Author Archives: Johanna

About Johanna

artist and curator

Sleepy days

I performed with Jaana & Jaap I don’t have anything to wear on Friday in Helsinki. Since then, I’ve been somehow really tired. I don’t know why I’m never able to estimate the amount of work and exhaustion caused by traveling, warming up a performance and working it out in another language, staying in some B&B or cheap hotel and in the end, performing? Yesterday I was determined to go to the gym after grocery shopping. But while I was in the supermarket trying to get my head together about what to buy and cook, I realised I was so tired that it didn’t make sense to force myself to exercise. And this really wasn’t about feeling lazy, just for once understanding that I actually was exhausted. But today I hit the gym, enjoyed my work out and although I feel good, I’m nowhere near recovered.
The performance went well although it was the first time we performed it in English and that caused some mixed feelings. But we got some very positive feedback so I guess we managed ok in the end. It would be just really important to perform the work more in English and of course, just to perform it more in general. We actually will perform in about a week again here in Kuopio, so that’s really good. As the work somehow deals with the pressures of looking good and success as well as the ridiculousness of it all, and as we constantly talk in it about good fats, body balance, styling, the appearance, trying to find something comfortable to wear etc., the work can easily pull you to the world of never feeling satisfied about yourself and the mundane reality of living with the imperfect aging body…
Next week seems really busy, lots of work to do and most of it is exciting. I’m planning to hold an audition for my new performance in the end of May or early June. At the moment I’m waiting to hear about one more grant as the budget of the work of course determines the amount of performers, length of rehearsals etc. in the end. So let’s see what happens with that.
Although my days in Helsinki were extremely busy, I ate with Jaana everyday in Silvoplee. It was just amazing to eat really good reasonably priced vegeterian food everyday. And what a variety of beautiful dishes they have! That, amongst others, is something I miss in Kuopio. But I made today a delicious salad with tofu, avocado and sesame seeds.

Johanna

Proud to be a Finn

I know there’s talk and writing about Ilkka Kanerva going on everywhere, but since I’m in Stavanger at the moment, I couldn’t help but notice the scandal on the front page of Vardens gang today. Oh boy.
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Johanna

TouWorks 1 starting today!

TW1 project is kicking off today in Stavanger, Norway. Our artists from Argentina, UK, Norway and Germany will be working for 10 days along Pedersgata to develope work that will be shown in June. We are having a dinner together every night and today I’m making the dinner with Anne-Marte for everyone. We’ll hope it’s going to be nice! We also have a little wine tasting tonight so that should be quite nice, too.

It’s beautifully snowy and sunny in Stavanger today and I’m so excited about finally seeing all the artists and getting to work with them.

Johanna

the latest column… in Finnish

Viimeinen kanto

Isoisäni haudattiin viime viikolla. Hautajaisia järjesteltäessä äidilläni ja tädilläni nousi jossain vaiheessa huoli, että löytyykö pienestä suvustamme tarpeeksi arkun kantajia. Puhelimessa äitini luetteli kantajiksi suunniteltuja miehiä, poikalapsia isoisälläni kun oli vain yksi. Minä ihmettelin ääneen, että mitä varten arkkua tulevat kantamaan lastenlasten –jotka nekin sattuvat kaikki olemaan tyttöjä – puolisot, joista osa ei tuntenut isoisääni käytännössä lainkaan? Olen kuullut useamman ihmisen kertovan, kuinka hieno ja ehkä vapauttavakin kokemus on ollut kantaa ja laskea oma vanhempi haudan lepoon. Mikseivät siis äitini ja tätini osallistuisi arkun kantamiseen? Äitini tyrmäsi ehdotuksen tokaisemalla: Ei se ole normaalia!
Tämä jäi mietityttämään. Miksi minulta on mennyt totaalisesti ohi tämmöinen tapa, sääntö vai onko se peräti laki? Kuinka pitkälle nainen vaietkoon seurakunnassa -perinne oikein ulottuukaan? Sain kuulla, että tapana on kutsua vaikka naapurin miehiä arkun kantoon, jos ei niitä omasta suvusta löydy. Minusta tämä vaikuttaa oudolta. Helsingin seurakuntayhtymän nettisivuilta löysin kuitenkin tiedon, jossa sanotaan, ettei mikään periaatteessa estä naisiakin olemasta arkun kantajina. Hyvä tietää. Mutta jos periaatteessa esteitä ei ole, niin mikä on se henkinen ja kulttuurinen ilmapiiri, joka estää edes ajattelemasta moista vaihtoehtoa?

