Sami Pikkarainen: Parasite no. 4

Sami Pikkarainen: Parasite no. 4
2021, kesto/duration 04:33

I am interested in technological parasites and chameleons. Objects, things that hide in the middle of everyday life. They are often imperceptible, ”hidden in plain sight” so to say. Objects, organisms which blend into the surroundings and possibly listen, record, observe us and our surroundings.

In the Parasite series, I have created imaginary beings that disguise themselves as part of their environment, inconspicuous artworks of a kind whose presence may not be noticed or sensed.

I visited EduCity campus, the site where the pieces of the competition will be screened. I was fascinated by the concrete nature of the site. The space surrounding the media wall is covered with various concrete surfaces. Columns, stairs, beams, walls and ceiling, there is concrete of different shades with different surfaces everywhere. In the middle is a big, bright media wall that pops up in its blaze of colour, it can not be unnoticed. I felt a little sorry for the media wall. It is under people’s gaze all the time, the space is designed so that the media wall is the centre of attention. I felt like it would never get away from the gaze. Based on my observations, I designed Parasite no.4 for this particular media wall.

Although the concrete looks similar when viewed quickly, the slightly different shades of gray can be seen. A closer look shows that every concrete surface is unique. Various fine-textured structural differences, small defects, roughness, stones, granules, veins among the concrete create a unique fingerprint-like pattern for each column and step. I went to photograph various concrete surfaces of the space on site. Stairs, floors, columns and beams. From these few hundred photos, I charged StyleGAN2-based artificial intelligence to mimic these patterns of concrete around the media wall. I want to give the media wall a chance to hide for a moment from people’s eyes, an attempt to merge into its surroundings, be disguised, to become part of the prevailing concrete look of the space. As in John Cage’s famous 4’33 sound work, the space and the role of the experiencer are an important part of the artwork. The duration of Parasite no.4 has been chosen to be the same as Cage’s work. For 4 minutes 33 seconds, the media wall turns into a living being who paradoxically wants to hide from the gaze and blend into its surroundings. At the same time, the viewer of the work (hopefully) becomes aware of their surroundings and what kind of texture they are surrounded by concrete. What kind of space is around and what kind of patterns dominate it.