Category Archives: A Space for Live Art

days in Hamburg

I’ve been the last three days in Hamburg spending most of my time in the Live Art Festival in Kampnagel. We’ve had A Space Live for Art project meetings about both the artistic and administrational side and today I held a lecture/workshop about artistic interventions in public space to the network of Young Performance Art Lovers. I’ve also seen some great performances by Ivo Dimchev, Ivana Muller, Liquid Loft, Rotozaza and an installation by the Forsythe Company.

Kampnagel foyer with the Forsythe Company’s installation City of Abstracts on the background:
Kampnagel foyer

studio where I gave my workshop today:
studio

A Space for Live Art meeting with Claire, Emmanuelle, Cathy, Anne, Jochen and Fabienne: 

ASFLA meeting

I look really strange, I know – I guess I’m just happy about my beautiful salad (and a glass of wine…):

dinner

salad

Rhododendrons blooming not only in the Kampnagel courtyard but all over Hamburg:

rhododenron

A walk in town:
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Lovely pink rubbish bags on the streets:
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Tomorrow I’m off to Berlin for the weekend. How exciting!

Johanna

back from NRLA and going ever since

Last week I got back from NRLA which again was a fantastic celebration of live art. I saw so many great artists and works, colleagues and friends that I’m overwhelmed just thinking about it… This year was the 30th anniversary of NRLA and maybe because of that the sense of community, support and live art family was heightened. What ever the case, it was truly magical and beautiful to be part of it all. I saw just amazing works by Kira O’Reilly, Guillermo Gomez Pena, Marcia Farquhar, Ron Athey, FrenchMottershead and Los Torreznos, and many works that were not mind blowing but important to see such as Forced Entertainment, Sheela Gelani, Kate Stannard, Francesca Steele, Silke Mansholt… to name a few. I also followed a La Pocha Nostra workshop lead by Guillermo Gomez Pena and Roberto Sifuentes at the Univerisity of Glasgow. That was just great. It was also fantastic to see Jennie Klein, Dee Heddon, Lois Keidan, Colin & Debbie, Richard DeDomenici, Ange Taggart, Manuel Vason and the ASFLA partners of course. Like always, it was all really inspiring. Check out the photograph of the NRLA crowd by FrenchMottershead here.

The only thing causing a little bit of a headache was the BA strike which cancelled my flight from Glasgow to London. In the end, I managed to change my flight and fly to London on Monday night, but had to stay overnight at Heathrow and fly to Finland the next day. This was truly exhausting. And with my knee still in recovery, I was pretty fed up dragging my luggage around Heathrow airport in the middle of the night…only to sleep a couple of hours at the airport hotel and get the shuttle bus back to the airport in the early morning hours. Anyway, I managed.

As soon as I landed in Helsinki, Risto Löf from Savon Sanomat newspaper called me and wanted to do an interview because of the prize I received from the regional arts council of North Savo. I didn’t have much time to talk then so when I finally got home I called him back and we did the interview on the phone. I think I was about 1 and half hours at home before rushing to the VB photographic centre to receive my prize. It was a small & cozy little event but at least I got to wear my golden Finsk shoes… This was the second time as I also wore them at the Tramway in Glasgow. They are so comfortable! I must say I find a bit strange the way the regional arts council organizes the prize reception. For one thing, I still haven’t actually ‘received the prize’ but the way they inform about it (or rather the lack of informing about it), invite people to the event (or rather don’t invite people) and celebrated with me was rather dull. Well, luckily Pekka, Anniina & Tatu came by later and we had some champagne.

Last week, weekend and this week have been very busy at the ANTI Festival office. I’ve spent a lot of time on the proposals, skyping with Gregg, thinking about the programme, organizing the annual association meeting etc. Luckily Kaisa started her work last week as the producer of 2010 festival. I think we’ll make a great team. There’s so much work at the moment that I’m all the time tempted to jump to work but I need to take these Easter days easy as I’ve worked the last two weekends. Yesterday I forced myself to finish my tax papers from 2009. It took me 7 hours. I’ve always hated doing the tax papers but especially now that the regional tax office of North Savo has refused to accept physical training costs as part of a freelance dance artist’s professional costs I’ve kind of lost faith in the Finnish tax system & authorities. 

Although things at the ANTI office have been exciting and interesting, I’ve been a bit concerned because I haven’t had time & energy to exercise much. It’s ok for a week or two but cannot become routine. So I’ve been catching up with exercising and it’s all gone pretty well. Last week I also returned the crutches that I had borrowed from the health care centre of Kuopio. The day before yesterday I walked 8.3km and today 8km. These are the first ‘longer’ walks I’ve done after the surgery (I know they are not that long but keeping in mind that I had a ACL surgery 7 weeks ago it’s not that bad). Probably many people don’t recognize anything strange in my walking but I know it’s far from ‘normal’. I cannot fully straighten the knee or push from the left foot they way I can from the other one and especially after a while, this shows in slight limping. The first hour of walking went on both days pretty well but after that the knee starts to feel a bit unstable and wobbly. Yesterday I went to the gym to do some strengthening exercises and also cycled on an exercise bike for 25mins and 15mins on the cross trainer. So I think the knee is definitely getting better, I just have to be patient with it. It’s great to be able to walk outside now that the ice has melted from the streets and there’s no danger of slipping and falling. But for now I can only dream of running. I was so envious of people who went by me running or jogging. I just wanted to shout ‘I also would be running hadn’t I had a knee surgery 7 weeks ago!’ Anyway, I think it’s soon time to find my bicycle from the storage and repair it for another spring-summer-autumn season of cycling.

