Today is the day I have paid back all off my student loan. Quite an achievement for me.
I’ve had student loan since 1989 and I can reassure you, it has been quite a bitter experience as an artist to realize that off the little money you make, a third disappears into your study loans every month. Anyway, I’ve done that now. Everyone applaud, please!!!
Johanna
Somehow I cannot stand this constant talk about summer and summer holiday. I know I’m doing it myself too but it feels it’s the only thing one should talk about in the summer. Whether you are on your summer holiday or about to start it, when it’s starting, is it almost over. Not many people realize that some people don’t have any job to have holiday from or that some people have to have many part time jobs that don’t allow a proper holiday or even a sense of it. Anyway, I’m a bit fed with all this talk about summer holiday. Actually, I don’t really know why one should be on holiday in the summer as for me it is much easier to wake up to go to work during the summer when it’s light compared to the Finnish winter. It’s also light around the clock, so even if you work during the day, it’s ok to go and exercise or do some other stuff in the evening whereas in the winter where I live, it’s pitch black before you even get home from work. So isn’t summer the best time to work? And winter, when it’s dark and cold and you feel tired and sleepy, isn’t that the best time to be on holiday, charge your batteries, travel somewhere warm or just stay at home, burn candles, sit by the fire place and sip tea?
So I’m not on holiday. I’m currently working on my new piece, dealing with ANTI Festival stuff, exercising with a personal trainer and dealing with a few other projects and things that need my attention. And it’s all fine.
Johanna
Hyvät kengät
Reissu voi mennä totaalisesti pieleen, jos jalassa on väärät kengät. Kenkien takia helposti pilalle menee myös mikä tahansa päivä, lenkki, juhlat, vaellus tai edustustilaisuus. Tyttäreni laski kenkiäni perustellakseen, miksi hänelle pitäisi ostaa uudet kengät -kolmannet tänä kesänä. Minulla on kyllä enemmän kenkiä kuin sinulla, mutta jalkani ei muutu ainakaan yhtä nopeassa tahdissa, selitin hänelle. Lisäksi eri tilaisuuksiin tarvitaan erilaisia kenkiä. Ensinnäkin täytyy olla hyvät kävelykengät. Ne jalassa pitää voida mukavasti hoitaa asioita paikasta toiseen kävellen, seistä niillä koko päivä tai matkustaa kulkuneuvosta toiseen vaihtaen ja matkatavaroita raahaten. Kävelylenkillä taas täytyy olla kengät, jotka on tehty kuntokävelyyn maastossa. Sen sijaan jos menee lenkille ja aikoo juosta, on hyvä olla paremmin vaimennetut kengät. Kuntosalille ja sisäliikuntaan on oma tossunsa. Kesällä on tietysti mukavampi käyttää kevyempiä kävelykenkiä kuin syksyllä tai keväällä. Tai jopa sandaaleja. Rantaelämään sopii tietysti kevyet lipokkaat parhaiten. Jos on yhtä persjalkainen kuin minä, on tietynlaisen optisen harhan luominen korkokenkien avulla paitsi mukavaa, myös tehokasta. Tyylikkäät vintage-korkkarit tai hillityt mustat sopivat melkein mihin tilaisuuteen tahansa. Sen sijaan vaikkapa kiiltonahka tai paloauton punainen täytyy sovittaa tarkemmin tilanteeseen ja siihen, millaisen vaikutuksen haluaa tehdä. On myös mietittävä, haluaako että korkokenkä on klassinen, siro, tolppa, trendikäs vai design. Talvi on sitten vielä asia erikseen.
