Category Archives: Art

busy autumn days

Days and weeks just fly past as Iâ€™m so busy with the upcoming ANTI Festival, planning my new production, training and just the normal daily life. I caught again some kind of virus and have a flue which is really annoying. Itâ€™s not very bad at the moment and I went to quite hard functional training on Friday and Nordic walking today. I also have a Kinesis training today. I hope the flue doesnâ€™t get worse. I was planning to have a dinner with Rosie Dennis tonight but Rosie, who arrived in Kuopio yesterday, had also woken up with a sore throat so we decided to dine another day. But Iâ€™m really looking forward to meeting Rosie tomorrow! Itâ€™s more than a year ago since I last saw her.

Yesterday I quickly popped into town to see if the local Marimekko shop had this skirt.

Those of you who have seen my Acts of Clothing performance know that I have mixed feelings about Marimekko but there are usually one or two items in their collections that I like. And the Marimekko shops in Kuopio NEVER have them. I donâ€™t understand who makes the choices what they buy in and on what basis! So I already knew yesterday that they wonâ€™t have the skirt or that it would be very unlikely that they would, but just to be a pain in the ass, I went and asked anyway. And of course the answer was no. So not much reasons to visit the shopsâ€¦

On Thursday I finally got my green coat from the dressmaker where it was fixed. Itâ€™s a coat Iâ€™ve bought in Stavanger, Norway, some years ago but it never really suited me. It was too long and the buttons were strange and one of them came off etc. So as I was feeling fed up with my worn out black coat, I suddenly remembered that maybe something could be done to the green coat to make it wearable. So it was shortened, buttons were changed and more buttons added. And now I love it! I will take a picture of it soon and post it here. The green is rather intense and Iâ€™m sure some people will hate it. But Iâ€™m really into it. In fact, I bought a pair of Wolfordâ€™s green tights to match the coat. And Iâ€™m sure it will look great with the United Nude Fold shoes that Gregg in bringing me from London. I can hardly wait!

Oh, last week I was again asked to become a candidate for the parliament election but I said no. Iâ€™m honored to be considered a candidate but itâ€™s really not on my agenda, maybe some day, but not now.

Anyway, another crazily busy week ahead but so exciting. Itâ€™s almost ANTI time with an amazing selection of international artists and w wonderful conference and seminar programme. Iâ€™m sooooo much looking forward to it all.

Hope to see you all around.

Johanna

Helsinki days

Shows of Acts of Clothing in the Ateneum theatre in Helsinki went really well. It was great to experience so many people being touched and moved by the work. It was also a real pleasure to be hosted by the producer Mika VÃ¤yrynen and the technical crew which was just great. I want to thank especially Timo who run all the shows. Everything went smoothly and well.

Mika took me to the concert of Paula Koivuniemi which took place in the Huvilateltta. It was just great! And I became a fan of Paula Koivuniemi. So much that I sent my son today in the rain back to town to buy Paulaâ€™s Rakkaudesta cd.
In Helsinki I managed to have some business meetings, see some work and some friends, too. It was a luxury to stay in TÃ¶Ã¶lÃ¶ which is a very nice and central part of Helsinki. At last I remembered to return my Lustwear socks which Iâ€™d bought sometime last year but which didnâ€™t suite me at all. Hammi promised me to change them but I donâ€™t know how many times Iâ€™ve been in Helsinki and not remembered to take the socks with meâ€¦ I changed the socks into a kind of scarf since thereâ€™s no way I could afford at the moment one of their wonderful coatsâ€¦ In Stockmann I found the new Shock Absorber run bra on sale so now Iâ€™m also a very happy owner of a new black running bra.
The only down fall was that I caught a cold which didnâ€™t really effect my show last night but today I woke up in the middle of the night feeling just terrible. The train journey home was a nightmare and Iâ€™ve been feeling really ill and bad all day, mostly sleeping and sipping tea. I really would like to go to work tomorrow but I donâ€™t know if I can.

Maybe more about Helsinki in the next post and about one rather disappointing performance I sawâ€¦

Johanna

upcoming shows on Acts of Clothing

Iâ€™m so excited to perform Acts of Clothing on Saturday the 21st, Sunday the 22nd and Tuesday the 24th of August in Ateneum Theatre in Helsinki.
Reservations: ainfo@ateneum.fi or call +358 (0)9-1733 6401.

Hope to see you all there!

Johanna

Riga & Cesis & Helsinki

Last week I spent five days in Latvia. First I had two days off which I spent with Pekka in Riga and then we travelled to Cesis for the Cesis Art Festival and Care to Create conference where I gave a talk / discussion with Eric de Visscher.
The contemporary are festival was a great experience and I enjoyed both the programme and the conference a lot. And it was wonderful to meet so many collegues from Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Iceland. The opening of the festival including the concert of contemporary music titled Joy was a real experience.

