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MIKA VAINIO
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20 Cindy van Acker | Lanx | 2008
In Lanx, a continuous current circulates between the body and the geometrical motifs around.
Balancing on lines, unfolding its sides, its ridges, its angles, playing with perspectives that continually
renew themselves, the body fathoms its capacity to inscribe forms in a predetermined space.
Transforming itself as if it were under the effect of an optical illusion, the décor starts to vibrate, to
transform itself: A continuum with variable dimensions on the level of sensation.

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MIKA VAINIO – INSTALLATIONS AND SOUNDTRACKS
Daniel Klemm
THE COILED CHRONOSOPHICAL ACCESS POINT
Carl Michael von Hausswolff
LET THE SOUND FLOW
Daniela Cascella
BIOGRAPHY · DISCOGRAPHY
EXHIBITIONS · SOUNDTRACKS · BIBLIOGRAPHY
(29)
(31)
(37)
(42)
(44)

29 Daniel Klemm
MIKA VAINIO – INSTALLATIONS AND SOUNDTRACKS
Assembling a collection of Mika Vainio’s installation works has certainly been
a long-term adventure, but trying to reconstruct a period of more than ten years of a turbulent
artistic life and investigating the remnants of a highly intriguing output was more than worth
it. The book in front of you — with a CD that gathers its soundtrack — puts together those parts
of Vainio’s work that developed alongside his widespread musical career, to deepen the insight
into his artistic conceptions and thus expanding the comprehension of his work.
Mika Vainio himself is not a chronologist who tends to document his life
with every snip of paper carrying his name nor does he consider doing his bit for posterity. He
lives in the here and now, with a focus on what is in front of him, forging every minute to not
leave it unseized. His Finnish temper is not what you would call pretentiuos; he rather stays in
the background, strumming the strings without attracting too much attention still making our
perception vibrate irresistably.
In the past thirteen years Mika Vainio has exhibited in some of the major art
spaces in Europe, and he has collaborated with both a number of important artists and curators.
Since his musical work has been in the focus of attention, his installations have never gained the
broader recognition they deserve — without good reason. In the present book, a overview will
give a clear outline of this segment of his oeuvre. Also his realized soundtracks for other artists,
in the genres of video, film and dance are included. Each work is presented with a significant
selection of images (installation views, visuals or sketches) and an explanatory text to deliver its
basic idea. In the two essays Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Daniela Cascella – longtime companions
and collaborators — delicately introduce Vainio’s conceptions to further enlight the
reader’s under standing. On the enclosed CD one can find a selection of tracks created for the respective
installations and soundtracks.
This book is supposed to be the initial volume of a series of books dedicated
to the audio-visual work of artists associated to raster-noton. As for most of the artists of the
label to work with material outside the musical context is quite a usual matter; it has not yet
been presented on the same level accordingly. Good things come to those who wait.

