ELISSA ERIKSSON | Selected Projects
Creative Shopping
A solo exhibition in Galleria Huuto Uudenmaankatu, Helsinki
October 22 - November 9 2014
The Creative Shopping exhibition in The Galleria Huuto Uudenmaankatu
Consumer Profile I
Close-up of the 'Shopping Queen'
“The project started from playing with words. I often twist words and sayings in my head. I don't exactly remember when I first came up with the phrase ‘creative shopping’, but there was something fascinating about it. The combination of these two words was somehow so random and ridiculous, but it still sounded like something that you could see in an advertisement.
I was playing with the idea of using the phrase as the title of my exhibition and that's when I realized that it actually describes our current culture of consumption rather well. We don't really need more stuff, which is why we mainly buy things to express ourselves, not because we need them. I came to the conclusion that the Creative Shopping exhibition really needs to become a reality. The works built using receipts and shopping baskets highlight the theme by exaggerating the situation: This kind of art would be created if shopping really was the only way to be creative.”
» Galleria Huuto's pages
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Aleksanterinkadun tiistaikerho (Aleksanterinkatu Tuesday Club)
A repeating performance project on Aleksanterinkatu, Helsinki
March 2012 - May 2013
Tuesday 17th April 2012
Tuesday 8th May 2012
Tuesday 18th September 2012
For over one year The Aleksanterinkatu Tuesday Club met every Tuesday at 18:00 and walked the Aleksanterinkatu – each week in a different way. The project was open for anyone to join and the style to be used was chosen each week by the participants.
The repeating performance project studied the possibilities of modifying the urban environment by one's own behaviour. How many weeks and how many people it takes to turn the Aleksanterinkatu into a street known of its peculiar Tuesday activities?
» Aleksanterinkatu Tuesday Club in Facebook
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Haluan nähdä muutakin (I want to see something else)
21 Bus stop shelters in the Helsinki City Centre
January 2011
"Haluan nähdä muutakin" poster on Postikatu
Detail of the poster
“Haluan nähdä muutakin” (I want to see something else) was a project claiming a little part of the commercial outdoor media back to the people. For one week, 21 bus and tram stops in downtown Helsinki were bearing a non-commercial message. 1458 people participated in renting them for one week – at 5896.62 euros, the average contribution was 4.20€ per person.
The word was spread through a Facebook page from the beginning of December 2010. Within 1.5 months, the page reached almost 6000 fans and it took only two weeks to collect the needed amount of money.
» http://haluannahdamuutakin.wordpress.com
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Kotivalot (Homelights)
Ice lanterns, candles
Helsinki
February 2011
Senaatintori, Helsinki
Central Railwaystation, Helsinki
Hakaniemi Bridge, Helsinki
Kotivalot (Homelights) was a series of guerilla style urban installations made with ice lanterns and candles in the central Helsinki.
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Tämä on kuitenkin minun kaupunkini (This is my city after all)
Autumn leaves and wire fences
Helsinki
Autumn 2010
Kaisaniemenpuisto, Helsinki
Kulosaari Bridge, Helsinki
Mannerheimintie, Helsinki
"Tämä on kuitenkin minun kaupunkini" (This is my city after all) was a series of guerilla style urban installations made with autumn leaves on wire fences in three different locations in Helsinki.
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Vaihtokauppa (The Barter Shop)
team: Ella Eiranto, Elissa Eriksson, Anni Halonen, Asta Nykänen, interventions were realized as a part of UrbanUtopia by Reality Research Center
Happening / Performance
Kirjasto 10 Library, Helsinki
March 2012 and May 2012
"What would the city be without money?
The Barter Shop questions the power of money by setting up a place for barter and by exchanging coffee and cakes for services. You can offer different things from sewing a button to writing a poem to helping out with someone’s homework. The customers may also exchange services among themselves, if their needs meet."
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