Modern-day Myths: The world of Eero Lampinen

Published 09/09/2015 by

If you haven't already acquainted yourself with illustrator and graphic designer, Eero Lampinen, I strongly advise that you clear your schedule. Based in Helsinki, his work offers a brilliantly skewed vision of the world, one influenced by magic realism, anime and Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. He deals in otherworldly terrain and yet his characters are often decked out in Air Max and iPads. Sure, their outfits are pretty on point, but what is it about fashion and folklore that works so well together?

Well fairytales can be just as predisposed towards style as anything else. Think Cinderella: selfless as she was she just HAD to have a new dress for the ball. I mean, what if someone had already seen her in that outfit!? Luckily good, old Fairy Godmother was on hand to sort her out. Swap those glass slippers for a pair of Louboutins and she's just your regular Hollywood stylist. Well, not quite. Lampinen actually has a 'profound dislike for consumerism', but still respects the artistry involved in design. In fact rather than a hipster affectation, incorporating fashion in his work is a way of experiencing commodities without having to 'own them physically'.

Not only does Lampinen use art as an outlet for his own moral judgement, but as a way to dispense a little too. The way he sees it fashion, like fable, is ultimately fantasy and so the value placed on a dress, iPad or even the FRESHEST footwear is ultimately illogical. As he puts it 'why we prefer one object or item of clothing over another is not a product of rational thought, but a fantasy fetish created by culture and often dictated by fashion brands'. By integrating trends within enchanted landscapes, he satirizes a consumer culture which amounts to little more than fairy dust.

Looking to a label-free past, fantastic tales were originally modes of explaining the random and at times brutal senselessness of nature. Plus it was a great way to keep the kids in line. I'm sure as children you all heard some fable based threat to get you to eat your greens or even clean your rooms. In the same way these tales were told to explain, they also terrified children into submission. With that in mind there is certainly a naive quality to Lampinen's work: the sugary shades, the often childlike subjects seen in both Seeds and Feeding Hour. However in these our fledgling heroes are sporting emblems of exclusivity; the footwear and hairstyles which are synonymous with younger generations. By injecting tokens of youth culture, Lampinen could in fact be undermining adult authority and reappropriating these stories for a new generation. If undercuts won't stick it to the man, what will?

Moreover we can't ignore that much of his output deals with real issues. Consider Ylioppilaslehti, a piece illustrating the plight of pro-choice Catholics. Similarly Kulttuurivihkot shows a child clutching a plant, watching ice caps melt away; hardly a subtle nod to climate change. He even has a piece titled Queer Jihad forgodsake, all of which stress that his work deals with difficult and even scary subjects, ones which could be explained away for young audiences. Yet by dressing them in the style of modern-day, the message is made accessible and the mystery, somewhat lifted.

So as Lampinen puts it, fashion and fantasy 'go hand in hand'. But if style really is essential, what's Shrek's excuse..?