Asiaa selvittäessäni sain tietää myös lompakossa pidettävästä Tahdon siviilihautajaiset –hautausohjekortista sekä sitä täydentävästä hautajaisten tarkempia ohjeita sisältävästä lomakkeesta. Kätevää. Vihdoinkin keino välttyä piinaavilta virren venytyksiltä ainakin omissa hautajaisissaan! Samalla voi myös pohtia haluaako arkkuhautauksen, tulla tuhkatuksi vai jättää sen omaisten päätettäväksi. Omaa lomakettani en ole vielä täyttänyt, mutta olen ajatellut, että ehkä voisin velvoittaa suvun naiset – riippuen ketkä ovat hengissä – arkun tai uurnan kantoon, joku voisi vaikkapa laulaa tilaisuuteen sopivan Madonnan biisin ja pateettiset värssyt voisin ehkä kokonaan kieltää. Tai ehkä jätän kaiken omaisten ja ystävien harkittavaksi, jotka sitten sen ajan kulttuurisen ilmapiirin rajoissa ja kuolemani luonteen huomioonottaen tekevät päätöksensä tilaisuuden yksityiskohdista. Eihän sitä koskaan tiedä milloin lähtö tulee.

Johanna Tuukkanen

Breathing

Been training intensively in the gym of nearby swimming hall. I’m surprised how good and quite easy it has felt. I got fed up with the icy roads and skipping Nordic walking because of that some weeks ago. I’ve been training in gyms in the past a lot but I’ve always reached a point where I just get bored and yes, there are times when it feels ridiculous to sweat in a cross trainer of a gym as supposed to walking outside or doing ashtanga where also the mind gets a different kind of exercise. Well, I try to avoid the boredum this time and I’m sure I will be doing more Nordic walking and cycling when the roads are clear from ice again. A good thing about the gym in a swimming hall is the fact that you can also go swimming or water running if the gym doesn’t attract anymore. Additionally, if you’re in need of maintenance or repairs for your equipment, the gym equipment services are readily available. Speaking of gyms, I’ve noticed that many are now using commercial gym flooring, which makes a significant difference in comfort and safety during workouts. If you are considering a change in your routine or equipment, exploring options like gym equipment rental could provide a fresh and flexible approach to your fitness regimen. Some of my friends work with personal trainers but I don’t really know them here in Kuopio and the ones I’ve asked more information about are just sooooo expensive it’s ridiculous. So if you know a good and reasonably priced personal trainer in Kuopio, let me know! But at the moment I’m trying to keep up exercising on my own and I must say, I do enjoy working out alone. Great time to think, get inspired by music and focus on the body. I have to admit that I can get a bit annoyed with the groups of middle-aged women chatting away at the gym more than exercising…. I know, I’m way too serious with this – amongst other things. And when it comes to maintaining the flooring for your workouts, you can rely on the expertise of the Gym Flooring Experts.
My grandfather’s funeral is on Saturday and we are probably heading North on Wednesday or so. Last night I talked with my mom about the funeral arrangements and she was concerned if there will be enough men carrying the coffin (it will be a Lutheran ceremony). I said to her that why don’t you and my aunt carry the coffin as well and she just said with disrespect that it is not normal (for women to carry the coffin)! I was really shocked by this. I talked to my partner as I remember him talking about how brave he felt carrying the coffin of his father and how that experience made him really independent and strong. So reflecting on his emotions of his father’s funeral, I thought why not the same emotionally important experience should belong to daughters as well. But my partner confirmed that no, it’s only men who carry the coffin. And if there are not enough men in the family, even neighbors can be invited just to carry the coffin. I don’t know why I have managed to miss that piece of information or cultural knowledge completely?
My partner has gone ice fishing with a neighbor, my son traveled to his grandparents today (it’s a skiing holiday here at the moment) and my daughter is asleep. I’m quietly upstairs, purple tulips are on the table and I just listened to the upcoming single 4 minutes to save the world by Madonna.

