Welcome to the kids’ own art tour to the Generation 2020 exhibition! Note that the exhibition was on show at Amos Rex 12.02.-23.8.2020.
This tour is especially suitable for anyone aged 8 or under. You can follow the tour while listening.
Have you met Ou?
Have you met Ou?
This is Ou. Ou is a strange fellow as it can usually only be seen by kids. Ou lives in Helsinki, in an art museum called Amos Rex. Have you ever been to an art museum? They are special places where you can see artwork and anybody can visit them!
Museums collect works of art and carefully look after their collections. Do you collect something? What is it? Ou likes to collect tiny little stones that occasionally fall from museum guests’ shoes.
Ou was born at the same time as the museum, and it still lives there. Ou wants to give you a private tour around the current exhibition.
Generation 2020
Generation 2020 is
Right now there is an exhibition at Amos Rex called Generation 2020. The artists that take part in Generation 2020 are young, all of them between 15 to 23 years old! Many of them are still at school, as students. Grown-ups who still study are called students.
Usually in art exhibitions the artists are adults, and the oldest ones can be ancient (even hundreds of years old…). How old is the oldest person you know?
Ou starts to wiggle
These artworks make Ou wiggly
Ou is now going to take you around museum and show you artworks that raise special emotions in it. These particular works make Ou jiggle, jump, rattle, nap, fall in love and occasionally even feel slightly sad.
Scrumptious treats
Scrumptious treats
I wish I were a yummy treat! All of Ou’s friends love sweet things! Pinja Salmi has painted these lively delicacies. All of them seem to have many things going through their minds, you can tell from the way they look. One is smiling, the other frowning. How many different kinds of feelings can you spot by looking at their expressions? Ou suspects that even though the doughnut looks jolly it may well have something a bit naughty on its mind. What do you think it might be?
The works were completed last year and their names are Donut Smile It’s Creepy, Cake of Wonder, Grumpy Muffin, I Scream, Bun in the Oven, and Are You Jelly?
Ou’s favourite cake is a round doughnut, it somehow reminds it of something… What is your favourite sweet? What sort of an expression has it got? Find a mirror and practice various yummy expressions!
The artist’s name is Pinja Salmi. She has made all these artworks by painting on a canvas with acrylic paint. This paint is plastic-based, so it cannot be mixed with water after drying. The paint dries very quickly, if compared to an oil paint that dries very slowly.
Delightful mess
Delightful mess
This mysterious mixture draws Ou’s attention. Is it a party dish? Sparkle, brilliant colours, strange ingredients and interesting splashes. Maybe it is the surface of a strange planet or a funny dessert?
Rosalia Silfer has made these fascinating artworks by using the strangest materials. Just looking at these works makes Ou jiggle with excitement!
Now Ou feels very inspired! This means that Ou wants to try something out as well. Ou wanders out to look for interesting things such as stones, a lost key, leaves and sticks. It then uses the roof of its home museum as a base to arrange his loot into a fabulous pile. It looks like a birthday cake!
The artist’s name is Rosalia Silfer. She has made many works of art, here are two of them called Lilia and Anber. They are made with very many materials such as different paints, urethane (i.e. the kind of gummy thing that is often used in building houses in different places), sheet metal, rotten food, epoxy, which is a strong transparent plastic glue that covers the rotten food underneath in the artwork. It makes the food really hard and so that it no longer can rot.
Party!
Party!
It’s party time! Ou can feel the dancing vibe immediately when it arrives at this party. But hold on, is everyone enjoying themselves in this drawing by Julia Masalin? In particular Ou notices the polar bear and the bunny. It decides to try and cheer them up!
Ou finds a hula hoop lying around and starts swirling it around its wobbly midriff in ever increasing speed. The guests burst out laughing! Why don’t you join along: imagine yourself with a hula hoop and stand up. Swirl the hoop into one direction, then the other. You can also put some party music on or sing it out yourself!
The artist’s name is Julia Masalin and her artwork is called Festive. It’s made with dry pastel chalks on paper, that means that it’s drawn with very dusty chalks.
Ghosts at the museum
Ghosts at the museum
Is Ou dreaming? Can it really be a ghost? Slowly Ou crawls closer and peeps round the corner – and there it still is! It’s a ghost! Ou braces itself and edges closer, feels and sniffs around until the ghost starts giggling. “It tickles!” the ghost bursts! Immediately Ou feels more at ease, as giggly ghosts can hardly scare anyone! Ou and the ghost introduce each other. The Ghost turns out to be an artwork. It’s created by Otto Koskelo who himself dreams of being a ghost. Apparently, it’s rather easy to turn into one! You can also give it a go like this:
Go and find a shadowy place such as a corner of a room or behind a door, and pull an old sheet over your head. Start howling in a mysterious way. Wooo… Woo OOoooOoo…
Just stay put and keep howling until someone notices you.
Otto Koskelo has made an artwork called I wish I were a Ghost 1. The artwork is a photograph.
Ou worries about bursting
Ou worries about bursting
Ou learns that a bicycle tire can burst and it starts worrying – is it possible that Ou itself might explode? Aura Latva-Somppi has made artworks of clay. They tell the story of when her bicycle tire burst. Ou starts to calm down as these works are really pretty! But better beware of those sharp corners, just in case…
Have you ever bumped into something scary, has something really rattling ever happened to you? Think in your mind about something exciting that has happened – soon you’ll be able to whisper about it to a super ear.
Aura Latva-Somppi has made a series of sculptures called Flat Tire. The sculptures are ceramic, meaning they are made of clay.
Ou pours its heart out
Ou pours its heart out
An ear has arrived in Ou’s museum. It listens to everyone who needs it. You can tell The Ear all your secrets. The Ear is made by artist Lumi Wiikari. Everything the ear ears it passes on to Lumi, and she has promised to keep all of the secrets. Lumi thinks that it is important that everyone has got someone who listens – that nobody would be left without a friend.
Ou decides to confide in The Ear. Ou was left a little nervous worrying about bursting earlier and thinks telling about this to someone might help it calm down.
Are there any ears close to you? Look very carefully, can you spot ears in somebody’s head or in a picture in a magazine or maybe in a toy. Then tell that ear the exciting experience you were thinking about earlier.
Artist Lumi Wiikari has felted a big ear. The ear is made of felt, or wool. The ear is very large, about the size of a large pillow.