Category Archives: Art

Crushed tomatoes

Another day of work at the Blue House. Treating the panels was kind of meditative today; was focusing on my breath and the movement, tried not to strain my back too much. There was a beautiful, peaceful and silent moment when the children were inside drawing and playing and I was working on the back yard with Pekka. There wasn’t anything else, no visions of the future, no memories from the past, just us working in silence together. The weather forecast promised rain showers for today but it didn’t rain in the end. A few snowflakes were falling from the sky every now and then but they didn’t bother us.

I just put a dinner into the oven. I realised that it’s three days in a row that I’ve used crushed tomatoes in the dinner. This is not the first time I pay attention to this but every now and then I get really irritated by this. As you probably know, tomatoes are ‘plants of darkness’ and one should not eat any of them. According to macrobiotics anyway. I’m not macrobiotic but I used to be into all those things much more than I’m now. So the day before yesterday, my son hoped for a pasta with shrimps in tomato sauce and as he had been ill, I fulfilled his wish. Yesterday I made a kind of soy crush for the kids to go with rice. Today I’m doing this eggplant, potato (another ‘plants of darkness’!), zucchini and goat cheese dish baked in the oven, with a little bit of tomato sauce in between the vegies. Well, there might be worst things in life, I don’t know.

I thought about my new works today a lot. Maybe I do the performances in a gallery, so that the video/photographic material from the solo work could be shown as an installation and the group piece still could be performed in the same space. I could maybe get the space for a week or so. The number or audiences that can fit into the space is very limited, which I don’t mind, but I will need to think about that a little more.

Maybe it all starts to fall into its place.

I’m back to listening music, I realize. Fun, inspiring.

Johanna

It’s going just bloody great

I’ve spent a lot of time with budgets and schedules for my new works. On Thursday I was so fed up as I had spent almost the whole night figuring out the budget or my new group piece. I have some production support from the Arts Council of Finland and the Regional dance centre Kuopio, but as I once again learned, it’s nowhere near the level of a proper budget with proper fees etc. I had kind of decided I will hold an audition for the performers but it feels impossible to ask people to work for me for at least two months and say that I’m able to pay you 1 500 €. How can I expect a full time commitment and dedication from anyone? I didn’t get support from the regional foundation of SKR, which really upset me. So again, after having done this I don’t know with 15 works, I’m in a situation where I just have to count cents; who can be paid less, who can work for me for free, what can the work do without? Without any publicity? Without documentation? Without sound? Light? Any technical equipment? Space?
Sometimes it seems the most creativity is deeded in organizing the whole production.
I’ve asked Maija to work with me on the producing side of matters and I hope that will somehow be possible. I just need help.
So at the moment I’m not sure about the audition. Maybe you can see why.
I’ve tried to take a few days off all the work and I’ve spent some time at the Blue House straining my back. On Friday I ordered the staircase for the house from Helsinki as well as the front door and the door to where all the technical stuff of the house is situated. We’ll get them in 3-4 weeks. We couldn’t agree about the fireplace yet, so that’s still waiting. On Friday Jenny Alfthan from Sisustus Picaso visited the house as I have asked her advice on some materials, colours and furniture we need to get to the house. It was really nice. First time I went to Sisustus Picaso after Jenny and her husband had bought it, and I met Juho and Jenny, I felt they were the nicest people that I had ever met in Kuopio. I just wanted to invite them for a dinner straight away! Well, I didn’t, mainly because we live in this horrible rented apartment at the moment, but I sure will once we live in the Blue House.
Yesterday we started to treat the wooden panel that will cover the house. We use ‘rautavihtrilli’, I’m not sure what you call it in English (iron sulphate or something) which makes the wood turn grey in a couple of years. So the panel is not going to painted after this treatment. We have almost 7 kilometres of that panel on our front yard so I can see it’s a hell of a job to treat all of that with the rautavihtrilli. I’ve done it for two days now and maybe one tenth of that panel is ready…. Well, today the weather wasn’t very good and I had to stop as it was dribbling. But yes, there’s so much work to do at the house before we can move in that it’s just too scary to think about.
Day after tomorrow is the first of May, Vappu, the Labour Day. Have to get some sparkling wine tomorrow but most of the day we’ll spend at the Blue House, working.
Busy week coming after the Vappu. I’ll have a yoga course and I have to prepare myself for the performances in Helsinki by for example getting new clothes to replace the ones that were stolen. What a fucking pain… Not the performances or rehearsals, just the stolen clothes.
Hope you all well.
Johanna

Stavanger

I spent a couple of days in Stavanger, Norway last weekend. My schedule was really tight so I didn’t get to spend so much time getting to know the city but I did make a walk from the city centre to TouScene with Anne-Marte and Teresa. Teresa was at the residency at TouScene so we were both new to the city. Anne-Marte, who lives in Stavanger, gave me a kind of a lecture about the city, its history and current situation. Here are some images of our walk from the main church to TouScene along Pedersgata.

