Rest of Time

Rest of Time is a video essay, which consists of a performance for video, which has been filmed in a granite quarry and an essay both in spoken and text forms. The video essay is dealing with concepts of time, slowness and change from the perspectives of a human body and rocks. The big, stable rocks represent the time of a rock, its slowness and permanence, in which a human touch has made very quick changes forming them in squares and quadrilaterals. A human body itself wouldn’t win the unwavering force of a rock, but by using different tools a human can win the permanence of a rock even in a scale that the whole landscape is reformed as a human made sculpture.

I am myself performing in the video together with a headstone engraver. Different performative actions include moving the body and the rock, trembling, immobility, resting and also carving the stone. Besides the relationship between the rock and human, the video is also observing the quarry as a site and a landmark. The essay is dealing with the questions of how to act and behave in the middle of changes? Instead of carrying out continuous activities, should we take time for mourning, resting and slowness? Is the eye of a storm the best place to take a rest?

Camera and sound: Jussi Virkkumaa / editing: Jussi Virkkumaa and Leena Kela / stone carving: Mika Rouhiainen

  • Poikilo Art Museum, Kouvola, Finland 2024
  • Nykyaika gallery, Tampere, Finland 2023
  • Mediabox exhibition, Forum Box gallery, Helsinki, Finland 2023
  • Turku Art Hall, Turku, Finland 2022
  • premiere, Posture of Impermanence group exhibition, Art Museum Artsi, Vantaa, Finland 2021