Weather circulations around us, formations of water vapour carried by air, currents that are constantly changing as part of the Earth’s water cycle. Despite their seemingly light appearance, clouds carry a vast amount of data about the environment and conditions in which we live.
In Josefina Nelimarkka’s (b. 1982) exhibition The Cloud of Un/knowing in Amos Rex, the cloud is a unique and fleeting moment, a continuous process guided by invisible streams of data. Real-time measurements from the Arctic regions, boreal forest, and a weather station on the roof of Amos Rex create a beautiful, subtle unity in which light, sound and digital water droplets are in constant motion. The exhibition challenges us to accept the uncertainty and to take in information with all of our senses, giving us an opportunity to get closer to phenomena that we do not yet fully understand.
More climate data is being collected than ever before, yet there remains so much unknown about atmospheric events. The idea of various levels and forms of knowing and un/knowing has long been at the core of Josefina Nelimarkka’s art. Through this way of thinking, if we accept the uncertainty and allow multiple ways of knowing, we get closer to complex, elusive phenomena – moving like a cloud between the real, the sensual and the potential.
Josefina Nelimarkka’s works on show at Amos Rex offer us the opportunity to expand our ability to observe clouds and invisible events in the atmosphere. Through the artworks, we can reflect not only on the essence of clouds, but also on different scenarios for the future of the climate.
The Cloud of Un/knowing showcases three new site-specific artworks, which have been completed specifically for the exhibition.
The exhibition is curated by Anastasia Isakova.
Josefina Nelimarkka (b. 1982) is a multidisciplinary artist working with environmental questions and experientality. In her site-sensitive installations connected to weather, water, and air, she explores the natural phenomena and their perception combining artistic and scientific research. Her works are multisensory experiences, which reveal the subtle yet partly incomprehensible and complex processes in time, nature, and society.
Nelimarkka’s art expands from painting to continuous processes, in which the constant flux depends on the ongoing changes in the environment. Unpredictability is part of the potential of the installations that transforms into experientiality with delicate materials, real-time data and interactive technology. Through her works, the momentary nature of time and sensitivity of the environment are underscored, bringing forth multiple ways of sensing, knowing and being present.
Josefina Nelimarkka works in Helsinki and London. She has graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki (2017) and Royal College of Art in London (2016). Her works have been shown in many solo and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. Her recent projects investigate the role of clouds in atmospheric research in collaboration with climate scientists. Nelimarkka participated in the UN climate conference in Dubai (2023) and presented her works at Finland’s COP28 Pavilion.
