Directing

Pilvi Takala

Helsinki, Finland

Pilvi Takala is a Finnish award-winning performance artist presenting candid camera as art.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Broad Sense poster
NR

Broad Sense is based on an three day long intervention in the European Parliament in Brussels. The video reveals the diversity of security responses to the artist’s visits.

Broad Sense

2012

Broad Sense poster
NR

Broad Sense is based on an three day long intervention in the European Parliament in Brussels. The video reveals the diversity of security responses to the artist’s visits.

Broad Sense

2012

The Committee poster
NR

In “The Committee” 8 to 12 year old children explain how they decided to spend 7000 pounds. They discuss the process of decision making and the values guiding their decisions. The children are 11 regulars at a youth center in Bow, London, and were invited by the artist to spend her Emdash Award budget, normally aimed towards production of art work for Frieze Art Fair. The children were free to spend the money any way they wanted as well as to choose how to make decisions in a group.

The Committee

2014

The Announcer poster
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An elderly lady pushes the limits of customer service at an up-market department store by continuously requesting announcements for interesting-looking men.

The Announcer

2007

Real Snow White poster
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The absurd logic of the ‘real character’ and the extreme rules of Disneyland become apparent when a real fan of Snow White is banned from entering the theme park dressed as Snow White.

Real Snow White

2009

Real Snow White poster
NR

The absurd logic of the ‘real character’ and the extreme rules of Disneyland become apparent when a real fan of Snow White is banned from entering the theme park dressed as Snow White.

Real Snow White

2009

Real Snow White poster
NR

The absurd logic of the ‘real character’ and the extreme rules of Disneyland become apparent when a real fan of Snow White is banned from entering the theme park dressed as Snow White.

Real Snow White

2009

Easy Rider poster
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A young man in a tram is asking a bit too much from a stranger.

Easy Rider

2006

Easy Rider poster
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A young man in a tram is asking a bit too much from a stranger.

Easy Rider

2006

Wallflower poster
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An overdressed girl tries her luck in dance events that are for Finnish tourists in a small Estonian health resort town, Pärnu.

Wallflower

2006

If Your Heart Wants It (Remix) poster
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Finnish artist Pilvi Takala has set up a fake start-up company to gain access to SLUSH, a three-day conference event and self-celebration for venture capitalists in Helsinki. A world of inflated power talks, civilised aggression and illusion, where the most important thing is that you believe in the whole thing yourself.

If Your Heart Wants It (Remix)

2020

The Trainee poster
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Artist Pilvi Takala goes undercover at a marketing department. Her intention was to do nothing until she was fired; hidden cameras catch the bewilderment with which her co-workers react to this.

The Trainee

2008

No artwork available
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What happens when a renowned experimental filmmaker with a flair for absurdist humour is invited to a military training session designed to rally support for national defence and promote preparedness for crises and war? Pilvi Takala, with help from scientist Johanna Vuorelma, playfully deconstructs the ways society is persuaded to believe that peace is best negotiated at gunpoint.

Feeling Defensive (Part 1)

2025

No artwork available
NR

Workers’ Forum is an animated message conversation, the idea for which developed from Takala’s experience as a micro-tasker in the United States, in which she worked for a service where users pay to have a pretend girlfriend or boyfriend texting them. Through a crowdsourcing platform, the artist responded to the task ‘Write a text message that is positive, engaging and convincingly written in the voice of someone texting a significant other.’ The video is based on conversations that took place in a discussion forum between the micro-taskers, trying to figure out together how to be an invisible partner. Micro-taskers receive small chunks of large jobs as part-time workers, offering a cheap supply of labour for online enterprises.

Worker's Forum

The Stroker poster
NR

The Stroker refers to the nickname Pilvi Takala received during her two week intervention at Second Home, a trendy co-working space in East London. She went around lightly touching people as part of a cutting-edge well-being programme. The nuances of movements and looks demonstrate how people negotiate 'acceptable behaviour' in the workspace.

The Stroker

2019

The Stroker poster
NR

The Stroker refers to the nickname Pilvi Takala received during her two week intervention at Second Home, a trendy co-working space in East London. She went around lightly touching people as part of a cutting-edge well-being programme. The nuances of movements and looks demonstrate how people negotiate 'acceptable behaviour' in the workspace.

The Stroker

2019

The Stroker poster
NR

The Stroker refers to the nickname Pilvi Takala received during her two week intervention at Second Home, a trendy co-working space in East London. She went around lightly touching people as part of a cutting-edge well-being programme. The nuances of movements and looks demonstrate how people negotiate 'acceptable behaviour' in the workspace.

The Stroker

2019