Viides sääty examines the structures that underlie society

The Viides sääty working group explores the ideologies generated by industry, technology and the economy in Finland and globally.

Works of art, events and research are created as a result of the Viides sääty members’ individual and group efforts. The project was launched by Jussi Koitela, Kimmo Modig and Jenna Sutela, who work as curators, authors and artists.

Group work was triggered by an interest in the social status of engineers and in various organisational forms and hierarchies. The first manifestation of the group’s collaboration is a backpack embroidered with the logos of local service providers, essential food products during the residence and infrastructure related to the lives of the group members.

“Instead of writing a report, we made a backpack – which is a fan product,” the working group says. “The backpack illustrates our support structures, which resemble a mycelial network and include Kone Foundation, Luontaishoitola Helmenhohde and airberlin, among others.”