The Stroker (2018)
The video installation ‘The Stroker’ is based on a two week intervention Pilvi Takala did at Second Home, a trendy office space for young entrepreneurs in London. Takala posed as wellness consultant Nina Nieminen, founder of the company Personnel Touch, which was allegedly hired to provide touching services in the workplace. Nina spent two weeks in Second Home. She had a friendly word for everyone and touched people lightly as she walked by. Responses to the touches varied widely. Many were polite, but for some the physical approach clearly caused discomfort. The intervention had far-reaching consequences for the dynamics of the space and the young entrepreneurs found a connection in this shared confusion, nicknaming Nina ‘The Stroker’.
Takala’s video works originate from performative interventions, in which she examines social structures and denounces normative rules. She shows in her work how implicit social rules often only become visible by disrupting them and how people are governed by tacit conventions for what is considered ‘acceptable behaviour’. Through her interventions, the Finnish artist provokes physical negotiations about boundaries where there are seemingly none.
two-channel video, 15:16 min
courtesy of Carlos/Ishikawa and Helsinki Contemporary.
