Antti Pirskanen’s programming skills got an early boost in his childhood, when, in 1980, one of the first personal computers, Apple II, was introduced to his home. Art studies and an interest in producing images and sounds appealed to him and his professional career started with architecture visualizations and video productions at the Helsinki University of Technology. During his work there, his repertoire expanded to computer animation and he learned the basics of dramaturgy with moving images. When multimedia production industry finally developed alongside CD-ROM drives and the increasing capacity of computer, he enthusiastically started to combine different media and co-founded one of the first multimedia production companies in Finland, Loop Finland.
One of the first clients was Science Center Heureka, which commissioned several groundbreaking exhibits. The exhibitions later toured the world and, according to the latest statistics, were seen by over 15 million visitors. Reliability, adhering to schedule, and ease of maintenance are absolute requirements for programs in exhibition use. These values remain a central part of Nodium’s philosophy.
Not all projects were published as dedicated one-off exhibits. Examples of CD-ROM projects include: Epeli, a type of life simulator and Docrom, an educational program about documentary photography. After such large scale, successful projects, University of Art and Design Helsinki, University of Oulu, Academy of Fine Arts and Tampere Polytechnic School of Art and Media asked Mr. Pirskanen to give lectures and special workshops about production techniques and the role of producer in new media.
After the mid-90s, the Internet became an increasingly important medium for Mr. Pirskanen’s work. Helsinki City Theatre became interested in his skills after he participated in an experimental three projector video stage design, and he later produced a web site for them. Over the years, the site has grown into an impressive online service and publishing system, which is still being developed and maintained by Nodium. Also other theatres and various Helsinki City units commissioned sites inspired by this project. The client base started to grow and soon technical production assignments were received from some of the largest companies such as Sony, IBM and MTV3.
A colossal project in the beginning of 21st century was the production of the multimedia exhibits for G.A. Serlachius museum. Mr. Pirskanen acted as a technical producer for all of the multimedia of exhibits, which are an important part of this famous and acclaimed museum.
He had a brief professional hiatus on a round the world trip at the end of 2005. Projects finished in 2006 include the remake of a website for a dance company and a biofeedback based multimedia piece for the Millennium Technology Prize foundation. He spent the first half of 2007 as an artist in residence in Vienna and is slowly making a full circle by returning to his animation roots as a motion graphics artist.
The man behind the curtains can be reached at antti.pirskanen
nodium.com
Interests:
- Art - Movies, music, cuisine, design
- Outdoor pursuits - Snowboarding, sailing, hiking, cycling
- Networking - Social networking, travelling, online communities
- Religion - The big picture, Shambhala Buddhism, religious conflicts
- Computers - Programming, user experience, cyberspace
- Science - Tribal societies, the history and future of technology, natural sciences, evolution
Mottos:
- “Promise only what you can deliver”
- “Be very, very careful what you put into that head, because you will never, ever get it out.”
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530) - “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) - “Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt”
J.D. Zeik (Screenplay - Ronin)
Heroes:
- Malcolm X
- John Glenn
- Stephen Hawking
- Johnny Cash
- Jean-Michel Cousteau
- Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Personal photo galleries: