TOMUTONTTU RATSASTAA PILVIEN HALKI
Asbestos Art Space 3.–7.11.2023

KUULEVINAAN AJAN VIRTAA
Vallilan panimon galleria 2.–30.12.2023

TALLENNUS
Galleria Katariina 1.–24.3.2024

PART I
TOMUTONTTU RATSASTAA PILVIEN HALKI
(~“TOMUTONTTU RIDES THROUGH THE CLOUDS”)

If the stars are aligned listening to the most ordinary blues rock jam might become a ridiculously strange experience. You suddenly remember you're at an exquisite hidden corner in the garden of forking paths. The paths leading out all fork too.

Twenty years ago, Jan Anderzén took it upon himself to bring Tomutonttu's music to human ears. In the Asbestos Art Space performance he puts on a mask and peeps beyond the mundane where an alternative logic rules. The goal is to communicate exhilarating glimpses of not knowing, of the enigma that is neither positive or negative. 

Gnomes represent the original augmented reality. Tomutonttu's music arises from the groove of a random wasteland thicket. There is no distinction between "composition" and "production". Everything is going too fast and not fast enough. Why does music sometimes affect us so strongly? From the sparks of this question Tomutonttu was born.

PART II
KUULEVINAAN AJAN VIRTAA
(~”PRETENDING TO HEAR THE FLOW OF TIME”)

PART III
TALLENNUS
(~”DOCUMENT”)

"It put us in a stage of ecstasy. We started feeling as we were floating through the trees. It was unreal. Life became a film. It actually put magic into your life." – Andreas Pavel, one of the first people to experience the personal stereo

"Once Dan told me he wished he could make art that was like a Kinks song." – Kim Gordon on Dan Graham

In an era marked by unprecedented connectivity, Jan Anderzén embarked on a mission to translate Tomutonttu's music into a tangible experience for human ears. This was carried out through a blend of sound recordings and performance journeys facilitated by modern communication channels and underground networks of camaraderie. Anderzén's endeavor continues to unfold, the mission remaining far from completed.

Dust, the chosen venue, serves as a nexus where the visible merges with the invisible. In the house of Tomutonttu, in a deserted church, using natural light, inhabited by people speaking many languages and wearing little or no clothing.* The grayness of the dust is the result of mixing all the colors.

At the heart of Tomutonttu's sonic landscape lies a tapestry of acoustic elements, found recordings, hardware and software, interwoven to create harmonies that defy convention. Through this synthesis, Anderzén explores novel avenues of human-machine interaction, offering glimpses into alternative modes of expression.

Delving into the enigmatic allure of music, Anderzén draws inspiration from a myriad of visual mediums—sheet music, dance, album artwork, music videos, synesthesia and cymatics. Through these lenses, he seeks to unravel the profound emotional impact that music exerts on the human psyche.

* this sentence is based on the computerized poem The House of Dust (1967) by Alison Knowles

This tripartite exploration across Helsinki during the winter of 2023–24 was made possible through the generous support of the Kone Foundation and Art Promotion Center Finland.