Through A Looking Glass

Haninge Konsthall, Sweden
26.1.–2.3.2006

 

A small boy jumps up and down, red hair fluttering across the air, eyes concentrated on something.  He starts mimicking something what resembles a rock singer. One is not sure whether the boy sings or not, whether he dances or not, but what one sees, is him looking at himself. J-E Plays Hurriganes has been filmed through a one-way mirror. What one sees in the video is the boy looking at his mirror image.

The boy knows that he is being filmed but that can hardly be noticed. In the home of the boy there is a large mirror. Sometimes the boy stands in front of the mirror, looks at himself and mimics his favorite rock band Hurriganes. One of the favorite songs and the song seen on video is Get on. In another video Liina has just finished her make up and is trying on some jewelry, combing her hair, and checking the final results. The video has also been filmed through the same one-way mirror. In Vilma, a young girl dressed in a ballet outfit dances in front of the mirror. At first her dancing is almost furious, then she stops for a while and starts her ballet.

Santeri Tuori has asked children and their parents what the children do in front of a mirror at home or elsewhere. He has then asked the children to come to his studio to perform the same in front of the one way mirror he has built in his studio. Many of Tuori´s former works have been closely connected to portraiture and how we understand it. “Through a Looking Glass” -series tries to turn the situation around and see how we view ourselves, what kind of wishes we have and what kind of roles we try.