The Cinema Dynamo presents five video works by the Finnish artist Pilvi Takala (b. 1981, Helsinki).

In her work, Takala trespasses smaller microcosms, using a hidden camera to document a single, subtle act of transgression of established social conduct. In doing so, she unsettles the unspoken rules of various ambiguous societies

Real Snow White, 2009, 9’15”
The absurd logic of the “real character” and the extreme discipline of Disneyland become apparent when a real fan of Disney’s Snow White is banned from entering the park in a Snow White costume.

The Trainee, 2008, 14′
To realize The Trainee, the artist worked for a month undercover as trainee in the marketing department of the multinational Deloitte. Gradually she shifts from the position of someone others believe normal to the object of avoidance and speculation. If apparent activity and browsing Facebook during working hours belong to the acceptable behavioural patterns of a work community, sitting in front of an empty desk, thinking, threatens the peace of the community. The videos and slideshow reveal a spectrum of ways of looking after the odd member in a group.

Players, 2010, 7’50”
Players portrays a community of six poker professionals who live among a larger poker community in Bangkok. Playing poker is more just a way to make money than a passion for them, but the rules that govern their community follow the logic of the game. The systematic and analyzed way these poker players look at everyday life may seem absurd, but this shock might be more over their ignoring their original society than over the way they have built their own.

Drive With Care, 2013, 12’54”
Based on Takala’s time spent undercover as a teacher in an elite boarding school in the USA, Drive With Care explores people’s strategies for survival and how faculty members and their families negotiate their own space within the institution. The piece is about finding loopholes – places to breathe – while being careful not to violate shared rules.

Pilvi Takala lives and works in Helsinki. Her solo exhibitions include Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm; Künstlerhaus Bremen; Kunsthalle Erfurt; Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Kunsthalle Lissabon; and Sorlandets Kunstmuseum, Norway. Her work has been shown in MoMA PS1 and New Museum, New York; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; S.M.A.K., Ghent; Kunsthalle Basel; De Hallen Haarlem; Wiels, Brussels; and at the Moscow, Bucharest, Berlin and Istanbul Biennials.