Grietje M. Hoogland

Trees are usually props in a scene; they are part of the setting in which a situation tales place. Entering the first room of the exhibition space, trees are the protagonists in various drawings. They act like people in funny comics, they bend, twist and mirror the visitor – literally, with mirrors.

Trees are important in the work of Ahtila. In her work, that mainly exists of video, the scenery, and especially the enormous pine trees that can be seen all over Scandinavia, get a lot of attention. The main artwork that was shown at the exhibition: The Annunciation (2010) is a religious one: three screens show one movie from three different angles. We see how a small drama club prepares and practices for an annunciation play. During the movie there is a lot of attention for the scenery, which gives an almost sacred feel to that what the players are going through in the process of practicing and rehearsing. When they finally play it, it seems as if the annunciation is really happening.

Another work that I found interesting was a portrait of a pine tree on film. Ahtila found it difficult to portray something as big as a tree: if you want to have it on screen from ‘head to toe’, you get all the other trees on the portrait as well, and it turns into a group portrait. Therefore, she made several takes, first of the ‘feet’ of the tree, then a bit higher, then higher again, until she reached the top. All these takes were shown on their own screen, next to each other, together showing one moving tree – sideways, as if lying down. It is a great solution to her problem, because it really works as a portrait. You can see and enjoy his branches and needles waving in the wind and see it as an individual.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a Finnish woman who has quite a résumé. Her work has been among others at MoMA in New York, Tate Modern in London and Kunsthalle in Zürich. Now she can add the Moderna Museet in Stockholm to it, and I think she deserves that. She questions the little things in life that we take for granted, and gives these things – a tree, a bird, a feeling – the chance to be the protagonist, without overdoing it.