Eevi Rutanen
Fuzzy Logic
4–27 March 2022
The artist is present at the gallery 4–6 March.
Do you know how a telephone, a remote control or a faucet works? We often take these mundane technologies for granted, and forget to marvel their operational logic, or question the underlying conventions.
Fuzzy logic is a branch of science that studies non-binary systems: What if the truth value of a statement is not true or false but something in between? In the same vein, the exhibition strives to challenge our perception of the positivistic logic inherent in science and technology: Does a machine always either function or fail? What happens if a piece of technology does not aim to be infallible or functional at all?
Science and engineering are often seen as inaccessible, masculine and authoritarian institutions guided by hard values and mechanistic truths. Women and other marginalised groups have historically been neglected or excluded from the technological discourse, and cast as either domesticated users and consumers or servile assistants and avatars.
The exhibition’s interactive installations merge soft and hard both literally and metaphorically: by combining electronics and hardware with plush textiles, familiar technologies are transformed into absurd systems of fuzzy logic. The artworks attempt to demystify the hard sciences by unsettling the predominant values and aesthetics of modern technoscience. In a society governed by machine logic, can softness, fallibility and inclusivity prevail?
Eevi Rutanen (b. 1992) is an artist, designer, programmer and educator. After studying bioinformation technology and graphic design at Aalto University, she graduated with an MFA in Computational Arts from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2019. Rutanen’s interactive installations have been exhibited in multiple shows both in Finland and abroad. Fuzzy Logic is her second solo exhibition. Rutanen also teaches creative computation at Aalto University and has run multiple workshops on basic electronics for both children and adults. Her mission is to make STEM fields approachable and engaging for a wider audience. In 2022, Rutanen was awarded the Young Artist Grant of the Finnish Art Society.
The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Art Society.
Contact information:
eevi(a)eevirutanen.com
eevirutanen.com
(a)eebiru
