Lauri Astala’s art deals with concepts of space and the cultural structures that form our way of conceiving space. His recent work – videos and computer aided video installations – focus on our experience of space. Within the framework of mediated reality, Astala examines concepts such as absence, presence, and the ambiguity of the sense of belonging. Astala’s installations break the traditional division between film, cinema and audience, in which the role of the spectator is limited to passively observing outside reality. These installations place the spectator on a stage where he becomes an active protagonist, thus making visible the spectator’s here-and-now reality in contrast to another place and time that (cinematic) images traditionally present.

Lauri Astala (born 1958) lives and works in Helsinki, Finland and Avallon, France. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, in 1989. Astala continued his studies with a Fulbright grant at Chicago Art Institute (MFA, 2001). Astala’s medium is moving image, often constructed as in-situ installations. Recent solo shows include: Gallery Heino, Helsinki, 2008 and 2012; Helsinki Art Museum, 2010; KUMU Contemporary Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia, 2008; Institut finlandais, Paris, 2008 and Forum Box Gallery, Helsinki, 2005. Recent group exhibitions include ARTER, Istanbul, 2010; Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Germany, 2010; Palazzo Esposizioni, Rome, 2009; Bucharest Biennial, Romania, 2008 and Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden, 2008. Astala was awarded the State Prize of Fine Arts (Art Council of Finland) in 2007.