“Lissajous figures are used for visualizing complex and harmonic vibrations used in mathematics and physics to compare the frequencies and intensities of waves to each other.

Waves are a varying phenomenon that occurs in time and space and that carries energy. They occur in mechanical waves in various mediums, for example, in water or sound waves in the air. In a vacuum, energy moves as electromagnetic waves, vibrating in electric and magnetic fields. The reflections, cross modulations and combined effects of these waves create and shape our surroundings, reality, and visual and sound perceptions.

In this exhibition, I study how creating visual images using waves can turn into organic, yet artificial-looking textures and forms. The works are created using a modified electron beam of Cathode Ray Tubes that I direct with sound and other waveform signals.

Pictures are exposed straight from the CRT on black and white photographic paper so each image is unique. New identical print is practically impossible to make. The raster seen in the artworks is the color separation mask of a color tv CRT.

As an artist, I am fascinated with working with particle physics and magnetic fields, since half of the creation of the picture is in my hands and the other half is created by the laws of physics and cumulative randomness. Working in the darkroom by hand with large format papers is an important part of the process because it makes visible the result of the process, and I am often surprised by the variety of forms and textures.

For me, images are almost like religious imagery of the background forces of the universe. Since these images don’t represent anything and are complex and organized, yet random in form, they can be seen a bit like as a Rorschach test that reflects the viewer’s mind.

The aestethics of the images is difficult to define. They can be seen as coal drawings, paintings or computer graphics. Since the picture is exposed straight to the photographic paper there are is no grain of the film.”

The exhibition is supported by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation and Arts Promotion Center Finland.

Antti Pussinen (b. 1984) works in Berlin and his exhibitions are on display mainly in Germany and other parts of Europe. The works on display at Galleria Sculptor have been previously on display in places such Luisa Catucci Gallery in Berlin, DOX Centre for Contemporary Art and Turku Art Hall. The most significant exhibitions include: Kiasma and art museums in Tampere, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Hyvinkää and Kouvola in Finland and Galleria Berlin and Freies Museum in Berlin and Center for Architecture in New York.

Picture: Antti Pussinen: Lissajous Figures