Tomorrow I need to prepare for next week’s works as I’m involved in many things. But it’s great to be back at work, much nicer than being stuck at home with an injury.

Johanna

City of Women

It was great to visit the City of Women Festival in Ljubljana. Saw some interesting work, met great artists and friends and got to spend a few days in a new city. Diamanda Galas’s concert was fantastic, as well as Alejanda Herrera Silva’s performance. It was also amazing to learn about the work of Regina Jóse Galindo, Nahomi Ximenez, Via Negativa and Nataša Živković. And had great talks with Jennie Klein and the artistic director of the festival Mara Vujić. On the last day of the festival we also had a really good and efficient meeting with A Space for Live Art partners so I’m all happy about the trip.

Brought back Slovenian salt and chocolate. Walked a lot. Didn’t run with the painful knee.

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Nahomi negotiating  if the policeman will accept a hug:

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He didn’t so she hugged Mara instead:ljubl08_low.jpg

Artistic director Mara, Nahomi and Jennie:
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The building where my flat was:
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After returning home I’ve realized I have an enormous amount of work ahead of me. This and the upcoming week I’m performing BODY/HAIR, the week after it’s soft skin / harsh life and then it’s all about the ACTS OF CLOTHING. Really wanted to visit Performa but I really don’t think it’s possible in any way. Unfortunately.

Today I went for a run and rehearsed air acrobatics for BODY/HAIR. Feel really exhausted now.

I ordered new running shoes. Need to do something about the oddly painful knee I’ve never had before.

See you in the BODY/HAIR performances.

Johanna

finally a weekend at home

Last weeks have been super busy for me as I was performing in Sweden, then went to Brussels and every chance I got, I was working on the new one-to-one performance BODY/HAIR which I premiered last Wednesday in Kuopio. It was a kind of work-in-progress day of performances but I’m pretty happy with it all. It was quite exciting as to get the soundscape, the costume, the stage equipment and all that together was a real challenge in terms of time and budget so I’m kind of proud that I was able to pull it together. The performance is quite tough for me to do –not so much one but to keep repeating it one after the other… I was really exhausted, friction burned and bruised afterwards. I was also very tired because it has been more than a month since I had a day off. Anyway, I survived it and have the weekend off now. What a luxury.
My performance shoes are the corset boots by Minna Parikka:
corset boot

Brussels was real nice and green. Kuopio was still very winter like when I left so it felt like a real luxury to see so much green (I stayed near Botanica) and walk in summer shoes. It was a lot of work though as I did a presentation with Gregg about ANTI Festival, then worked with Gregg on completing this year’s festival programme, saw as many performances as possible in the Trouble #5 Festival and also we had an audit of our A Space for Live Art EU project. Lot’s of work indeed! But it was great to see Gregg and some other artists there like Rosie Dennis, Essi Kausalainen, Guillermo Gomez Pena, the xxx group, Johanna Lecklin etc…. The nice thing also was that Kuopio had a kind of a heat wave whilst I was away so when I got back, practically all the snow was gone and the weather had really changed.
Brussels:
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grand placa               Brussels01

mussles               in a cafe

Now I have a couple of days off and I’m just trying to relax and do stuff that at home. Then I’m staring to prepare my trip to New York. Lot’s of exciting things happening!

Happy Labour Day weekend to everyone! Hauskaa Vappu-viikonloppua kaikille!

munkkivuori

Johanna

an easy week

Last week I went to Helsinki to participate in the reception of Finnish Cultural Foundation which generously gave a grant for ANTI Festival for the self-financing part of A Space For Live Art, EU funded project. This week I’ve tried to take some time off from the ANTI Festival. Lately it has absorbed far too much of my energy and caused me the kind of stress I need to get rid of. I don’t know if I’ve succeeded very well this week but at least this has been an effort to get my mind off ANTI for a while.
So this week I’ve been enjoying being at home, seeing friends, exercising and running. Nothing special but the kind of stuff one should find time to do when working as well.
Actually, I’m very excited about my upcoming performances and projects during the spring. I’ll let you know about them soon. I’ll also participate in two running events this year – something I’ve never done before. I’ll run 10K in May and a half marathon in September. This week I’ve done some exercising on a cross trainer, functional training, running and walking. I’ll do a long run tomorrow and then get a massage. On Sunday I’ll do some functional training as well. So this looks like a pretty good week in terms of exercising. And my body feels great!
When I was in Helsinki, I ate some pretty good sushi and got all excited about learning more about it. So I’ve planned a kind of sushi evening at my place with a French cook who lives in Kuopio. He will teach us about the history of sushi, how to make it and in the end we’ll have a feast! I’m really looking forward to it. Now the challenge is to find a date that fits everyone who’s interested. It will be fun.

