MARBLE STAIRS (2013) – Tuomo Rainio

In the work Marble Stairs, video footage merges with a digital image surface created through digital editing. An algorithm programmed specifically for the piece extracts moving figures from the video and covers them with digitally poured color fields, while the background remains unchanged. The video’s pixels are stretched into vertical lines, the length of which is determined by the difference in brightness between the background and the figures.

The weaving together of various visual structures reflects the overlapping temporal layers embedded in the piece. The apparent permanence of the historical space contrasts with the present day and a group of aimlessly wandering tourists who carry attributes of their own time: baseball caps, digital cameras…

In this single-shot work, there is no narrative. Events do not develop, and the story does not progress – as if the temporality of the piece is trapped in a loop between the past and the present. The abstracted figures move without identity, appearing momentarily as if from another time. Can an image capture time before images?

Biography

Visual artist Tuomo Rainio (b. 1983) works in photography, video, and installation art, combining conceptual foundations with the expressive possibilities of digital technology. Rainio graduated with a Master of Arts degree from the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in 2011. He has held solo exhibitions in Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Japan and has actively participated in international group exhibitions since 2005. In 2008, Rainio received an award at the European Month of Photography, and in 2015, he was granted the Dukat Prize by the Finnish Art Society.

Translated with ChatGPT