Suomalainen kenkäsuunnittelu on saanut viimevuosina nostetta Finskin, Hanna Sarénin ja Minna Parikan myötä. Sen huumassa olen minäkin kiinnostunut kengistä ihan uudella tavalla. Yhtenä iltana sitten esittelin kyläilemässä olleelle ystävälleni vienon vaaleanpunaisen laatikon, josta silkkipaperista nostin yksittäiseen muovipussiin pakatun violetin kultakirjaillun Scarlet –korkokengän ja sanoin: Aito Minna Parikka! Vaikkei ystävälläni ollut hajuakaan kuka on Minna Parikka, kengän muotoa, kauneutta ja muotoilua ei voinut kuin ihailla. Hyvä kenkä on sijoitus. Se voi olla sijoitus mukavuuteen, käytännöllisyyteen, designiin tai kauneuteen. Joskus tarvitaan kaikkia ominaisuuksia, joskus pelkkä kauneus riittää.
Johanna Tuukkanen
Days in Stavanger have been a long but exciting. Annie Sprinkle’s and Beth Stephens’ work and them just being part of TW1 project (and Stavanger 2008) have caused a great controversy in Stavanger. There have been attacks against their work and especially Annie as she has been a porn star and a prostitute in her past -and of course us and TouScene as organisers of this project. So since yesterday we have been in interviews by newspapers, radio and television. And mostly all we have done, is talk about porn and prostitution –although Annie’s and Beth’s work is not about either of those things. Their work is about love and the seven year project they are involved in at the moment can be viewed on their website www.loveartlab.org in more detail.
Anyway, Annie and Beth are just amazing artists and incredible women and feminists and I’m so proud that I have been able to curate them into the project.
Annie & Beth had posted this email out to their fellow artists to tell a little about their experiences:
“Fellow performance artists,
Today’s performance piece in Stavanger, Norway.
By the Love Art Laboratory.
1. Sensationalist press writes about prostitute/porn star (Annie) and her lesbian lover coming to “give away free sex in norway as art”!!!! ??? (SO not true)
2. Anti-porn feminists protest Sidewalk Sex Clinic with Beth and Tom Garretson (fellow artist from Oslo). And also protest the curators of art exhibit and harass the funders of art project we and other artists are doing. Saying art org supports prostitution and porn!!!! ???
3. A tall man (Neo nazi?) in ski mask walks up to our window and spray paints a Jewish star and writes JEW on the windows of the building we’re doing our performance in. (Annie is Jewish blood–Unitarian actually)
4. We, the friendly performance artists, then go stand among the crowd of anti-porn (“all porn stars are victims or perpetrators”) feminists while wearing our white lab coats and holding daisies. Confusing the anti-porn feminists and the media and amusing ourselves.
It was an interesting day.
Annie”
Yesterday was the first day of the showing period so there were great tours by the artists, sculptures, installations, sound, performance etc. happening. I’m quite pleased how it all went and the works were very well attended by audiences and very covered in the media. Here are some images I’ve taken during the last couple of days.
The demonstration by Ottar yestrday: 
Free Sidewalk Sex Clinic by LoveArtLab & Tom Garretson:
Annie & Atle, the owner of the Love Shop:
Geir, our producer and Per Arna, the general manager of Tou Scene:
Elaine Kordys floating in Badedammen:
Helge Olav:
Mariela Limerutti:
Mona & Torunn:
A tour on Nytorget:
Torunn by the sculpture of Nils Thomas & Rune:
Kristen Gustavson from Urban Sjöfront:
TW1 artists with Kirsten:
Pedersgata:
Trond from the Svop/t -team:
The Pedicab:
Tom & Beth & Annie:
Links:
http://aftenbladet.no/webtv/?id=654228
http://www.rogalandsavis.no/nyheter/article3603208.ece
http://www.aftenbladet.no/kultur/2008/article653510.ece
http://www.rogalandsavis.no/puls/article3599402.ece
http://www.aftenbladet.no/debatt/article653242.ece
http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/rogaland/nord-jaeren/1.5984981
http://www.aftenbladet.no/kultur/2008/article654522.ece
http://www.rogalandsavis.no/puls/article3604256.ece
http://www.stavangeravisen.com/art.asp?id=41974
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/rogaland/stavanger2008/1.5905196
http://www.rogalandsavis.no/puls/article3557723.ece
http://www.ostpluss.no/urban/public/openIndex?ARTICLE_ID=958&PROJECT_ID=287
http://www.regionstavanger.com/?c=25&intro=85_614_8&PR=292_11_115&mi=mct6&sp=NO
http://web3.aftenbladet.no/kultur/hvaskjer/?instanceid=12077575
http://www.trafo.no/nyheter/2008/06/er_prostitusjon_kultur-1366/
http://www.rogalandsavis.no/puls/article3466323.ece
http://studyfeminism.blogspot.com/2008/03/tou-works.html
More updates coming shortly.
