Pilvi Takala (b.1981, Helsinki) shows two works realized in 2008: The Messengers (installation) and The Angels (video). The Messengers is an installation created during Takala’s residency in Zagreb (2007/08), funded by FRAME. It is an intervention into Croatian media, more accurately a magazine called Story, specialising in celebrity news and gossip, and its fixation with local celebrity Vlatka Pokos. The basis of the piece is the idea of inverted gossip. Gossip can be any small detail about the life of someone famous as long as it portrays the person in a negative light. Instead of spreading juicy gossip, Takala sets out to report pieces of insignificant but positive acts whose value in scandalous terms is nil, yet when performed by a celebrity become newsworthy. These absurd little news items create a ‘rupture’ in the traditional tabloid formula through their lack of sensation and by being nothing more than a slightly naïve testament to people caring about each other.

The Angels (2008) investigates the illusion of safety and perfection in a highly controlled public space. Dressed as a shop assistant the artist performs bonafide acts of kindness, which could also be perceived as suspicious.

Takala’s residency was part of an exchange project organized between HIAP, FRAME and Galerija Miroslav Kraljevic.