Tomutonttu and MSHR

Across his visual and sonic practices, Jan Anderzén is a master of collage. The Finnish artist deconstructs, rearranges, and transforms materials to psychedelic effect, producing a cosmic patchwork with his multimedia output. For the past two decades Anderzén has been the frontman of avant-garde sound group Kemialliset Ystävät, a whimsical collective that weaves together found samples and joyous improvisation in their prismatic, genre-defying recordings. In a solo endeavor, Anderzén makes music under the guise of Tomutonttu, a creature who looks after all the dust.

Constructing a responsive sonic-interactive environment, Tomutonttu and MSHR will present a string of six new compositions activated by performance. The artists call these works “musical ecosystems including human presence,” and each is produced collaboratively and guided by a series of original sonic interfaces that eschew traditional controls in favor of embodied interaction. This tactile and multi-iterative installation features three brilliantly hued quilts collaged by Anderzén and incorporating kaleidoscopic patterns, hieroglyph-like symbols, and digitally-rendered geometric forms. The artists’ collaboration at Blank Forms extends an ongoing exchange—of samples, images, animation loops, and other materials—between Anderzén and MSHR, realized here as a total environment operating on a logic of its own.

Established in 2011 by artists Brenna Murphy and Birch Cooper, MSHR builds and explores sculptural electronic systems. A self-transforming entity and collective, MSHR expresses itself through interactive installations and live improvisations. Utilizing digital chip conglomerates, analog circuits, and open-source software, MSHR sculpts resonant audiovisual shapes and environments. Its name is a flexible modular acronym, designed to hold varied ideas over time, most recently Material Sentience Habitat Ring.

This program is made possible with generous support from Art Promotion Center Finland, Consulate General of Finland in New York, MES The Finnish Music Foundation, mediaThe foundation inc., Nordic Culture Fund, and Oregon Arts Commission.