Grönlund–Nisunen + Carl Michael von Hausswolff

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Grönlund–Nisunen, installation view. Photo: Jussi Tiainen

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Grönlund-Nisunen’s exhibition consists of works that, in the artists’ characteristically precise and minimalist idiom, touch on the dimensions of time, space and continuity. The duo Tommi Grönlund and Petteri Nisunen have invited Swedish artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff to join them in this exhibition. Their previous collaborations have included the Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2001, and the opening exhibition of Kiasma in 1998.

In the exhibition, time appears as an inexorably progressing yet relative dimension, communicating and morphing with the space of the gallery. Beyond the limits set by time and space, the deliberately poetic works are crystallisations of changes and shapes triggered by physical phenomena such as tension, gravity and pressure.

Máquina del Tiempo – Time Machine makes the passage and measurement of time concrete in a remarkably tangible way. The work employs a mechanical clockwork movement powered by a large-scale weight drive whose design is hundreds of years old. The mechanism was constructed in 2019 in collaboration with the Finnish School of Watchmaking and a Mexican fine mechanics workshop. This is the first time the work is on show in Finland. Time Machine is not a timepiece in the traditional sense – it does not have a dial, numbers or hands, but instead expresses the passage of time and the present audibly with its steady, inexorable clicking. The gears of the machine are driven by gravity, slowly pulling a massive weight suspended on a wire from the ceiling towards the ground.

The continuum, measuring and perception of time is also evoked by the opened stopwatch mechanisms, as well as the work Frozen Sphere, that attracts condensed moisture from the air into water droplets on its frozen, polished surface. Over the course of the day, the invisible becomes visible: frozen becomes liquid, frost-covered surface turns gradually into shiny steel.

Grönlund-Nisunen’s wire installation in the large hall consists of hundreds of piano wires strung between opposite walls, dividing the space by twisting into a huge wave, turning from vertical to horizontal. The delicate, slender wires are in a light, constant movement – the subtle vibration and subsequent hum charges the static room with tension.

Whereas the works of Grönlund-Nisunen operate with measurable, physical phenomena and logic, Carl Michael von Hausswolff’s SPIRIPORT apparatus strives towards a dimension extending from time to eternity. The 13 randomly drawn sine wave frequencies of the apparatus form a polyphonic sound mass, which, when combined with radio waves of a telephone, opens the door to sounds from beyond.* Spiriport is based on studies of paranormal phenomena conducted in the 1980s by US scientists George W. Meek and Bill O’Neill and their Spiricom machine. When the red button on the device is pressed, frequencies corresponding to the human voice are resampled again, and a new cocktail of sine waves in sent to resonate in the space.

Most of Grönlund-Nisunen’s works are kinetic in some way or another: they tick, they vibrate, or otherwise change their being. Even the few stationary works – silkscreen prints and pieces made of perforated plexiglass – are activated by the viewer’s movements, forming moiré patterns that shift with the angle of viewing. Round mirrors placed in the window frames send shafts of sunlight wandering around the gallery, changing in intensity over time and reflecting fragmented views of the street and sky. The passage of time becomes tangible in the routes of the drifting sunspots.

–Aleksandra Oilinki

* you can call directly to the apparatus to listen to the sine waves: +358 (0) 44 952 5375. If you hear anything interesting, please write to galerie@anhava.com

Tommi Grönlund (b. 1967) and Petteri Nisunen (b. 1962) have worked together since 1993. Drawing on their background in architecture, sound art and technology, the duo’s spatial works often explore physical phenomena, electricity, the properties of materials, and kinetics. Their pared-down and precise works are often site- and situation-specific. Their output includes numerous public artworks in Finland and abroad, most recently Sidos for the Wintteri Community Hub in Uusikaupunki (2025) and Puolenvaihto for the Tammela football stadium in Tampere (2024). Alongside the collaboration, Tommi Grönlund also runs Sähkö Recordings, a record label he founded in the 1990s, while Petteri Nisunen serves as Vice Dean of the Academy of Fine Arts, Uniarts Helsinki. The duo have received several awards for their work, including the Finnish State Art Prize (2001) and the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts (2013) from the World Cultural Council.

Grönlund-Nisunen have participated in the biennials of e.g. São Paulo, Venice and Moscow, the Yokohama Triennale, and Manifesta 1 in Rotterdam. Their solo exhibitions have been organised, among others, at the Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai (2020); Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro, Mexico (2020); Kunsthalle Helsinki (2017); and Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2004). Their most recent solo exhibitions include Häiriötiloja/Interferences at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum, Turku (2025); Latent Spaces at LA BIBI Gallery, Palma de Mallorca (2023), and Scattered Horizon at Esther Schipper Gallery, Berlin (2023). They have also participated in numerous international group exhibitions, such as Myth/History II at Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2015), and And Yet it Moves at Mudam, Luxembourg (2015). Their more recent group shows include Hengitys/Breath at Kuva/Tila Gallery, Uniarts Helsinki (2025); Art in Space, Space in Art at Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere (2023); and Catch at Serlachius Museums (2023).

Carl Michael von Hausswolff (b.1956, Linköping) is a composer, conceptual artist and curator based in Stockholm, who often works with sound recordings, performance, light and sound installations, and photography. His main interest lies in the unknown, such as electronic voice phenomena (EVP), chronophysical delays and remnants, as well as social contact, development and structure between humans and animals. Von Hausswolff has collaborated with Erik Pausen (PHAUSS), Leif Elggren (KREV), Jónsi (Dark Morph), and Michael Esposito. He is the founder of the record labels Radium 226.05, Anckarström, Elgaland-Vargaland and freq_out (freq_wave), and was awarded the Prix Ars Electronica for digital music in 2002.

Von Hausswolff’s audiovisual works have featured in numerous exhibitions and biennials, including Manifesta (1996); documenta X (1997); the Johannesburg Biennale (1997); Sound Art – Sound as Media at ICC, Tokyo (2000); the Venice Biennale (2001, 2003, 2005) and Portikus in Frankfurt (2004). In July 2025, his work Lament for Hans Gustaf, Adalaide and Carl Ulrik was performed at the ÄäniSirkus LjudCirkus SoundCircus event curated by Charlie Morrow at Teurastamo, Helsinki.

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Grönlund–Nisunen
Empty Inside 1, 2025
brushed stainless steel, 4 bar external pressure
starting measurements: 21 x 21 x 21 cm

installation view

Photo: Jussi Tiainen

Grönlund–Nisunen
Gradual Shift, 2025
piano wires, motor, wire, steel ball

Carl Michael von Hausswolff
Spiriport apparatus, 2006/2025
13–channel sound installation
ed 1 + AP
technical construction: Jari Lehtinen

Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Spiriport apparatus, 2006/2025, 13-channel sound installation. Photo: Carl Michael von Hausswolff

installation view

Photo: Jussi Tiainen

Grönlund–Nisunen
Frozen Sphere, 2023
stainless steel, refrigerant gel, plinth
∅ 26 cm

installation view

Photo: Jussi Tiainen

Grönlund–Nisunen
Helsinki Sunspot Activity, 2025
mirrors, aluminium

Grönlund–Nisunen
Maquina del Tiempo, 2020
clockwork mechanism with counterweights (stainless steel,
brass, bearings, balance spring, wire)
330 cm x 45,5 x 73 cm

installation view

Photo: Jussi Tiainen

Grönlund–Nisunen
Spheres Tomography, 2023
rei’itetty pleksilasi / perforated acrylic glass, ed.3
22 x 22 x 22 cm