Riga:

My hair pin from Akiko, sunglasses Ray-Ban Jackie Ohh, handbag LumiAccessories, T-shirt Paco Chicano

Cesis:

My dress Vero Moda ‘Very’ collection, handbag LumiAccessories, shoes Minna Parikka

My glasses Dolce & Gabbana

Right after returning from Latvia, I travelled to Helsinki to work with Gregg and Laura on the ANTI Festival. Despite the heat, we had a great time. By surprise, we also found Gregg telling stories about Bob Dylan in the exhibition in Kiasma! That was part of Johanna Lecklinâ€™s Story CafÃ© which has also been shown at ANTI. There were actually quite a few ANTI artists in the exhibition; Antti Laitinen, Eeva-Mari Haikala, Seppo Rennvall, Marja Mikkonenâ€¦

Now Iâ€™ve been preparing for my ACTS OF CLOTHING performance at the Full Moon Dance Festival in PyhÃ¤jÃ¤rvi where Iâ€™m off tomorrow. Itâ€™s been rather sweaty â€“ the all time heat record of Finland was beaten today, +37,2 celcius degreeâ€¦

Johanna

busy and sweaty summer days

The last weeks have been crazy in the ANTI office. We finally launched the 2010 programme and new website on Monday and I thought Iâ€™m able to have some holidayâ€¦ it didnâ€™t really work out as something unexpected came along and Iâ€™ve been busy sorting that out. Oh well. I still have to go to the office on Monday but after that I will be on holiday until the conference in Cesis, Latvia. That isnâ€™t much so I really have to try hard to get my mind off work but it might be a challenge as I have to prepare for my talk in the conferenceâ€¦ But Iâ€™m really looking forward to spending a few days in Riga and Cesis! â€¨â€¨It has been a bit busy at home, too.

Many passersby on their summer holiday lodging for a few nights and my daughterâ€™s birthday party. But today was a celebration as we finished the home made table for our roof terrace. So far we havenâ€™t had any table and Iâ€™ve been complaining about that so much and just dreamed of being able to dine outdoors. Now we finally can and already did! So nice. The table might not be 100% perfect but I love it already. I didnâ€™t do much, only some paintingâ€¦

The Toy chairs by Philippe Starck, Essence Pitcher by Iittala, design Alfredo HÃ¤berli.Â

It might be that Iceland is calling again…
Essence glass, wine is my new summer favourite Lindemans Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon blanc, MacBook Pro, Mondo travel guide.

Although it has been really hot, Iâ€™ve tried to push myself to runs regularly. The running skirt has been excellent in this kind of weather and Iâ€™ve really enjoyed my runs. Acts of Clothing shows are coming up so Iâ€™ve also been motivated. My operated knee has been better but Iâ€™m not up for really long runs with it yet. But thatâ€™s ok.

Sunglasses Jackie Ohh Ray Ban, running top Nike Fit, running skirt & shoes Asics, footpod Polar, iPod suffle.Â Â

So yes, my daughter turned 8 and got this gorgeous bicycle as a present from the whole family including grandparents and great grandparentsâ€¦ She was so happy and Iâ€™m really pleased we can cycle more together. Her bicycle is Helkama Jasmine, mine is Aino and my sonâ€™s Jopoâ€¦

Birthday cake and muffins baked by her sistersâ€¦

Wishing you all beautiful summer days.

Johanna

On a rollercoaster

Last weeks have been unusually emotional and tough. In the end of May and beginning of June I worked long days in the ANTI office with Kaisa and Gregg to renew and complete the festival printed brochure and website. Then on Monday the 7th of June, my partner called me and said that my father had tried to reach me many times during the day. I had forgotten to turn the phone forwarding on from my home number to my office phone and my father didnâ€™t have my work number. I was still in the office at about 9pm when I called my dad who told me that I no longer had a sister. My little sister had died at the age of 31. Of course, everything turned upside down, I had to take some time off and we missed the outlined schedule with the brochure. I was forced to spend time with my family, my children, my mom and dad to deal with this unexpected tragedy that left all of us very very sad and full of unanswered questions.
My sister was buried in Hailuoto on the 17th of June in a small, intimate, simple ceremony. Although it was a really hard day, full of sorrow and tears, it also felt like a kind of completion and a really important ritual.