Hope you are well,

Johanna

Thoughts from the swimming hall

I got a one-year artistic grant until the end of the year and in my mind I’m working on the new production. The challenge is the lack of production support so it’s kind of impossible to proceed with the plans in terms of the people involved. But I’m working on it and have to hand in another two funding applications next week. Besides working on the grant applications, next week I’m busy with completing the soft skin / harsh life & Festive work DVD, having some ANTI meetings and going through the submissions for ANTI 2008.
I’ve been going to the gym quite intensively lately in the near by swimming hall. After the work out, it’s great to have a sauna (which I don’t have at home – shamefully un-Finnish) and maybe a little swim although I don’t usually have time for it if I do a full workout. But the best part is to sit in the sauna and have a shower with all these wonderful women aging from small babies to something like 100 years. Where else is it possible to be naked among some many women from different ages and backgrounds? And see a wonderful selection of female bodies of all shapes and sizes! I just love it and have realised that I need to bring my daughter to the swimming hall more often. Of course the swimming itself is a great exercise but equally important I think is to realize that there are as many different bodies as there are people and everyone is equally beautiful and valuable.
When I was a young girl, I used to go to the swimming hall with my father. He worked in 3 shifts so every now and then he was at home during the day and that’s when we went to swim. I never really learned to love swimming halls and I’m kind uncomfortable with the conditions after the swimming and sauna in the halls. Not the nakedness but somehow I cannot really enjoy the changing, drying hair and trying to dress up after wards the way I can at home. Sometimes I’m also really annoyed with the screaming and loud teenagers as I’m kind of running away from all that to go to exercise and be with my own thoughts. But you cannot have it all, can you?
Tomorrow we are shooting for another Suomi express fro YLE 2 and our topic is the prize of food in Finland. Let’s see what comes up.

Johanna

Reading newspaper

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Helsingin Sanomat 16.2.2008

Ja oletteko lukeneet Rosan kolumnin Naisen onni?

Johanna

Happy to be at home

Today I went to the office, first time after my oh-so-inspiring trip to Glasgow. The office felt dusty and dirty, which it also is… somehow I’m not inspired to clean it and all the paper and crap is just there to make the air bad. But it was a beautiful, sunny and bright day and I didn’t feel jealous of my friends in Thailand and Brazil. Not today.
In deed I felt so happy about visiting Glasgow, seeing all the great work, meeting colleagues and artists, having late night discussions with living legends of performance and live art, planning future festivals, panels and projects. What could be more inspiring?
I took one photo whilst in Glasgow. Maybe you know that image, but I still find it amusing. Peruna, a design label by Marks & Spencer, means potato in Finnish. It doesn’t really sound like the most attractive brand of clothing but rather funny.
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I bought a couple of books during my visit. One is Eat Pray Love and I must say, I really enjoy reading it. I’ve been missing having time to read and somehow strangely during my trip it again became possible as there was so much waiting around at airports etc. But I do love that book although I’m only in India, in the book I mean. At the moment I’m just happy to be at home.

Johanna

Traveling to Glasgow / NRLA

Travelling is such a hard job. During the last couple of years I’ve been making more journeys and been away from home and family and although I’m excited about the things I’m involved in and the places I go to, I am starting to feel how it eats up my energy – especially as I haven’t had a chance to take enough time off and recharge. The only really nice memories are about flights in Costa Rica. I guess, you can can imagine the beauty of this destination. Yesterday I woke up at 4.27am, an airport taxi picked me up at 5am, my first flight was at 6.15am and another at 8.20am. It was a great ride, I talked to the taxi man for awhile and told him how I was also a taxi driver and recently just had to compare cheap taxi insurance quotes at utilitysavingexpert.com. I hang out at Manchester International airport, tried to stay awake and spend the eight hours I had to wait until my last flight to Glasgow. Because of all the despair of not having slept enough, waking up so early and waiting around for so long, I decided to treat myself with a large cappuccino (not big like I tried to explain) and a blueberry muffin. That’s another thing about travelling; it’s so easy to end up eating really unhealthy stuff because I might not have the time to go to good restaurants to eat proper food, I cannot cook, I usually don’t have the money to go to best restaurants and if I’m not really careful, I end up eating too much salty and fatty snacks like crisps, creamy pastas, heavy sandwiches and drinking too much coffee. And then feeling tired and overwhelmed by the travelling, I reward myself with wine. I’m such a heroine.
Well, this time I’m trying to be optimistic and I took my gym gears and Polar F6 with me. I went to the hotel gym in the morning as I know it makes me feel better. I’m hesitating to say that as I have taken my yoga mat along on some trips where I haven’t really done much of it. Anyway, maybe it’s more of an emotional support, trying to stay healthy and happy although not at home.
And of course the crew at home just think I’m having the time of my life, you know, not being at home, not needing to worry about dirty dishes, cooking, children – just watching art, having meetings with artists, curators, programmers and colleges. And when I get back home they want to punish me for the time off from home, or ‘holiday’ as they see it. What as vicious circle!
Anyhow, I’m just trying to say that I admire people who travel a lot in their jobs. It’s not easy. Maybe it’s the age, my workload or the family situation, but I’m sure it’s never simple.

Well, over the next five days I’m at the National Review of Live Art, doing my job.

Johanna

an image

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An image from soft skin / harsh life performed in Gallery Carree, in Kuopio, Finland.
Photograph by Pekka Mäkinen.