EXHIBITIONS
1996 Onko, ›Manifesta‹, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Rude Mechanic (with Ilpo Väisänen, David Crawforth, Hayley Newman),
Beaconsfield Gallery, London, UK
mikro makro (with Carsten Nicolai), ›all+tag‹, Kunst der Zeit GmbH Dresden,
Germany / Industrie museum Chemnitz, Germany / Taidekeskus Mältinranta/Galleria
Saskia, Tampere, Finland / Galeria Miejska, Wroclow, Poland
1997 4 × Radio, ›Migrateurs XXI‹, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1998 −27, ›Nuit Blanche‹, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
Linja (with Ilpo Väisänen), ›Unfinished History‹, Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis,
USA / Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA
2000 2 × 50 Hz Thru Leslie Speaker (with Ilpo Väisänen), ›Sonic Boom – The Art Of Sound‹,
Hayward Gallery, London, UK
Untitled, ›Bring The Noise‹, Geneva, Switzerland
Ilmanvaihto, ›Mutations‹, Arc en Rêve Centre d’Architecture, Bordeaux, France
2001 10 × Transistor Radio (with Ilpo Väisänen), Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, Ireland
Sondear, ›Architectures Of Discourse‹, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain
3 × Wall Clocks, ›Perspectives – Architetture Sonore‹, Micamoca Gallery, Milan,
Italy / ›Frequenzen [Hz] – Audio-Visual Spaces‹, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main,
Germany / ›Traces‹, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montréal, Canada
2004 Berlin Soundchamber, ›3rd Berlin Biennial For Contemporary Art‹,
KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
2005 Untitled (with Ilpo Väisänen), De Vleeshal, Middelburg, Netherlands
2008 Elsewhere (with Micol Assail), Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy
2009 2 x 540 kHz, Mediaruimte, Lab(au)’s Gallery for Electronic Art, Brussels, Belgium
SOUNDTRACKS
2001 Mika Taanila – A Physical Ring
2003 Anu Pennanen – A Monument For The Invisible
2004 Eva Teppe – Half Awake Half Asleep
Eva Teppe – The Human Fly
2005 Eva Teppe – Omertà
2007 Lars Siltberg – Candleflames Modulated
Cindy van Acker – Kernel
2008 Cindy van Acker – Lanx
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
all+tag | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Prof. Ines Bruhn / Peter Bauer),
Industriemuseum, Chemnitz, Germany 1996
Manifesta – European Biennial of Contemporary Art | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Katalyn Neray),
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1997
Migrateurs | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris,
France 1997
Nuit Blanche – Scènes Nordiques | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist),
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France 1998
Unfinished History | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Francesco Bonami), Walker Arts Center,
Minneapolis, USA 1998
Mutations | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist), Arc en Réve Centre d’Architeture,
Bordeaux, France 2000
Sonic Boom – The Art of Sound | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by David Toop), Hayward Gallery,
London, UK 2000
Architectures of Discourse | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Ute Meta Bauer), Fundació Antoni Tàpies,
Barcelona, Spain 2001
Perspectives – Architetture Sonore | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Daniela Cascella / Luca Cerizza),
Micamoca, Milan, Italy 2001
Frequencies [Hz] – Audio-visual Spaces | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Jesper N. Jørgensen),
Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main, Germany 2002
3rd Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Ute Meta Bauer),
Berlin, Germany 2004
.ipeg – bild ton maschine | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Johannes Fricke-Waldthausen),
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany 2004
Traces | Exhibition Catalogue (curated by Nicole Gingras), Galerie Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery,
Montréal, Canada 2006

IMPRINT
MIKA VAINIO. TIME EXAMINED
Published 2009 by raster-noton. archiv für ton und nichtton | R-N 109
Essays by Daniela Cascella and Carl Michael von Hausswolff. With an introduction by Daniel Klemm.
Work texts by Cindy van Acker, Gilles Amalvi, Nicole Gingras, Daniel Klemm, Carsten Nicolai, Lars Siltberg,
Eva Teppe, and Mika Vainio.
Editors: Daniel Klemm, Olaf Bender
Design: Denise Walther, Heimatstuben Dresden
Print: DZA Druckerei zu Altenburg GmbH, Altenburg
First edition: 1.500
Photo credits and courtesy: Ute Meta Bauer (p. 61 > Sondear), Giulio Buono – Studio Blu, Turin (p. 56/57 >
3 x Wall Clocks, Milan), Centre d’Édition Contemporaine, Geneva (p. 83 > Untitled, Geneva), Daniel Klemm (p. 15,
49-51 > 10 x Transistor Radio, 2 x 50 Hz Thru Leslie Speaker), Jens Liebchen (92, off endpaper > ∞), Lex de Meester
(p. 84-89 > Untitled, Middelburg), Isabelle Meister (p. 17/18, 19-24 > Kernel, Lanx), Norbert Miguletz (p. 58 >
3 x Wall Clocks, Frankfurt/Main), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (p. 16 > 4 x Radio), Nicola Percy
(p. 62/63 > Rude Mechanic), Kai von Rabenau (front endpaper > Portrait), Silvio Scafoletti (p. 75 > Elsewhere),
Lars Siltberg (p. 91 > Candleflames Modulated), Mika Taanila (p. 4-9 > A Physical Ring), Eva Teppe (p. 64-69, 76/77,
78 > Omertà, Half Awake Half Asleep, The Human Fly), Mika Vainio (p. 52-55, 59, 60, 70/71 > Untitled (Migrateurs),
–27, Berlin Soundchamber, Ilmanvaihto), Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (p. 79-82 > Linja), Uwe Walter (p. 10-14
> mikro makro), Jon Wozencroft (p. 72/73 > Onko)
© 2009 by Mika Vainio and raster-noton
All rights reserved by the artist, the authors, the photographers and the publisher.
Respect copyright, encourage creativity!
Thanks to: Cindy van Acker, Gilles Amalvi, Micol Assaël, Véronique Bacchetta, Ute Meta Bauer, Giulio Buono,
Héloïse le Carvennec, Daniela Cascella, David Crawforth, Rachel Fleming-Mulford, Alain Gentil, Nicole
Gingras, Tommi Grönlund, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Max Hollein, Jens Liebchen, Hayley Newman,
Carsten Nicolai, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Anu Pennanen, Kai von Rabenau, Cristina Ricupero, Lars Siltberg, Paul
Smith, SouthStar Recorder Berlin, Mika Taanila, Eva Teppe, David Toop, Ilpo Väisänen, Jill Vuchetich,
Rutger Wolfson, Jon Wozencroft
Made in Germany
ISBN 978-3-9812760-1-5
TRACKLIST CD1: Mika Vainio. Time Examined
01 Ilmanvaihto 07:13
02 −27 01:32
03 The Human Fly 03:09
04 Berns 05:46
05 Half Awake Half Asleep 04:04
06 Berlin Sound Chamber 09:31
07 3 × Wall Clocks 02:29
08 Omertà 07:10
09 Monumentti 01:56
10 Sondear 05:34
11 4 × Radio 18:30
Total Time 67:33
All tracks originate from the installation and sound-
track pieces presented in this book. Track 04 was
composed for Lars Siltberg’s Candleflames Modulated
(2007), track 09 for Anu Pennanen’s A Monument For
The Invisible (2003).
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TRACKLIST CD 2: Ø + noto. mikro makro
01 Ø 12:25
02 noto 10:05
03 Ø 11:55
04 noto 06:33
Total Time 40:58
This is a re-issue of the original CD on noton/
ras ter music, released in 1997.

