Antti Laitinen at a Glance: Revisit Past Works

Finnish Pavilion At the 55th Venice Biennale

May 21, 2013 6:39PM

1. It's My Island VI, 2007

For this performance piece, Laitinen built his own island in the Baltic Sea by dragging 200 sand bags into the water over a period of three months — using nothing but a spade, sand and sacks. Individually filling each of the bags with sand, the three simultaneous videos show Laitinen painstakingly dragging each bag, one by one, into the sea, braving the harsh waves and conditions until the island starts to appear over the water.

2. Lake Deconstruction I, 2011

In this film, Antti Laitinen engages in a personal challenge with the natural world, pushing his body to the limit as he ritualistically deconstructs a lake by cutting out generic-shaped blocks with a chainsaw and using them to build a door-less structure.

3. The Tree, 2012

In this performance piece Laitinen felled a tree at Karhonsaari (Finland) and chopped it into small pieces. He then used the pieces to rebuild the tree with the help of nails and strings.

Finnish Pavilion At the 55th Venice Biennale