Eija-Liisa Ahtila: Studies on the Ecology of Drama

Studies on the Ecology of Drama is a four-screen installation by renowned Finnish filmmaker and artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila.

Against the backdrop of the Finnish countryside, a ‘human actor’ guides us through a series of thoughtful yet playful visual exercises. Through meditative animation and visual effects we’re invited to consider how cinema constructs our relationship to nature.

Featuring a juniper tree, a common swift, a horse, a butterfly and a group of acrobats, the work encourages us to imagine how the moving image can be used to explore the experience of non-human beings in this time of ecological crisis.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila has long been considered a master of the cinematic installation form. Her work is conceptually organised around the construction of image, language, narrative and space. She has often probed individual identity and the boundaries of the subject in relation to the external world.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila (born 1959, Finland) studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, at the London College of Printing and at the University of Helsinki. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows at Guggenheim, Bilbao; Oi Futura, Rio de Janeiro; Albright Knox Art Gallery; The Israel Museum; Serlachius Museum, Finland; Lehmbruck Museum, Germany; Kiasma, Finland; Monderna Museet, Stokholm; DHC/Art Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal; Jeu de Paume Paris; K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Parasol Unit, London; Museo d/Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bolzano, Italy; Dallas Museum of art, Dallas; Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland; Kunsthalle Zurich and Tate Modern, London. 

Her work has been included in many international group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (1999 and 2005); Documenta 11, Kassel (2002) and will be part of the 2018 Sydney Biennial. Her films have been included in many major festivals including Berlin, Sundance, Venice and Oberhausen. In 2011 she was appointed to the main jury of the Venice Film Festival and in 2013 she was the chairwoman of the jury in FIDMarseille.

Image: Studies on the Ecology of Drama, Written & directed by Eija-Liisa Ahtila, © 2014 Crystal Eye, Helsinki