Category Archives: Art

Etsin esiintyjiÃ¤ uuteen ryhmÃ¤teokseeni

PidÃ¤n auditionin torstaina 18.9.2008 klo 10 – 15 Sotkulla Kuopiossa. Tilaisuudessa valitaan 2-3 esiintyjÃ¤Ã¤ uuteen teokseeni Kohtauksia 979899000102030405060708. Teoksen harjoitusjakso ajoittuu marras-joulukuuhun 2008. Harjoitukset pidetÃ¤Ã¤n Kuopiossa. Teoksen ensi-ilta on 8.1.2009 ja muut esitykset 9.-14.1.2009 Sotkulla.

Audition on suunnattu ammattiesiintyjille, jotka tyÃ¶skentelevÃ¤t tanssitaiteen, live artin ja/tai esitystaiteen konteksteissa. Pakollinen ennakkoilmoittautuminen + cv osoitteeseen johanna(at)tuukkanen.net keskiviikkoon 17.9. mennessÃ¤.

LisÃ¤tiedot:
Johanna Tuukkanen
Puh. 040 7429091
johanna@tuukkanen.net
www.tuukkanen.net

Busy days

A quiet moment at home, alone. A rare occasion. Somehow Iâ€™ve managed through this week although Iâ€™ve been a bit overwhelmed by all the work Iâ€™m involved in. All is going well, but letâ€™s just say itâ€™s a lot. Iâ€™ve also had a bit of a flue and I think thatâ€™s why I havenâ€™t felt completely ok.
I will hold an audition for my new piece on Thursday the 18th and I should write a press release about that. But for those who are interested, mark it in your calendar. By the way, in the new issue of Finnish dance magazine titled TANSSI-lehti was a great review of my latest works soft skin / harsh life & Festive work. The ladies of the Festive work also made it to the cover of the magazine! The photographer was Pekka MÃ¤kinen, of course.
Iâ€™m going to see the premiere of Chicago musical in Kuopio city theatre tomorrow night. Iâ€™m kind of looking forward to it although I must say Iâ€™m not a big fan of musicals, in general. But you never know, I might be surprised! I have a new skirt that Iâ€™m going to wear with my Minna Parikka Morticia shoes. Maybe Iâ€™m looking forward to that more that the musical itself? Could be.
The ANTI Festival brochure is out so make sure you get one if you are planning to attend the best contemporary art festival in Finland. There are some works that need signing up so be prepared for that. The whole programme is also online www.antifestival.com.
Next week Iâ€™m heading off to London for a few days which Iâ€™m really looking forward to. But more about that another time.

Have a restful weekend!

Johanna

Confessions

Embarrassingly infrequent blog posts sent on my behalf lately. Sorry.
I have been extremely busy preparing for my new piece, urgently sorting out ANTI Festivalâ€™s business as our 5-year long EU project â€˜A Space for Live Artâ€™ has finally been accepted by the European Commission and being on the move i.e. in Copenhagen, which was great by the way. Iâ€™ve also noticed that Iâ€™m really liking updating my Twitter at the moment, not so much the blog itself. Strange. I guess I should also confess that I have another blog in Finnish that Iâ€™m updating every day. Why is this? One thing Iâ€™ve realized is that Iâ€™m a bit careful what to write here because I write this under my own name. In the other blog, I havenâ€™t revealed my identity and therefore can be a bit more honest about certain thoughts and things that are going on in my life. But this is not the main issue, I think. In the other blog, I have gotten a lot of blog friends and received many comments daily and that is kind of inspiring and just nice. Although this blog and site has quite a few visitors, there arenâ€™t that many people commenting. Maybe comments and blog friends are addictiveâ€¦
Last week a friend turned 30. What a nice party we had, and emotional! I cannot remember when I last cried in a party because people where really opening their hearts and being straightforward. But I also cried because I realized Iâ€™m very anxious, sad and worried. Maybe you Finnish artists know whyâ€¦ We also had a great party on Saturday; great food, wine and friends. Lovely.
Next week Iâ€™m off to London which Iâ€™m so much looking forward to. More about that later. First I have to get rid of this flue that is bothering me and the kids.

Hope to read your comments. Whatever they are!

Johanna

Copenhagen & PSI

Iâ€™m off to Copenhagen tomorrow morning. Iâ€™m performing at the PSI # 14 conference on Friday and on Saturday we have a panel about the ANTI Festival. Hope to see you all there!
Lately things have just been crazy with work â€“my own and with ANTI Festival. Couple of days ago I was in town getting things I need for my performance and needed to buy a shimmering body lotion from the Body Shop. Well, this is not the season for their strong smelling shimmering body lotions and I was getting really worried in the shop as I need the lotion in the performance. Then the owner asked if I need the lotion for a performance (she must have recognized me) and I said YES! Then she went through the storage and found a tester of shimmering body lotion smelling of cinnamon -from the last season. Great! She gave it to me for free and I was so happy. Not just because I got for free but because she saved the show! So thank you so much, the lady in the Body Shop of Kuopio.
My trip to Copenhagen is supported by the city of Kuopio, so thank you Pekka VÃ¤hÃ¤kangas & Hanna-Mari Kokkonen for that.

Johanna

At home

A lot of time spent home with family this summer. Somehow nice and relaxing, although at times hard for me. During the last year, Iâ€™ve been away travelling so much that now I actually have been able to enjoy being at home, not on my way anywhere. Of course it helps to know that some trips are approaching â€“Copenhagen in August and London in September… A chance to see friends and collegues, to feel connected to the field Iâ€™m working in.
I had the most terrible throat infection for almost two weeks, which really slowed me down. Then there was the funeral of my 32 year-old cousin. That was really really hard emotionally. Oh my god. Besides the work on the house, Iâ€™ve been concentrating on my exercise routine -jogging, gym and functional training. At the moment I really enjoy this period of preparing for my new work and working on my fitness, having time to think and prepare the work â€“although it feels thereâ€™s never enough time for this period.
ANTI Festival is approaching but this week Iâ€™m off from that business. Next week we are back full on and itâ€™s time to get to serious business.
Today we painted one wall and hang some curtains. Painfully slow, but things are getting there. Sometimes I wish I wasnâ€™t so impatient, but only sometimes. Impatience can be a great force, an energy.
I cycled with the kids to a park today and went swimming with them. Felt like a proper person for a moment. Iâ€™ll try to enjoy these last days of summer holiday with them but to be honest, cannot wait to get back to work.

Johanna

Applaud, please!

Today is the day I have paid back all off my student loan. Quite an achievement for me.
Iâ€™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, Iâ€™ve done that now. Everyone applaud, please!!!

Johanna

Report from Stavanger

Days in Stavanger have been a long but exciting. Annie Sprinkleâ€™s and Beth Stephensâ€™ 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 â€“although Annieâ€™s and Bethâ€™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 Iâ€™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. Iâ€™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 Iâ€™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 SjÃ¶front:

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

TOU WORKS 12th – 14th June 2008 Stavanger Norway

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 RÃ¸ed (Norway), Mariela Limerutti (Argentina), Simona Ferrari (Italy) Trond Kasper Mikkelsen and Sigrun Vik Olsen (Norway), Helge Olav Ã˜ksendal (Norway) and Ingouf Vincent (France), Mona Orstad Hansen and Torunn Larsen (Norway), Nils-Thomas Ã˜kland 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

INFORMASJON FINNES OGSÃ… PÃ… NORSK

Iceland…

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

Finnish visibility

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 MÃ¤kipÃ¤Ã¤ and Alvar Aalto.

Update: also spotted Ivana Helsinki, Secco and Golla.

Johanna