Kristiina Lahde
Extraordinary Measures

Kristiina Lahde uses elegant conceptual systems to make sculptural constructions, collages, and photographs. In Extraordinary Measures, she turns her attention to tools for measurement by systematically reformatting a series of readymade measuring devices. From a Straight Line to a Curve features a collection of vintage yard sticks that have been bolted together to form a large geodesic sphere. Greater than, Less than uses cloth measuring tapes that have been spliced then nailed to the wall in a series of chevrons: one half held taught while the other surrenders to gravity. A Sequence of Lines and Links conjoins hundreds of steel rulers in a net-like construction that drapes and buckles under its own weight. From point A to point B features a series of wood rulers that have been precisely cut then reassembled in stepped patterns. In reconfiguring these common measuring devices, she removes their function and suspends the ability to demarcate linear units of measure. By breaking these empirical conventions, the artist invites us to imagine data, space, and distance differently.