Sculpture from surprising materials

Image: Anssi Kasitonni, Anita’s Telephone Masked as a Toy Car, 2022

Any material and subject can be used for making art. Materials don’t have to be valuable or otherwise special – Anssi Kasitonni uses materials such as cardboard and plastic in his sculptures. The most important things are your own idea and enthusiasm!

Design and make your own sculpture. A sculpture can represent something you like about yourself. Could you make a sculpture of a car or other vehicle of your dreams, or your favourite animal? See what kinds of everyday materials you can find at home to use in a new way: what shapes could you create, for instance, by folding cardboard, or with plastic lids and caps from food packaging? You can attach different parts together with e.g. tape, glue, wire, or even modelling clay. You can create colours for your sculpture with paint or crayons. If you want your sculpture to shine like metal, try using tin foil or the aluminium tops from yoghurt pots. The sculpture can also be assembled from readymade objects, and you can take a photo or make a drawing of it as a keepsake.

Remember that your sculpture doesn’t have to look exactly like a car (or other inspiration) – it’s great if your sculpture looks like your very own kind of work!

A work based on your favourite character

Image: Anssi Kasitonni, Nunc est Bebandum, 2022

Anssi Kasitonni has made works based on the characters of the television shows of his own childhood and youth. Such cultural products entertain and unite us, and stay on our minds for a long time. Characters on TV can also become important “friends” or role models.

Make an artwork based on your own favourite TV character by drawing, painting, or using modelling clay. Choose a character or programme that is important to you. What do you like about it? What makes the character interesting? What are its identifying features? Try making the work from your own memory. The character doesn’t have to look exactly like on TV –– feel free to use your own style and interpretation. Do your family members or friends recognise the character seen in your work?

Short film “Speed Record”

Photo from Anssi Kasitonni’s short film Le Saboteur, 2022

Anssi Kasitonni’s exhibition Speed Records features many kinds of sculptures with a car theme, and there is an exciting sense of speed in the air. Kasitonni is also a video artist. His short films are humorous, creative, and have a do-it-yourself feeling. While the atmosphere of speed can also be captured in a sculpture, a film gives even more opportunities to play with the idea of speed. How would you portray speed in a fun and original way through video?

Become a video artist like Anssi Kasitonni and shoot your own short film with the title “Speed ​​Record” using the camera of a mobile phone. Start by thinking about which things are fast. In addition to cars, even the smallest thing –– such as the blink of an eye –– can be really fast. Are you or your friends particularly quick to do something? Once you’ve come up with a topic related to speed, think about how this speed could be described in a fun way. If you choose to, for example, film a fast-moving toy car, would you film it whizzing past the frame –– or could the camera move with the car? Ask family members or other people closeby to help with your filming. If you’re making a film with an adult, you can try editing the movie out of several clips with a video editing app. The film can also be shot in a single shot.

When you are finished, host a movie premiere with family or friends.