Close Watch, a newly commissioned video installation by Pilvi Takala, premieres at the Pavilion of Finland at the 59th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Commissioned and produced by Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the exhibition is curated by Christina Li.

The multi-channel installation is based on Takala’s experience in the private security industry, where she worked covertly as a fully qualified security guard for Securitas. The piece is centred on workshops she developed in response to issues encountered on the job during her six-month employment at one of Finland’s largest shopping malls.

Working undercover, staging social situations and infiltrating communities, Takala’s artistic practice exposes often-unspoken rules and norms in society. Exploring security as both a concept and an industry, Close Watch considers how it defines our public space and the behaviour tolerated within it.