Modern art pieces

It was a sunny Sunday and I had scheduled to go to Kiasma (the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki). To be honest with you, I've never been a huge fan of modern art. It is really hard for me to appreciate something that, for the most part, could be created by a five-year-old or even by myself. The 10 EUR entrance ticket felt a bit pricey because I knew I wasn't going to get much out of the visit, but I justified it to myself as a donation for Helsinki's cultural efforts. No Guggenheim, so go Kiasma.

The visit was just as I had expected. A rolled up carpet leaning against the wall or a ashes on the floor didn't provide my soul with high, cultural nutrition. I don't know if I'm missing a gene because most of that stuff didn't open up to me? Fine, some Romanian artist had made some witty wall drawings and slogans regarding today's world, but that's pretty much it. My friend and I roamed the concrete floors of the museum with no clue what we're supposed to get out of it.

Without a quick visit to the 5th floor (which we didn't find by the way before asking the staff for directions), I wouldn't have had anything to share with you. Below are a couple of piece inspired by Judaism, containing Jewish symbols or made by a Jewish artist. Please, don't ask me to explain them to you in detail. I just know what the descriptions said for the pieces and that's it. :-)

Monument (La Fete du Pourim) from 1989, by Christian Boltanski. The collected clothes and faces tell of lives lived. The work does not refer to any specific persons but Boltanksi recycles faces from work to work. Purim is a Jewish celebration that involves wearing masks and costumes.

Wall writings I (2009-2010) by Outi Sunila. Afar, it looks like this...

...and upclose, like this. Random wall writings in public places captured by the artist and put into pins. Tip to the museum: I went to the gift shop to buy a pin from this collection - there weren't any.

Father, not Uncle (Freud/Katharina) 2008 by Michal Heiman. The work re-enacts one of Freud's case studies where a young woman asks him for help with her anxiety attacks. In the video, the artist reads Freud's study (in Hebrew!) while the texts in the video challenge and underline the details. Freud did later admit to altering the story.

Want to visit Kiasma? See their website for more details.