Night and Day – more info

Elena Näsänen, Night and Day

Elena Näsänen’s two-channel video installation Night and Day, 2023 is projected on one wall of the exhibition hall and a screen with two projectors. In the middle of the hall, a construction reminiscent of a rocky cliff offers a seat for customers to watch the video work.

Elena Näsänen (b. 1968) combines elements of traditional film narrative in her video installations. She breaks the narrative into pieces and reconstructs a story whose events are complemented in the viewer’s mind. Sound design plays a particularly important role in her art. Her style of expression is defined by lyricism.

The video installation weaves together scenes characterized by climate change. One is situated on an island in Northern Europe, the other in a desolate mountain region in Southern Europe. The impacts of the climate crisis manifest themselves differently in Finland than in regions such as the Mediterranean.

The two protagonists from different environments resemble one another. This seems to suggest that people are the same everywhere. In one scene, a woman surrounded by rocks is wandering across an arid terrain depicted with shades of brown and yellow. The vegetation is dried up, leafless and crisp. Desertification and draught are progressing, water is scarce and merely present in the drinking bottle. The woman in the story set on an island, on the other hand, falls under the strong influence of the clouds, dark waters and water sounds. The rain and sea seem to pose some a threat of some kind. As the woman is trying to trace the sun from behind the horizon something emerges.

During these times of extreme climate events, what we need is global solidarity. Individual choices do make a difference, even if they have little short-term impact on government policies. Night and Day is an independent installation featuring scenes edited from her short film Turbulent Waters (2022).