Thursday, November 23

HAM, 17:45
We have come to the Helsinki Art Museum for the opening of an exhibition called Continuous Reenactments by the Korean artist Haegue Yang. Colour us unimpressed.
One of the “pieces”, Quasi-Yves Klein Blue, offers something to excite curators worldwide. The Smart Museum at the University of Chicago describes it thus:
Per the artist’s specifications for this installation of the artwork, the exhibition team voted on a selection of blues available at the Museum’s local paint supplier to choose the shade most similar to French artist Yves Klein’s patented International Klein Blue. Centered on what Yang calls “quasi-Yves Klein Blue,” the quasi-empirical survey – both absurd and precarious – contests Klein’s individualistic legacy to offer a more collective set of relations between artists, museum professionals, and the history of art.
The printed catalogue at HAM describes the process in similar words, further arguing that the “process also evokes questions about the idea of a traditional canon of Western art, prompting us to critically reflect on the concept of authenticity”.
Or not.
We meet Päivi there, and end up in a little café in Kamppi where we sip coffee and amuse ourselves.