In Kristin Wiking’s Brottare – Wrestlers we witness an encounter between two opponents. At the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, the Töölö Sports Hall – then still called the Exhibition Hall – hosted the wrestling events. Wrestling is considered one of the world’s oldest sports, as it requires only two bodies testing their strength and skill against each other, without tools or weapons.

In Wiking’s work, two inflatable puppets meet and test their light bodies against each other. When the automated fans switch on, the characters come to life, seemingly moving on their own – gaining strength only to soon lose it again. The match continues endlessly; with no one to end the game, neither wrestler ever claims victory, always on the verge of bursting.

It may be tempting to use ordinary scissors, but tools are not permitted in wrestling, nor have they ever been. So they remain set aside.

Kristin Wiking is a Swedish artist based in Helsinki and Vilnius. She works with a range of media, including kinetic sculpture, installation, and video, often driven by an absurd logic. Wiking’s exhibition is supported by The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, The Finnish Cultural Foundation and Föreningen Konstsamfundet.

Photo: Jakob Johannsen.

Nature Paths is an installation created site-specifically for Sports Hall Window by artist Dana Neilson. By collecting birth stories from friends, Neilson questions the common rushed and screaming birth scenario overused in mainstream media, offering alternative narratives in the form of personal accounts.

The installation invites viewers to reflect on who controls the stories we absorb through media and the subconscious fears that they can create. One aspect of the installation is the sound of a heartbeat – the first sound we all hear. This motif also nods to Neilson’s childhood, when her parents played her mother’s recorded heartbeat to soothe her during restless nights. Through audio, text and visuals Nature Paths offers a moment of stillness to contemplate alternative versions of birth.

Dana Neilson is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist based in Helsinki. Her practice includes multi-sensory installation, moving image and ceramics. Sound was created in collaboration with Tyler Fitzmaurice of Studio Coara.

Pläsnt Dschörnie is a fictional moving company created by artist Ethan Hayes-Chute. The company follows an unthinkable business model of caring for its customers far beyond concerns of profitability. The ongoing project has been operational since 2014 through a series of prints, performances, and installations, creating a decentralized headquarters for the company around the world.

For Sports Hall Window, Hayes-Chute imagines a room for resting. Transformed by Pläsnt Dschörnie workers into an oasis of their own, a tiny closet now offers an escape from the busyness of the moving factory floor. The rest room is a shared space, yet a personal retreat – a respite from the routines and a place to unpack oneself.

Ethan Hayes-Chute is an American artist based in Berlin and Tammisaari. His artistic practice revolves around processes and collections, emerging from the often-overlooked, mundane aspects of daily life.