Moving image

COSplayers (2004) showcases young people who have grown up immersed in the world of video games from an early age. In the work, they dress as fantasy characters and move through mundane spaces as if inhabiting a parallel reality. We see them standing in industrial zones, wastelands and between apartment blocks like heroes lost in the wrong world.

The work shows how subcultures offer a means of escaping the pressures of everyday life and environments where one does not feel a sense of belonging. At the same time, it reveals how role-playing can momentarily transform ordinary places into something new.

Cao Fei (b. 1976) is a Chinese contemporary artist whose work explores the impact of globalisation, virtual worlds and youth culture on identity. She works with video, photography, installation and performance.

The work is on view in the Saastamoinen Foundation Media Space at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art from April 15, 2026, to August 16, 2026.

Set in a world of emotions and sensations, the film follows a couple talking in a car in an ordinary French suburb. Suddenly, two police officers interrupt them and detain one of the protagonists to conduct a body search. Special effects take the viewer inside the protagonist’s mind, offering an embodied experience of what it feels like to have one’s body taken away. ‘When the police stop us and search our bodies, we are no longer subjects but become dangerous objects,’ the artist has described.

Mohamed Bourouissa (b. 1978, Algeria) often addresses social issues and the experiences of immigrants in his video and photographic works. He is regarded as one of the most important French artists of his generation.

The work was on view in the Saastamoinen Foundation Media Space at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art from September 24, 2025 to February 15, 2026.