MARTA – Jussi Matilainen
The exhibition consists of a computer animation and paintings that complement it. The main character in the animation is a fateful woman. Something has happened, and action needs to be taken to fix the situation. Or perhaps nothing has happened yet, and everything is just a deception. The story removes other characters and focuses on Marta’s figure and the places where something has happened, or will happen. A second character, a man, is shown at the threshold of action, with the mood being one of anticipation.
My work is based on manipulating existing material. The overall concept borrows from Robert Aldrich’s film Kiss Me Deadly (1955), where, at the beginning, Christina, played by Cloris Leachman, dies, taking her secret with her. Her last words before a violent death, “Remember me,” serve as a concrete clue, suggesting that the solution to the mystery lies with her. In the animation, Marta (voiced by Marta Khrshanovskaya), the character portrayed by Christina, does not reveal her secret. The story goes nowhere but loops around. No resolution is necessary – and it would be of no significance.
What remains is trust, or belief, or disbelief. The responsibility lies with the viewer. Marta is a woman in distress, yet simultaneously suspicious. The archetype of the fateful woman does not allow for any final certainty.
Sometimes it’s so dark that half must be imagined. The world of Film Noir, or rather, Neo-Noir, is familiar. The atmosphere and environment foreshadow tragedy. Marta herself is a mystery. Violence is present between the lines, but the action is kept out—it exists only in the viewer’s agitated mind.
The paintings can be seen as part of the story. They depict places that clearly belong to the same world. Perhaps they are deleted scenes or flashbacks, maybe false clues or missing pieces of the puzzle. The “camera” does not pick up meanings but thrusts directly into the image itself. Everything feels familiar and has been seen many times before. The staged-looking scenes long for actors and action to complete the moment. The paintings introduce a new participant by emphasizing the position of the viewer. Perhaps the viewer is Marta’s co-actor, or perhaps the viewer is Marta.
Translated with ChatGPT