THOMAS WESTPHAL

The nature of walls 2019 HD video 00:06:23 performers: Marja Patrikainen &Thomas Westphal camera: Thomas Westphal edit and composition: Sebastian Ziegler While the overlapping sequences of wall demolition advances, an abstract composition of color surfaces transforms to material substance. Ever changing landscape of different compositions pass through stages and spaces. The actual situation, where the film material was shot in, gives the work instantaneity, that is then woven into poetry of bodies entangling with the matter. Väripintojen abstrakti sommitelma muuntuu materiaaliseksi aiheeksi, kun seinän purku etenee limittäisissä kuvissa. Koko ajan muuttuva näkymä erilaisia sommitelmia jatkuu eri vaiheiden ja tilojen läpi. Todellinen tilanne, jossa materiaali on kuvattu, antaa teokselle välittömyyttä, joka on sitten kudottu poeettiseksi ruumiiden ja materian kietoutumiksi.

2020 HD video 00:07:28 Constellation dislays a group of protagonists place nail like objects on a black surface. During the process a visible forms emerges, changed in size or shape and almost seems to create a perceived outline or pattern.

Jakop Barn’s day trip 2019 Video object, 78x55x24/66 cm HD time-lapse video, aluminum suitcase, two screens 70/40, R.berryPi`s Edit: Palosaari/Ziegler In early autumn I had been falling in love with Jakops barn a lofty and tranquil structure that I came upon during a stay at the Kone residence place located in Mynämäki in the Southwest of Finland. During several days I experimented with different options to document the play between interior and changing sunlight with time-lapse cameras. The footage that originated from this study is now on display in form of an opened aluminum travel case. The downer part displays the camera view of the sunbeams slowly advancing on the wooden floorboards while the upper part shows the specks of sunlight penetrating the open panel structure of the open space. The recorded time encompasses the play of light and shadow happening during six hours and is shown in a sequence of 8 min.

Tectonic sextet 2019 260x170x110 Two chairs, a stool and a table Concrete cast on steel mesh, video mapped footage Mapping by: Ilkka Pitkänen The Work displays individual video footage taking while working to break a bathroom floor due to a water accident. Two jackhammers simultaneous breaking the concrete and revealing step by step the underlying structure. The footage is than video mapped onto a series of furniture pieces that are made of the very same material. The installation of concrete plates that were molded into steel mesh refers to the working process while elevating the working surface towards a resting place.

Paradigm shift video installation 2019 HD video 3:33 min projectors, two channel video installation Two walls facing each other at a 90 degree angle are the projection surfaces for this work. The video shows a dense cloud of black and white shapes that emerge at the distant edges and slowly dance across the wall to slowly dissolve into single particles. Videos play same image but one was mirrored, they have the same length and are roughly synchronized. Saturation has been turned down to evacuate the black and white contrast of the particles. In a hypnotic dance the debris fields meet in the room corner where the particles overlap and disappear.

Particels 2019 HD video 3:33 min Two channel video installation The video shows a dense cloud of black and white shapes that slowly dance across the walls and slowly dissolve into single particles. The footage was shot while working with a jackhammer on an old bath tub. The white surface is the emalia and the black color comes from the iron oxide. What was in the making a earsplitting brutal exercise turned into a mesmerizing hypnotic dance under slow motion.

2019 HD video Duration 00:08:21 Northern seaside in late autumn. On an absurdly narrow path of piled up stones, a lorry and an excavator advance their path into the sea. As powerful as they might seem, forming the wave breaker, they are dwarfed by the sea as their backdrop. The work explores the slow, deep rhythms involved in building and sustaining a culture. Pohjoinen meri myöhäissyksyllä. Absurdin kapealla, kivistä kasatulla väylällä, kuorma-auto ja kaivinkone kyntävät tietä merelle. Niin voimakkaalta kuin ne näyttävätkin aallonmurtajaa muotoillessaan, ne kutistuvat meri taustanaan. Video nostaa esiin hitaan, syvän rytmin, joka liittyy rakentamiseen ja kulttuurin ylläpitämiseen.

Vanishing point 2019 HD video, duration 00:06:42 A monochrome blue surface becomes substance while big chunks of it get sliced away and discarded. With every slice the sensory quality of one space diminishes to unfold into another reality. A wall section between two offices had to be removed; the video was created by placing a camera and blue light in one room and starting the breaking job. Monokromaattinen sininen pinta muuntuu materiaaliseksi substanssiksi, kun suuria palasia siitä leikataan ja heitetään pois. Pala palalta tilantuntu häviää vain avautuakseen toiseen todellisuuteen. Kahden toimiston välinen seinä oli tarkoitus poistaa; video syntyi sijoittamalla kamera ja sininen valo toiseen huoneeseen ja aloittamalla purkutyöt.

Wax on Wax off 2019 2 channel video I was building a set of machines in my studio that are inspired by early methods of mechanical movements and transition. These machines are idling ahead and performing tirelessly repeating motions. I took video of this set up and projected it here on the gallery wall. The wall was painted black but during the opening I painted certain areas to drive these shy creatures in the light.