50 Mika Vainio (with Ilpo Väisänen) | 2 × 50 Hz Thru Leslie Speaker | 2000
The work involves a Leslie speaker (originally designed for the Hammond organ) and two signal generating
oscillators that both have been set to 50 Hz, slightly out of tune to each other. The resulting interference beat
was sent through the Leslie speaker exploiting its revolving facility to add a rising and falling of overtones,
mixing to a siren-like noise in the exhibition space.

Mika Vainio | Untitled | 1997
In the context of the exhibition ›Migrateurs XXI‹ Mika produced a
small booklet with close-up photographs of the intestines of an old
radio — like amplifier valves, condesators, etc. — as well as the signs
and inscriptions on the display that mark the radio as a migrating
device that makes the listener travel through unknown territory.
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58
Mika Vainio | 3 × Wall Clocks | 2001
The installation 3 × Wall Clocks pursues the exploration of the invisible. An object, sculpture and sound environment, this work is heard before it is
seen. Three regular wall clocks are mounted on the wall. Each clock is amplified through contact microphones recording the sound of the movement
of the minute hand. The hand moves only once every minute, and the sound of it shifting is run through a mixer connected to a FX reverb
unit and further played through a speaker. The clocks show the same time but are tuned slightly out of synch so that a sound from the moving
hands creates a [slow] rhythm that spreads through the space. This sound punctuates the time the visitor spends in the gallery, accompanying him
in the same way as other regular and cyclical sounds, such as heartbeats. At once a temporal and spatial reference, this regular sound of the minute
›striking‹ makes it possible to mark out a territory. »by rhythm, too, listening ceases to be purely supervisory and becomes creation. Without
rhythm, no language is possible: the sign is based on an oscillation, that of the ›marked‹ and the ›non-marked‹ ...«
–
Extract taken from Gingras, Nicole: Poussières/Particles; in: Gingras, Nicole (Ed.): Traces; Galerie Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, 2006, p. 29/30

86 Mika Vainio (with Ilpo Väisänen) | Untitled | 2005
This piece was installed in De Vleeshall, which is located in an old meatmarket hall in Middelburg dating from the 17th century.
In order to have a connection with its history, Mika and Ilpo built a 24 meters metallic frame with 48 meathooks hanging from it and
24 meataxes lying beneath it on the floor. Additionally, they placed big air ventilation propellers to both ends of the structure to make
the hooks move in the stream of air they created and occasionally hitting the metal frame. The resulting sounds were picked up with
contact microphones and processed by various sound effects to finally be amplified into the room. On the opening evening they used
the set-up for a concert performance.

92 Carsten Nicolai | ∞ | 1997
Opening performance of the ∞-project at documenta X in Kassel, Germany
with Mika Vainio, Carsten Nicolai, Olaf Bender, Frank Bretschneider and Carl Michael von Hausswolff.

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TIME EXAMINED