15.11. — 8 December 2024

2024
00:15:00

X grows up in the 90s, makes prank calls as a child and gets his first job in telesales as a teenager. Office smells, panting people and meaningless greetings follow him from one workplace to another.

Built from archival and amateur video footage, the work follows X’s activities as a faceless subject who uses his voice as a commercial commodity. I’m not calling at a bad time, am I? is an experimental fictional story based on individual experiences.

The production of the work has been supported by the Audiovisual Culture Promotion Center (AVEK), the Oskar Öflund Foundation and the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation. The work was produced by Kenno Filmi. The artist’s work has been supported by the Art Promotion Center.

Photo: Farbod Fakharzadeh, Kenno Filmi.

Martta Tuomaala is a visual artist (MA) working in Helsinki, who has focused on different forms of film, video art and installation. His works move between fiction and documentary. For the last ten years, Tuomaala’s works have mainly dealt with themes related to work culture and working life. Tuomaala has worked in various positions in low-paid fields for years, and the accumulated experiences have influenced the subjects of her works, emphasizing the rights of workers.

A satirical approach and strong body language are evident in his latest productions, but the form and tone of the works vary depending on the subject being discussed.

Tuomaala currently serves on the board of AV-Ark and is also one of the founders of the Kenno Filmi cooperative that produces film and media art. Tuomaala’s works have been shown widely in museums, galleries and festivals both in Finland and abroad, e.g. 2022-2023, 5th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, 2021 ACC Gallery, Weimar, 2020 Tartu Art Museum, Tartu, 2020, EKKM, Tallinn, Survival Kit Festival, Riga. He also represented Finland at the Venice Biennale in 2019 as part of the Miracle Workers collective.