Antti Laitinen’s new installation at EMMA invites visitors into a forest of chiming trees

Nordic nature, the forest in particular, is a central inspiration for artist Antti Laitinen (b.1975), who lives and works in Somero. His previous projects include one in which he attempted to move the lake with buckets, and another in which he built himself an island. For this piece, woody debris gathered from forests and logging areas in southern Finland – brushwood, uprooted stumps and broken branches – are assembled into 28 trees which now rise up from the concrete floor at EMMA. In the gallery, the trees form an artificial forest, animated by mechanical machinery, filling the space with sound and motion.

Moving and chiming in the space, the trees appear both familiar and strangely alien, prompting viewers to reflect on humanity’s ability and means to shape nature. Views of the local forest from the large windows next to the gallery create a tension between natural landscape outside and the artificial one inside the museum.

Laitinen often describes his works as physical experiments in which the actual process of making is essential. Looking closely at Chiming Forest, one can see the slow and painstaking craftsmanship required to create it. Every piece of wood is carefully selected, hand-picked, stripped, and cleaned before being added to the assemblage. A documentary video Constructing a Forest, produced by EMMA, follows the gradual evolution of the piece from the collection of materials to its construction in the museum. The video can be viewed both in the gallery and online at EMMA Zone.

Antti Laitinen’s artworks and installations combine photography, video and performance. One of the most internationally renowned Finnish contemporary artists, he has exhibited in the Nordic countries, Belgium, the UK, the USA, and China. In 2013, Laitinen represented Finland at the Venice Biennale. 

Chiming Forest is part of the InCollection series, in which a leading contemporary artist is commissioned to create a unique work of art for Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection, with a featured exhibition at EMMA. The artists in the series are Alicja Kwade, Tatsuo Miyajima, Eeva-Leena Eklund, Chiharu Shiota, Pilvi Takala, Pierre Huyghe, Tschabalala Self and Antti Laitinen. 

“Each exhibition in the series emerges from close dialogue between the artist, the museum and the foundation. With this new exhibition, eight contemporary artists have created powerful experiences for EMMA’s audiences and enriched the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection with significant works of art,” says Päivi Karttunen, Chair of the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Committee. 

“The InCollection series gives artists an opportunity to realise bold, spatial visions. Laitinen's piece is an excellent example of this. Chiming Forest is his first kinetic installation on this scale and offers our visitors a fascinating and immersive experience,” says EMMA Chief Curator Ingrid Orman. 

Antti Laitinen: Chiming Forest opens simultaneously with the new display of the Collection Exhibition of Saastamoinen Foundation, Dialogues. The exhibition’s media space will also feature Mohamed Bourouissa’s film The Genealogy of Violence  (2024).