In 1965, Kurismaa started to work as an artist-decorator for the Tallinn Department Store while also commencing studies in monumental painting at the State Art Institute.

[4] Kaarel Kurismaa and his objects also play a role in the history of Estonian new music as in the 1970s he collaborated with the cult progressive rock group Mess.

Kurismaa has admitted that Finnish television allowed the locals to get an inkling of what was happening in the rest of the world and what else was being done on stage besides playing music.

Kurismaa was responsible for the stage setting, which consisted of various objects, a light show and photo slides, which enhanced the impact of Mess’s music at concerts and turned their performances nearly ritualistic.

At the beginning of the new decade, he focused on animated children's films, then came commissions for a number of objects for public spaces, such as the Tallinn central post office and the sculpture for the High-voltage Networks of Region North[check spelling].

He left aside small objects furtively snuffling in the corners and their soul landscapes, and started to actively interfere with the space with both visual and acoustic means.