exhibition, also in the works of the earlier pioneers and those artists who embrace social and political themes.

In this exhibition the utopian optimism of the 1960s and 1970s concerning technological progress is confronted with an anxiety about the environment and future in the works of younger artists. This reflects a general change that has happened in the world at large during the last four decades: From the science-fiction utopia of a new era, a space age, we have to get back to Earth and acknowledge a reality in which we have no choice but to take seriously environmental threats such as the climate change. The artists manage to adopt working methods that resemble healing trance states and call for a general recuperation and recovery. Even if their sense of humour may give an impression of melancholy and self-irony, it offers help in reducing things to their essentials and shows way for others toward new inspirations. In today's world the local can have multiple global significances.

The artists exhibiting include Markus Copper, Veli Granö, Ilkka Halso, Huutajat – Screaming Men, Pekka Jylhä, Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, Reijo Kela, Erkki Kurenniemi, Tea Mäkipää, Pink Twins, Anni Rapinoja, Stiina Saaristo, Jari Silomäki, Sami Sänpäkkilä, Mika Taanila, and Salla Tykkä.

The exhibition was curated by Alanna Heiss and Marketta Seppälä and organised by P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in collaboration with Artists’ Association of Finland and FRAME.

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Issue 9: Arctic Hysteria: TranceState of Finnish Contemporary Art