Not everything is visible at once

Anna-Leena Vilhunen

Synopsis

Experimental video Kaikki ei näy ainakaan heti / Not everything is visible at once

Length 07:00
Year of production 2024

When the bucket of an excavator and an artist’s paintbrush move, something is found and something is covered. My film Kaikki ei näy ainakaan heti / Not everything is visible at once contains observations of digging in a number of overlapping meanings. I want to give space to realisation.

The film contains scenes such as close-ups of digging at foundations and groundwork sites or of a decades-old Caterpillar moving in a yard. Despite the documentary-style features, I do not present any personal stories.

I explain the creation of my paintings, about working in layers, through video technology. As the painter, I move around in front of an unfinished painting in my studio. I look at the work in progress and at the model, who is freely interpreting the motion of construction machinery through her movements. I remember when we noticed during filming that we mirrored each other’s movements. A metro seen passing the gallery through the window adds site-specificity to the work. The handle and piston of the excavator bucket are mirrored in the surface of the ditch. I apply paint with a brush and wipe the surface of the paint with a rag - this, too, is digging.

Sounds overlap without being too self-evident. In addition to the composed music, the video features natural sounds from construction sites and the studio, such as human conversation. The painter’s steps in the studio provide continuity throughout the film. There are also excerpts from an organ piece composed by Juha T. Koskinen. The four-part Ormhuvud piece for the organ was
commissioned by Jan Lehtola, who first performed it publicly at St. Paul’s Church in Helsinki on the 7th of July 2006. The name of the piece comes from Gunnar Ekelöf’s collection of poems Sagan om
Fatumeh (1966).

I am proud of my workgroup, of my band: sound designer and composer Juha T. Koskinen, musician Jan Lehtola, editor Mika Koskinen, cinematographer Arttu Peltomaa, and model Anni
Raitio. I acted as director, screenwriter and cinematographer. The world premiere will be held on Wednesday 14th August 2024 in exhibition space III at Galleria Huuto in Kalasatama in Helsinki. My
video will be played there on a continuous loop. The video installation is part of my solo exhibition Syventämisen halu / Desire of deepening.
Anna-Leena Vilhunen, visual artist, media artist