Johanna
A series of international site specific art works along the street of Pedersgata.
The project is supported and in collaboration with Stavanger2008 European Capital of Culture. 9 projects and 16 artists comments the route that starts at Nytorget, Pedersgata ending up at Tou Scene. We hope this focus will question and explore the specific environment and highlight the route as an extraordinary experience/walk in itself. The work is made in dialogue with architects and city planners and will explore the crossing points between the emotional and physical manifestations of art / architecture / everyday life and the city.
Overview:
Programme in Pedersgata:
THU12th JUN / 1 – 10PM
FRI13th JUN / 5 – 10PM
SAT14th JUN/ 10AM – 3PM
Programme at Tou Scene:
FRI13th JUN / 9 PM Lecture with Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens Tickets
SAT14th JUN / 8 PM The Grand Finale! Tou Works Dinner Tickets
Please note that tickets for the Lecture and the Dinner has to be booked in advance.
Dowenload the full program as PDF
(For best view open with Adobe Acrobat or a similar program)
Artists
Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens (USA), Christian Gauss and Moritz Groba (Germany), Elaine Kordys (UK), Kjetil Røed (Norway), Mariela Limerutti (Argentina), Simona Ferrari (Italy) Trond Kasper Mikkelsen and Sigrun Vik Olsen (Norway), Helge Olav Øksendal (Norway) and Ingouf Vincent (France), Mona Orstad Hansen and Torunn Larsen (Norway), Nils-Thomas Økland and Rune Aase (Norway)
Curators: Anne-Marte Eidseth Rygh and Johanna Tuukkanen Producer: Geir Lindahl
For inquiries please contact Geir Lindahl E-mail geir@touscene.com or Phone +47 48191787
was great. I absolutely loved it. Here are some images of the trip.
Gullfoss:
The Geysir area was quite magical. I have never seen a hot spring that shoots up the sky every couple of minutes. The images of this are quite ridiculous of course, it was quite amazing to experience this.
Thingvellir; Iceland is situated on the boarder of the tectonic plates of America and Europe which are slowly drifting apart. This was another absolutely magical site:
Blue Lagoon:
and a few more from Reykjavik:
I went to see this great performance called mammamamma in which my frend Thorey was acting. I loved the performance, not only because of the pink. It really made me cry.
It was an intense week, meeting a lot of artists and organizers, seeing work as much as I could. The only downfall of the trip was a 13 hour flight delay on the way home which caused maybe a little too much stress caused by lack of sleep and getting home almost 24 hours later than planned.
Johanna
Mitä on onnellisuus?
