Future Is Not What It Used To Be

Finland’s Mika Taanila is an artist whose work ranges from
documentaries to the visual arts. The main focus of his work relates to the futuristic ideas and utopias generated by modern science and culture.

Three of his films are being presented in a special programme:
»Futuro: A New Stance For Tomorrow«: a study of the recent past as the future it was once supposed to become, the film looks at ideas and visions prevalent in the late 1960’s when architects and designers believed plastic offered a solution to most of the problems we were then confronted with.

For his found-footage short film »A Physical Ring«, Taanila made use of notes and records of an anonymous physics experiment carried out in the 1940’s. The combination of images and the music by Pan Sonic create a vivid and almost hypnotic effect. »Future Is Not What It Used To Be«, Taanila’s latest work, is a documentary about the forgotten visionary Erkki Kurenniemi (born in 1941), the Finnish pioneer of electronic music. A fascinating portrait of the avant garde of 1960’s music and cinema and an attempt to answer questions raised by science
in the 21st century …
MIKA TAANILA PROGRAMME

Friday, June 6th 2003, 22:30, Lichtmeß
Sunday, June 8th 2003, 17:30, Zeise 2

1. FUTURO – TULEVAISUUDEN OLOTILA / FUTURO - A NEW STANCE FOR TOMORROW
Mika Taanila, Finland 1998, 29:00 Min., 35 mm, Dolby Stereo, color, fin. w. engl. subt., documentary
2. FYSIKAALINEN RENGAS / A PHYSICAL RING
Mika Taanila, Finland 2002, 04:40 Min., 35 mm, dolby stereo SR, color, no dialogue, experimental
3. TULEVAISUUS EI OLE ENTISENSÄ / THE FUTURE IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE
Mika Taanila, Finnland 2002, 52:30 Min., Betacam SP / 35mm, dolby stereo, color & b/w, fin./swed. w. engl. subt., documentary