ROR Revolutions on Request

ROR (revolutions on request) was formed in 1998 by a group of young artists in Helsinki. Its current members - Karoliina Taipale (b. 1973), Jiri Geller (1970), Klaus Nyqvist (1976) and Panu Puolakka (1972) - each specialize in different fields located at the periphery of conventional art: graphic design, silversmithing, visual art and interior design. With an open-minded conception of “collective,” the group gives equal weight to each artist’s ideas and skills, exhibiting individual works as well as collaborative productions.

From embroidery and collages to industrial-style objects resembling motorbike parts or console games, nearly everything that ROR produces is hand-made and is intended to engender a childlike joy in the viewer. With subtle references to 1950s and ’60s lifestyles, their work creates an air of nostalgia. It warns us of the downsides of rapid technological change and internationalization: the collapse of equilibrium in the natural world, the dilution of emotions and senses, excessive industrialization and uniformity. But at the same time it also incorporates hopes for the future as well as visions for putting utopian theories into practice. From embroidery and collages to industrial-style objects resembling motorbike parts or console games, nearly everything that ROR produces is hand-made and is intended to engender a childlike joy in the viewer. With subtle references to 1950s and ’60s lifestyles, their work creates an air of nostalgia. It warns us of the downsides of rapid technological change and internationalization: the collapse of equilibrium in the natural world, the dilution of emotions and senses, excessive industrialization and uniformity. But at the same time it also incorporates hopes for the future as well as visions for putting utopian theories into practice.

MAM Project 003 will include several major works by ROR members, including a large new sculpture by Jiri Geller.

A catalog is scheduled to be published in English and Japanese in early June.

Pressetext

MAM Project 003:
ROR Revolutions on Request
Organisation: Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

ROR Revolutions on Request, Künstlergruppe aus Helsinki: Karoliina Taipale, Jiri Geller, Klaus Nyqvist, Panu Puolakka