Katselin Euroviisuja Islannissa, jossa muutaman päivän ajan Reykjavik hoilasi â€This is my life…I don’t want to change a thing!â€. Viisuviikonloppu osui samaan ajankohtaan kuin koulujen päättyminen ja ylioppilasjuhlat, joten Islannin finaalipaikka nukenkasvoisine diskolaulajineen sopi tunnelmaan hyvin. Euroviisufinaalin ajan koko Reykjavik oli autio, mutta sen jälkeen kadut täyttyivät ylioppilaaksi päässeistä nuorista ja muista koulunsa päättäneistä. Hetken aikaa muuten järkevästi tuulelta ja sateelta suojautuvat islantilaiset tepastelivat vaaleissa coctail-mekoissa ja korkokengissä baarista baariin. Nuorten This is my life –biletystä oli kadehdittava katsella. Mikä onni, helpotus, ilo sekä usko tulevaisuuteen heidän kasvoiltaan paistoi! Viikon Islannin matkalla pohdin, miksi islantilaiset ovat tilastollisesti maailman onnellisin kansa. Se on ymmärrettävää siitä näkökulmasta, että Islanti on rikas maa ja ihmiset keskimäärin hyvin toimeentulevia. Mutta islantilaiset tekevät töitä rutkasti enemmän kuin monissa muissa Euroopan maissa, esimerkiksi Suomessa. Tämä on ristiriita jota en ymmärrä. Selittyykö onni sitten hyvällä ruokavaliolla, paljon Omega 3 rasvahappoja sisältävällä kalalla ja lampaalla? Vai vähäisellä alkoholinkäytöllä (=kallista), säännöllisellä käymisellä geotermisissä uimaloissa joita Islannissa on paljon ja joiden ahkeria käyttäjiä he ovat, leudolla ilmastolla vai hämmästyttävillä luonnon ilmiöillä, joista he ovat hyvin ylpeitä? Tai kenties sittenkin puhtaalla vedellä ja ilmalla sekä pinta-alalla, jota Islannissa on noin 1 neliökilometri asukasta kohden?
Juttelin asiasta islantilaisten kanssa, jotka kertoivat rakastavansa maataan ja sen luontoa. Lisäksi he arvostavat läheisiä perhesuhteita ja kiinteää yhteyttä sukuun. Mutta he eivät halua paljastaa mahdollista asemansa heikentymistä, masennuslääkkeiden suurta kulutusta, elintason ylläpitämiseksi ottamiaan luottoja – vaikka nykyään Islanninkin on pakko myöntää kasvavat luokkaerot ja pankkikriisin aiheuttama uusköyhyys. Mikä siis selittää islantilaisten onnellisuuden, en osaa sanoa. Mutta toivotan kaikille ylioppilaille ja koulunsa päättäville onnea ja rauhaa pohtia oman onnensa palasia tulevaisuuden suunnitelmia tehdessään. Se on monimutkainen yhtälö.
Johanna Tuukkanen
Finnish brands I have so far spotted in Reykjavik: Marimekko, Iittala, Ruskovilla, Tonfisk Design and Fazer. The only Finnish artists that have come across are Tea Mäkipää and Alvar Aalto.
Update: also spotted Ivana Helsinki, Secco and Golla.
Johanna
… I woke up 5.20 am local time and just couldn’t sleep. So I decided to go for a jog by the seaside. It was quite windy but beautiful and although I haven’t been able to exercise for more than two weeks because of my flu, it felt ok. Somehow the seaside, its plants and the views remind me of Azores.
Yesterday was a full day. I met one actress, Thorey, and she has set up some meetings for me with local artists. I also went to two galleries, walked a lot around the city and went to Kringlan, a huge shopping mall outside city centre. Kringlan was a big disappointment to me, I guess I wasn’t at all into shopping at Topshop, Adidas or Puma stores, Next, Warehouse etc.! From there I continued to Laugardalslaug, one of the citys many geothermal pools. That was relaxing but a bit strange, too.
I ate a delicious vegetarian meal at the One Woman Restaurant and went to bed.
Today I’m up for a couple of meetings and in the evening a get together at Thorey’s place with local artists. Great!
Johanna
…from the hotel Arnarvoll’s 8th floor restaurant & balcony in Reykjavik, Iceland
I love the Eames plastic amrchairs they have in the hotel, also in the rooms. They are just so beautiful. We need some chairs at our dining table at home and I must say I really like these ones. I have looked at them before and wasn’t so fond of them but I might have changed my mind! They are quite comfy. I definitely prefer the ones with the arm rests.
I’m off to have walk in the Reykjavik city centre. I’m meeting some artists in the afternoon and then might go swimming in one of the thermal pools after that.
Johanna