Johanna

greetings from Glasgow

Visiting NRLA and Glasgow was great in many ways. It was good to see new work, catch up with artists and friends I haven’t seen for a while, work with Johanna and Gregg and of course, to have the A Space For Live Art meeting with all the European partners. A lot to digest.
As always, I feel disappointed I missed some works and performances that I really really would have liked to see, but then again, I also got so see a lot. I queued endlessly to see Dominic Johnson’s performance but that was kind of fun as I was lining up with Jennie Klein, Dee Heddon and Steven Hodge. So that wasn’t too bad. I also had to work hard to get to see Kate McIntosh who, despite all the hype around her, didn’t really do it for me. But I was really happy to see Alexis O’Hara whose work I’ve always missed before. And of course Ivana Müller and Raimund Hoghe whose work I absolutely loved.
But all my time in Glasgow I felt really stressed and slept very badly and restlessly. My plans to buy new underwear from Marks & Spencer failed as I was simply too tired to focus on looking for something nice and trying it on. Actually, I didn’t buy anything for myself, except some cosmetics from tax free, but I found a few nice things for the kids from TK Maxx. And some whisky for my partner – of course.
So it’s been great to be at home and sleep in my own bed! I’m finally catching up with sleep –and work.

Johanna

on my way…

…to Glasgow with Johanna, ANTI Festival’s new full time producer. I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of interesting works at the NRLA but also meeting collegues, friends and collaborators. The last days have been just crazy as I’ve been trying to introduce Johanna to the organization and practicalities of the ANTI Festival but also I’ve worked my ass off with the last year’s accounts and EU reports –which are nowhere near finished…
Last weekend went with transcribing and translating the DVD of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE. I was hoping to have that finished by now but didn’t manage. It seems I never get rid of this feeling of not having time to do all the work at hand. I guess that’s because there’s simply too much work for me accomplish but I just don’t know how to change the situation.
In Glasgow we’ll have a whole day meeting with the partners of A Space for Live Art EU project but we also have ANTI Festival staff meeting with Johanna & Gregg, Edge of Europe meeting with Maija Hirvanen and I’ll meet artists like Marcia Farquhar, Kira O’Reilly, Frenchmottershead and writers like Jeannie Klein and Dee Heddon.
I took my trainers with me so I’m hoping to have the time, discipline and energy to go to the gym of the hotels more than once…

Johanna

thank you’s and updates

Thank you everyone who was there at the performances of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE. We had a great time and I really enjoyed them. If you are interested in reading the review (in Finnish) of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE titled ‘Johanna Tuukkanen lets the perfect woman to take off’ from Iisalmen Sanomat, it’s here.

Now that the performance period is over, I’ve been resting a bit more and catching up with stuff that has been neglected. The spring is going to be a busy one including a tour of soft skin / harsh life, warming up the classic Milk performance and working on a new one to one performance. Exciting.

I’ve been busy with the DVD of HUIPPUSUORITUS – OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE, ANTI Festival stuff and spending some time with my family. In February I’m visiting National Review of Live Art in Glasgow with the new producer of ANTI Festival, Johanna Hänninen. We’ll also meet my co-artistic director Gregg Whelan there, have meetings with some of the artists who will show work at ANTI 09 and of course, we’ll have A Space For Live Art meeting with all our partners. We’ll be busy! I’m really looking forward to all that. In April with Gregg, we are going to present ANTI at the Trouble Festival in Brussels which will include a great selection of Finnish artists, by the way.

My exercise programme is a bit looser at the moment but it includes functional training at the Functional Team in Kuopio or at a gym, running and Pilates. I’m very motivated. I’m maybe planning to participate in two running events this year. How strange is that?

Johanna

about what’s going on

Next week I’ll start working with Vaatu & Sami Henrik on my new work. Exciting! Lately I’ve been working on my archives, gathering & collecting texts and writings, digitalizing old vhs video tapes and forcing myself to look at the work I’ve done over the past 10 years. Huh! It’s a lot. The upcoming work requires quite specific physical strength and ability from my behalf and I’m collaborating with personal trainer Riikka Valve of the Functional Team in order to be physically able to do what I’ve set myself out to do. So Riikka has created a new exercise programme for me which includes functional training, running, walking and Pilates. I’m also super excited about the Polar RS200 heart rate monitor which doesn’t only measure the pulse and sport zones but also the distance I’ve run and the speed… Inspiring!
Last week the Saaristokatu opened in Kuopio. I’ve run a lot around the area as I live nearby and the opening of the Saaristokatu made me feel so happy and proud of where I live and Kuopio in general. It’s just really beautiful and also shortens the distance to the city centre substantially. Makes life so much easier.
What else? I’m going to give an artist talk in Outokumpu in couple of weeks and perform soft skin / harsh life in Joensuu as part of the Lonely in the Rain? –festival. After that I’m going to a Space for Live Art meeting in Madrid…
By the way, ANTI Festival is seeking to appoint a full time, permanent Senior Producer. So if you are a super producer or know one, please let them know about the post.

Hope you are well.

Johanna