Niko Luoma

Kairos

Ancient Greeks had two words for time: Chronos and Kairos. Chronos refers to sequential time and Kairos to the

right or opportune moment when something special happens. Put differently, Kairos is the time in between, time as indeterminate, a qualitative notion of time as now, a decisive, immeasurable instant that is the ultimate expression of the present tense.

The inspiration for these works comes from the unexpected actions and events in nature and surroundings, both visible and audible.

These epiphanal events include things like waves reaching a shore, wind moving a blade of grass back and forth, the beginning and ending of a rain squall, as well as found sounds like air conditioning mixed with bird calls, or a refrigerator hum mixed with a dripping water faucet. They are small moments that suddenly make sense out of things, revelatory moments, Kairos moments.

For Aristotle, Kairos meant the time and space context in which the proof will be delivered.

It is in these small, random moments that one can, at times, notice answers to much larger questions, of how, for example, the ocean would look if it could be seen as just an idea?

All the works are done in studio and have multiple exposures layered one upon another. Superimposed photography adds the needed element of chance into the work. Before this, I made abstracted drawings of "my Kairos moments" for the base material of the work. By using a drawing as translator, the shift from representational into abstract feels unforced. In this series, then, I feel that I have distanced myself from photography as a traditionally acknowledged representational medium, using it more as a tool that I know, as a process that I understand.

Every Now Is a New Past

Every now is a new past explores the momentary quality or short duration of time. Every moment perceived, experienced and registered now turn into the past at the next moment.

For me nature is a stage as well as metaphor for this phenomenon when looking the future passing throught the present becoming memory. I see nature as abstract chaos of different elements, a state in which pure abstraction functions as a continual experiment. This work made the Kairos series possible.

I do not use any digital manipulation in my work.

All the lines on my table, every angle of creative complex (2006-

Photographs in "All the Lines on My Table, Every Angle of Creative Complex" picture how sunlight travels across the table of my studio during one day.

Constantly changeing light enters the room from the window at sunrise, making various artifacts on my studiotable visible; objects, books, papers, pens, notes, etc. All the things that were left randomly on their spots from previous day´s work. The table is seen as a field where the reflections of daylight on the edges of the objects creates highlights. These highlights are seen as lines. The lines moves across the field exposeing the day´s passage while the day proceeds. Stationary objects responds to proceeding time and becomes abstractions of nature. The objects are set free from their physical existence to be just ideas.

In the works with color, colder colors indicate the morning light and warmer the evening light.

The proccess:

First I made a drawning of the light´s movemments on objects during that day.

Then I re-created each line, one at the time, onto the a piece of acryllic glass acording to the drawing by useing various masking materials. Each line is photographed on a one sheet of film, one at the time. The sheet of film is multiple exposed until every line is photogrphed.

The works since 158th Day (room) is done exactely by using the same method. Observation - drawing - photograph. Instead of a table, the subject of an investigation is the empty space inside the uncomplete oceanliner standing on the dockyard. The space is like network of rooms that are empty with open windows, doorways and half-completed walls. The day light to enters and exits freely to this empty space from sunrise to sunset. Instead of sinle lines my notation is based on more geometric forms; squares etc.The dimensions of the space is filtered trough perception of time.

The Fresh Paintings

The Fresh Paintings (2004 -) show a one year of newspapers from11.9.2001 to 11.9. 2002, 365 day since the collapse of WTC towers. It represents a passage of information. Colors mark the different ways of perception the information. Each has its individual meaning for each individual percipient. Colors overlay eachothers covering the past. First step was to paint the pile of newspapers in black to make it vanish. Then to procces information by bringing it back one color at the time, red, green, blue, orenge, yellow, violet and then returning to white, which refers to a memory of an event. In between the primary colors corresbond with the secondary colors showing contrariety views on a subject. The last photograph (Fresh Painting 9905) exposes the entire passage of information , all the colors mixed randomly, lost into the folds of paper and found by turning the pile upside down.

Fresh Paintings illustratesthe lifes cycle in nine steps.

Future Me

"Future me" series explores the semantics of photography using the linguistics of light and time by profiting from the accessibility of the camera lens capturing physical phenomena such as spatial light transitions. In essence the aim is to bend time and space from one point to another, altering the way we perceive it. Information is collected on a sheet of film from different locations, such as blue color of the sertain monent of a day. Then the same piece of film is exposed again to different blue from different location to form a combination of these two. As an exempel the works like "Splitting I & Splitting II" are combining the calendar events such as longest and shortest day of the year and "Crossing the line" is combining the last day of winter and the first day of spring.

Every now is a new past 2006 (I-VII)

"Every Now is a New Past" explores the momentarity and short duration of time. Every moment perceived and registered now, becomes as a part of the past at the next moment. Nature is in constant state of flux. Moments experienced become memories that helps to organize the passing of time.

Photographs as well as memories are images functioning on the boarder of the detail and the over-all. Photography and memory shares the specific capability to leave the most of the information "outside" the image.

Locations of this series are public spaces such as parks and gardens. The illusory slowing down effect of time takes place inside these man made environments. The moments spent here offers an utopian idea to control the uncontrolable; time.

I see nature as an abstract chaos, pure abstraction as an experience.

In "Pure Inromation Praxis" series I am useing a "kaleidosscopic camera" of my own design with six faceing mirrors, exploring the themes of infinity, chaos and chance. Inspired by Pure Abstract painters, this series is searching a pure abstraction in photography. The information captured on the negatives shows the passage of light and time. Exposures varies from fractions of seconds to severral hours. My subjects from still lifes to landscapes. Colors are found trough the printing process that binds the captured reflections of light into abstrackt representaition of nature.

Niko Luoma