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'The Shell Cracked' 2024-2026

Multidisciplinary installations and namesake exhibition concept

‘Accidentally shift the precarious ‘balances’ of the self ~ Turbulent inner dynamics irremediably uncover ~ Perception-conception of ourselves and others is altered ~ Awareness that we may come across’

The exhibition presents Valentina Gelain's new art film 'The Peaks', with side production, and the most recent sculpture series 'Shell' by Bekim Hasaj, part of Scanning Landscape project.

The Peaks investigates psychic instances, the connection between them, and what can be achieve if we actively connect to the unconscious and try to overcome the passive and illusory condition we perpetrate with our 'conscious' state. The series of metal sheets entitled 'shells' represents the landscape through its textures, traces, and stories. Shaped by hammering the metal on top of a natural body, the 'shell' is what remains after a close-up encounter. Both projects approach and interact profoundly with the landscape, the natural environment and its elements.

The artistic corpus also includes the upcoming art film 'Fall-Translucid skins' and  the creation of multidisciplinary installations. The first one will be presented at 3H+K Gallery in Pori/Björneborg in January 2025, the show that inaugurates the exhibition cycle.

The interactive installation 'The Shell Cracked' was inspired by the rock groups found in nature (Ice Age’s legacy) and from the photographic series 'A veil of reason over the unconscious' by Gelain, which shows these rocky entities covered in snow, with pronounced crevices. Black holes that look like entrances to the underground, portals to the psyche and the unconscious. The snow, on the other hand, represents the veil of consciousness that covers this primordiality.

So, the artists aim to build a revisited rock complex through shaped metals. The installation will also have sound, which will be heard the more you lean towards these symbolic entrances and thus darkness. The subject for the sound is the poem 'The Peaks'.

In the project are used recycled metals and also bioplastics.

 

Exhibition Cycle

 

Confirmed exhibitions:

Gallery 3H+K, Pori (Finland, January 2025); Rådhusgalleriet, Nykarleby (Finland, January-February 2025); Varikko Galleria, Seinäjoki (Finland, October-November 2025); Taidekeskus Itä-Gallery Riutta, Lappeenranta (Finland, November-December 2025).

The artists also worked on the art during the short residency at Moskosel Creative Lab in Sweden in the autumn of 2024.

The art project is founded by Svensk-Österbottniska Samfundet and supported by Arts Promotion Centre-Taike

Collaborators: Elokuvakesku Botnia ry / Filmcentrum Botnia rf, Eyra and Stefan Backas.

Thank you to Annika Sillander, Andreas Westerberg and Rosenberg Metallåtervinning.

The Shell Cracked_3H+K Gallery_Photo credits_Lucia Lignini 16 light.jpg
'The Shell Cracked-Protrusion' 2024

Interactive sculptural-audio installation ~ 'Come closer, listen'+'Tell me about the Self, show me your Ego'

The artwork is made of recycled aluminum sheets hammered on rocks in the forest, then shaped and assembled together in the studio. The sculptural installation interacts with the audience through two audio tracks that vary from a triggered sensor-‘Come closer, listen’, and with the participatory-ponderative act ‘Tell me about the Self, show me your Ego’. 

The constant sound is obtained from gurgling and guttural noise, and the other one is the poem 'The Peaks', being activated by the movement of the audience.

The sound is made in collaboration with sound designer Stefan Backas and narrator Annika Sillander. The audio device and sensor system are by Eyra Soundscapes (www.eyra.fi).

Hammered metal sheets, water-based paint, speakers, eyra sound system, mixer and laser sensor, 300x300x170cm

'Tell me about the Self, show me your Ego', 2025

Participatory act

 

With things at hand, share your perception of the Self and the Ego. Write it down, draw it...‘whisper’ it, and then throw it into the side and secondary crevices of the installation ‘The Shell Cracked-Protrusio’. Let it be metaphorically swallowed into the unconscious.

The result is no more important than the investigation and introspection that will take place in the act of pondering, understanding how the idea develops and takes shape in awareness.

The material will be preserved in the exhibition’s dedicated archive, in relation to the topic and as an interactive-participatory act with the artwork. It will not be made public but only used for research purposes, and will remain anonymous to symbolise collective consciousness.

Track 1 - Throat sound, 2024
00:00 / 08:42
Track 2 - 'The Peaks ' poem, 2023 (recorded in 2024)
00:00 / 02:36
'Shell' sculptural series by Bekim Hasaj, 2023-detail
'Speculum-The Peaks' by Valentin Gelain, 2024-video frame

Copyright © 2018-2025 The Shall Cracked by Bekim Hasaj & Valentina Gelain

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