{{Short description|Finnish electronic music group}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Advanced Art | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = | alias = | origin = Tampere, Finland | genre = {{hlist| Synthpop | EBM | Electro-industrial }} | years_active = 1985-1995 | label = {{hlist| Darklands | Poko }} | spinoff_of = {{hlist| Authorized Version }} | spinoffs = {{hlist| Neuroactive | Shade Factory | Impakt! }} | website = {{URL|https://advancedart.bandcamp.com/}} | current_members = * Pasi Janhunen * Petja Valasvaara | past_members = * Petri Huttunen * Jarkko Tuohimaa * Otto Kuusinen * P.W. * Reeta-Maria Hällilä }} '''Advanced Art''' was one of the pioneers of Finnish electronic music<ref name="side-line-archive2">{{cite web |author1=Inferno Sound Diaries |title=Advanced Art - Archive |url=https://www.side-line.com/advanced-art-archive-dcd-album-ek-product/ |website=Side-Line |accessdate=15 September 2020 |date=29 Dec 2015}}</ref> founded in 1985 by Pasi Janhunen (aka Jana), Petri Huttunen (aka Pete), and Petja Valasvaara (aka Vince) in Tampere, Finland. The band themselves opened their shows claiming "we play pop", but others described their music as synthpop, EBM and electro-industrial. Advanced Art were one of the very few Finnish bands at the time to appear on MTV Europe. The band never toured extensively but concentrated on one-off performances, sometimes in unusual locations.<ref name="bandcamp-page">{{cite web |title=Advanced Art |url=https://advancedart.bandcamp.com/ |website=Bandcamp |accessdate=15 September 2020}}</ref>

== History ==

In 1985, Pasi Janhunen, Petri Huttunen, and Petja Valasvaara formed a music project named '''Authorized Version''' in Tampere, Finland. After producing a couple of demos, the band changed their name in 1988 to "Advanced Art" when it became apparent that local media could not spell the English name "Authorized Version" correctly.<ref name="infections_substance_1_1">{{cite journal |editor1-last=Weaver |editor1-first=Rodney |title=Interview: Advanced Art |journal=Infectious Substance |date=1994 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=51-53 |location=Herndon, VA |language=English}}</ref> The band's first official releases were split releases with Finnish goth band Two Witches.<ref name="bandcamp_2017">{{cite web |last1=Harriman |first1=Andi |title=Advanced Art’s Futurist Legacy |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/advanced-art-feature |website=Bandcamp |access-date=29 January 2023 |date=27 June 2017}}</ref>

The band's early sound was decidedly synthpop in nature,<ref name="peekaboo-archive">{{cite web |last1=Braeckevelt |first1=Jurgen |title=Advanced Art: Archive |url=http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/advanced-art-archive/ |website=Peek a Boo |accessdate=15 September 2020 |date=10 Jan 2016}}</ref> but by the 90s the band honed a style of EBM that was characterized by fast sequences and "unpolished" percussion.<ref name="side-line-archive2" /> Access to better music equipment and technology over time contributed to the turn away from melodic structures and towards a more challenging industrial aesthetic.<ref name="bandcamp_2017" /> The band brought on additional members during live shows for percussion using various metal objects specifically to achieve a "harsher" sound.<ref name="infections_substance_1_1" />

After the band's demo and indie vinyl stage Poko Rekords signed Advanced Art in 1991.<ref name="side-line-archive2" /> The collaboration resulted in two maxi singles, "Scar" and "Time," and their first album, ''Product''.<ref name="indus_nation_9">{{cite journal |last1=Traub |first1=Kim |editor1-last=Valerio |editor1-first=Paul |title=Advanced Art - Product |journal=Industrial Nation |date=Summer 1994 |volume=1 |issue=9 |page=55 |location=Iowa City, IA |issn=1062-449X |publisher=Moon Mystique}}</ref> After the release of their second CD, ''Force'', the band embarked on a limited promotional tour in Sweden. Prior to that tour the band had played more than 50 shows, but not as part of an organized tour.<ref name="infections_substance_1_1" />

In 1995, VUZ Records released a retrospective compilation including early demo material alongside material from Two Witches. The band effectively ceased activity thereafter.

In 2015, the band released a pair of anthologies: ''Darkhive - The Tape And Vinyl Years'' containing demo material from their pre-Poko Records releases as well as their first 12" "Scar", and a 2 CD set entitled ''Archive'' containing 37 live and demo tracks dating back as far as 1987.<ref name="side-line-archive1">{{cite web |last1=Van Isacker |first1=Bernard |title=Cult electro act Advanced Art compiled on ‘Archive’ – grab a copy here! |url=https://www.side-line.com/cult-electro-act-advanced-art-compiled-on-archive-grab-a-copy-here/ |website=Side-Line |accessdate=15 September 2020 |date=24 Nov 2015}}</ref> ''Archive'' was released by the EK Product label, which had signed Vince & PW's band, Impackt!, in the 2010s.<ref name="side-line-archive2" />

In 2021, Ville Brusi of Neuroactive requested an Advanced Art remix for his Aeronaut V project, resulting in Valasvaara and Janhunen reuniting in the studio to produce a remix for the track "Into Two."<ref name="sideline-2021">{{cite web |last1=Van Isacker |first1=Bernard |title=Finnish electro pioneers Advanced Art remix new Aeronaut V single |url=https://www.side-line.com/finnish-electro-pioneers-advanced-art-remix-new-aeronaut-v-single/ |website=Side-Line |access-date=12 December 2021 |date=1 April 2021}}</ref>

==Personnel==

* Jana - voice, lyrics * Vince - machines, music

=== Past Members & Live Support ===

* Petri Huttunen (aka Pete) - machines, live percussion * Otto Kuusinen (aka Auten, Otto A) - machines, live sound engineering * Reeta-Maria Hällilä (aka Reeta) - machines, voice * Jarkko Tuohimaa (aka Factor) - machines, live percussion * P.W. - live percussion

Petri Huttunen later worked with Shade Factory and Active Media Disease. Jarkko Tuohimaa was as a founding member of Finnish electronic band Neuroactive.

==Discography== * 1987 CS ''Abstract'' * 1987 CS ''Act now Abstr later'' * 1988 CS ''Advanced Art'' * 1988 7" "Black roses" / "No answers no solutions" (Darklands) * 1989 7" "From nothing to nothing" / "Steel" (Darklands) * 1990 CS ''Clandestine'' * 1991 CS ''Clandestine (mis)take two'' * 1991 12" "Scar" (Poko) * 1992 EP ''Time'' (Poko) * 1993 CD ''Product'' (Poko) * 1994 CD ''Force'' (Poko) * 1995 CD ''Into the Darklands - Early years 1987-89'' (VUZ) * 2015 LP/Digital ''Darkhive - The Tape And Vinyl Years'' (Artoffact Records) * 2015 2xCD ''Archive'' (EK Product)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://cybernoise.com/info/artist.php?189 Artist information/discography page at CyberNoise] * [https://www.discogs.com/artist/130726-Advanced-Art Advanced Art] on Discogs {{Authority control}}

Category:Finnish electronic music groups