1.–24.11.2013, Mari Hokkanen, Set & Setting

HIPPOLYTE STUDIO
Yrjönkatu 8–10 (courtyard), 00120 Helsinki, Finland, +358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Open: Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–16

1.–24.11.2013
MARI HOKKANEN
Set & Setting

 

Set & Setting is a narrative series of works, shot entirely in sets that I have built. Each set is a story, dealing with various global phenomena. Refining a story, by  building and decorating sets, opened a new method of working for me. It was both playful and liberating to create an environment and scene for the story to take place in.

Using myself as a model, I could integrate performance in to my images. Set & Setting often uses a naive and comical approach to tackle more in-depth points of view. With the chosen thematic, I find it helpful to invite the audience for participation, letting the viewer imagine their own version of the story. The ambiguity is essential. In the end, the way we see any story unfold, varies greatly depending on how we see the world.

I’m intrigued by the fact that the audience can see past the obvious, the set. They can create their world with given pieces of the puzzle. My interpretation of the story is always present, but not forced upon the viewer.

– Mari Hokkanen

Mari Hokkanen (born 1979) is a photographic artists based in Helsinki, Finland. Her works have been shown in both solo and  group exhibitions. Hokkanen participated in Nuoret 2011 (Young Artists 2011) exhibition at Helsinki Kunsthalle. Hokkanen’s first documentary photography exhibition Visiting Burj el-Shemal was exhibited at Galleria Nunes in Helsinki in early 2012. The exhibition told the story of a Palestinian refugee at the Burj el-shemal camp in Lebanon. Set & Setting first opened at the Korjaamo gallery in Helsinki in March 2013. Since then it has been curated to various exhibitions in Finland and abroad.

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