Laura Böök: Break Room, HAM gallery 21.3.–4.5.2025
In her exhibition at HAM gallery, Laura Böök explores work, breaks, and workplace break rooms. What do everyday spaces tell us about the changing work life, the way people are perceived in various workplaces, and how employees’ needs are addressed?
A break stretches on or is cut short. It fades into work, is lost in the rush, and keeps slipping further away. For some, a break is permission to sit down and have a rest. For some, it is an opportunity to get up and stretch for a moment. Sometimes, a break means lifting your gaze from the screen to the scenery, looking into space, or getting lost in animal videos – you are here, but not present.
The documentary short film Room for a Break (2025, duration 27 min) depicts breaks in a think tank, construction site container, museum, and midwife break room, among others. In the video, a break expands into a question of space and time: who can take a break in today’s work life, in what kind of settings are breaks taken, and who decides on breaks?
Created in collaboration with artist and architect Liisa Ryynänen, the installation brings a piece of an open-plan office into the exhibition space. The acoustically treated booth is designed for meetings as well as for resting and retreating. According to the ideals of modern work, it is flexible and adaptable, blurring the boundary between work and break. The meeting booth’s sofas invite the exhibition visitor to stay for a moment and read the exhibition texts that address care work, avoiding work, and breaks in urban space. The texts are written by Juho Narsakka, Katariina Yli-Malmi, Vilja Saarinen, and Hami Kuurtamo. The sound design is by Kirsi Korhonen.
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Laura Böök (b.1986) is a Helsinki-based artist who works with moving image, photography, and text. Everyday life, apparent dullness, and making the ordinary strange fascinate her as starting points for artistic work. Her works have been on display at the Photographic Gallery Hippolyte and the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, the Mältinranta Artcenter in Tampere, and in various international group exhibitions. Böök graduated from the Aalto University with an MA in photography in 2020.
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Laura Böök: Break Room, HAM gallery 21.3.–4.5.2025
The exhibition will be opened on Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 5–7PM.
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Additional information:
Curator Heli Harni, HAM, 040 334 6071, heli.harni@hamhelsinki.fi
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HAM gallery is an exhibition space at HAM Helsinki Art Museum, focusing on showcasing topical and new contemporary art. HAM Helsinki Art Museum is one of the most significant art museums in Finland and the Nordic region. HAM actively curates a broad international exhibition program and houses a rich collection of over 10,000 artworks, which includes the city of Helsinki’s public art collection. HAM is responsible for art conservation, curation, public art commissions, and acquisitions within Helsinki’s art collection, encompassing both domestic and international works. Furthermore, HAM oversees organizing the ambitious contemporary art event Helsinki Biennial. HAM operates as a foundation under the Helsinki City Group’s umbrella.
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