Minna Kangasmaa's solo exhibition Passage is like a paragraph, a fragment or part of a larger work. It is based on the series Systema naturae that Minna Kangasmaa has been developing since 2007. Alongside the sculptures and installations, individual parts of the works are on display. The exhibition depicts the course and transition as well as the change.
Central to Kangasmaa's work is a method in which the work as a material entity is not immutable and stagnant, but in a continuous process of formation - a movement that inevitably arises on a small scale from changes in the material of the work alone over a long period of time. In this process, works are not isolated or closed entities delimited from their environment, but open systems with a permeable property. Many of Kangasmaa's works are so-called process works, which she complements, grow and expands or otherwise modifies.
In her art, Kangasmaa explores the ecology of our time and our relationship with the world of materials. The works in the Systema naturae series relate to a time when human activity has brought an organic and synthetic blend into an integral part of natural systems. The word ‘nature’ is commonplace, but as a concept its definition is getting more challenging almost by the day – new ideas about nature reveal also new aspects of ourselves, of society, culture and history. In the 18th century, Swedish natural scientist Carl von Linné classified humans in his taxonomic system as one species in the order of primates. After the designation he added the motto ‘nosce te ipsum’ – know thyself. Based on this motto, Minna Kangasmaa has made a series of works that seek alternative ways to understand the planet as a meeting point for humans and non-humans. A key issue in this is the human capacity for empathy and how it could be extended to cover the entire globe. Our relationship with nature – the way we use decreasing resources and treat other people, animals, plants and everything else on this planet – all this has implications for our present and future. Empathy plays a crucial role, as it may be the way to a new kind of understanding.
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