The next morning we drove back to Kuopio and I went straight into rehearsals and prepared for my performances on Sunday and Monday. I think I performed pretty amazing shows of ACTS OF CLOTHING and Physical Artistic deeds 1; Milk. Of course, I could have canceled them but I felt it was important for me to redirect my energy and put some of the very personal emotions on stage. Both of the performances were very packed, there was more audience that we were allowed to take in and we couldnâ€™t fit everyone in to the Milk performance. I got so much positive feedback of the shows and people praised ACTS OF CLOTHING so much that I was all humbled. In the show I talked about my sisterâ€™s funeral and many people were very moved and touched about that. Although it felt like a really hard job to pull the performances together, Iâ€™m glad I did.
We also managed to get the brochure to the print and weâ€™ll launch the ANTI 2010 programme and website on Monday the 5th of July! Exciting.
Last week I counted my work hours of the spring and realized that Iâ€™ve worked overtime more than 235 hours! No wonder Iâ€™ve been tired. So Iâ€™m desperately waiting for my summer holiday. My family needs my attention, our home and our garden needs attention but I also need to get my mind off from work. Iâ€™m trying to organize a long weekend or a small holiday with my children and with my mom somewhereâ€¦maybe in Greece, maybe Icelandâ€¦ weâ€™ll see. But Iâ€™m also really really looking forward to performing ACTS OF CLOTHING at the Full Moon Dance Festival in the end of July and in the Ateneum theatre in Helsinki in August.

Now, I wish you all very well.

Johanna

first flowers in the garden

I’ve been so busy that I’ve had no time to focus on the garden -and I’m not a garden fanatic like Aila for example. But still the first flowers in the garden bring me so much joy! My daughter got this idÃ¤nunikko from Aila last year and it opened its first flower a couple of days ago. Also the japaninakileija in the background (small & delicate) is blooming – and it’s also from Aila…

My daughter is working hard in the garden and it’s beautiful to watch how inspired and committed she is. We had such a lovely time a few weeks ago when we planted seeds of carrots, spinach, salad, peas and sunflowers…which are all growing already.

My weekend will be filled with rehearsals of Acts of Clothing, Milk and ANTI Festival stuff like EU excels… But today I felt inspired as I had a meeting with Sonja and a little chat about my upcoming work.

Johanna

weekend in Berlin

I spent last weekend in Berlin seeing exhibitions, walking around and enjoying the spirit of the vibrant and trendy city. I saw exhibitions in Martin-Grobius-Bau which I really liked. I especially enjoyed Olafur Eliasson‘s works -some were just stunning- and it was also great to see once again a retrospective of Frida Kahlo. I’m a bit over with my passion for Frida’s works (I was crazy about her in the 80’s) but I still enjoyed the beautiful exhibition. I think I’ve never seen so many photographs of Frida. What a beautiful woman! Very inspiring. Then I saw the exhibition in Hamburger Bahnhof which was also exciting. Lot’s of works by Joseph Beuys, many fluxus artists, Andy Warhol…
I was lucky to be able to stay in a friend’s place who also kindly drew the routes to walk and streets to hang out on my tourist map. Thank you Jochen! And I just loved the area of Prenzlauer Berg. Great walks, lovely breakfasts…

On the way home, I met some friends at the Helsinki airport and we ended up wondering that why is it exactly that we live in Kuopio… Sometimes it’s hard to remember…

Johanna

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:

studio where I gave my workshop today:

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

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

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

A walk in town:

Lovely pink rubbish bags on the streets:

Tomorrow I’m off to Berlin for the weekend. How exciting!

Johanna

questions & my answers

I will be participating in a conference as part of the Cesis art festival in Riga in July. I was asked by the organizers to answer a few questions about my views and ideas. Here are the questions and my short answers.

1.Â Â Â Could you suggest 3 most important issues that characterize contemporary visual arts / academic music?

– The everyday

– The artists’ willingness, need – almost a yearn- to create and engage in projects that involve different communities, people from various social backgrounds across all ages.

– Creating concepts

2.Â Â Â Why these issues?

To me it seems that instead of grand ideas visions and utopian ideas, many contemporary artists are creating works and projects that stem from the ‘everyday’ and the mundane. This can be visible in many different ways; the works’ thematic can be related to everyday life such as family or work, the works or projects themselves are located in the midst of the ‘everyday’ i.e. the work is not necessarily sited somewhere where it can immediately be understood as art, the works’ materials are everyday like, often ecological issues are very well considered and thought of as part of the work etc.

Often in projects and works created in collaboration with or by different communities stretch out of the so called art spaces to various everyday spaces, streets, blogs, youth centres, forests etc. It seems that to get and have the attention of the art community and art scene is not satisfying enough and artists really do want to reach and work with people who might have no previous knowledge or experience of contemporary art.

I also think that there is a tendency towards creating non material works & projects, ephemeral works that live in the minds and memories of the participants and witnesses of the works or for example in the world wide web instead of creating huge material objects or big performative spectacles that require a lot of material and technical support.

http://www.cesufestivals.lv/eng

Let me know what you think.

Johanna