The flowermarket.

Two hundread and something days to look forward to Stavanger 2008, the European Capital of Culture, a project I’m involved in. I’ll let you know more soon.

Poor old houses. In a small city the way to create more (parking) space is to dig further down.

One of the two places to buy wine or spirits in Stavanger. Is there a way you could somehow know this from outside?

A bar.

Some kind of artists organisation and space.

Old and new.

Gallery 21m2 and Teresa.

A ferry to take you to Bergen, for example.

Sta3

Sta11

Anne-Marte in her garden.

Houses made of containers by architects whose name I cannot remember.

Huh. The new pretty agressive bridge built over the old houses on Pedersgata.

The view from TouScene.

And here’s a few images taken on my walk to my B&B.

Old houses in the city centre. The colours were just amazing.

A nice wooden house, don’t you think?

Yeah, you would think so, but actually it’s ‘renovated’ by using the plastic panel on top of the old wood.

Performance costumes and clothes stolen

This is no joke.

The clothes and costumes of my latest work titled I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO WEAR have been stolen in Helsinki yesterday.

I mean…what the hell?

Johanna

Lot’s of stuff and all the rest

It feels I haven’t been here for ages. There seems to be so much to do all the time and I sometimes feel I’m drowning into my work load as the work is not getting any less no matter how much I work. There’s always more to do, something to be done better, and better. And better. And if I don’t have any more work to do, there’s always more yoga to be practiced.
Last days have been mad as my computer crashed a week ago. So the Easter holidays I spent in panic and having nightmares about not surviving this busy week as all my ‘stuff’ is the computer. But not only the stuff, but all the emails, the appointments, my calendar… But luckily, Andrei from Humac was able to bring my MacBook back to alive which really saved me from further nightmare. Now my computer not only works but is also better with more RAM! Great.
Seppo from the Arts Council of Finland called me today saying that I cannot apply an artist grant directly from the Arts Council, which I had done. My work often falls into the category of ‘the rest’ and I thought I can apply from them like I do with project funding applications. Well, it doesn’t work that way. One has to apply from a certain council that are visual arts, film, music, literature, dance, design, theatre, architecture and photography. So which box to tick? That’s a question. Only the critics apply directly from the Arts Council of Finland. But what about us, the rest?
I have decided to keep an audition for my group piece in May. I’ve had difficulties with deciding whom to ask to be part of the project and Anniina has convinced me to keep an audition. I’m looking for three female performers who would be strong individuals willing to show their weaknesses, fears, bodies, minds…
Last week with Gregg we went to meet the director of cultural affairs of Kuopio, Pekka Vähäkangas, and he said we should also meet some of the politicians. Gregg is coming over again today and I’ve been arranging all these meetings for us. Well, tomorrow we first hold the TALKS & DEEDS event, we both teach workshops in the mornings and early afternoon and then later in the afternoon we’ll have the public event at the city library of Kuopio. On Saturday there are some press interviews and on Monday we’ll keep this presentation to group leaders of Kuopio’s political parties. Then on Tuesday we’ll meet the head of the Music and Dance Academy to discuss collaboration. And we should also have time to complete the programme of the ANTI Festival 2007 with budgets etc. So a lot to do over the next few days!
I postponed my tax paper’s return date two weeks ago which means that the new deadline is now on Monday. Shit! My tax papers are pretty complicated to do so again I’m facing long nights going through piles of receipts.
Is this ever going to get any better?
Johanna

Inspiring days

Gregg was over for five days and we had really good discussions, lots of work with the applications for the ANTI –festival and some important meetings. It was really good to got through a lot of stuff with Gregg, introduce him to people and have the meetings. So again, I’m very excited about the festival and all the possible possibilities!
The gig with I don’t have anything to wear in Joensuu went really well; the show was just hilarious. It seems the audience there is very receptive and much more relaxed than here. It’s always such a pleasure to perform there. I have very warm memories of premiering Milk in Joensuu as well as performing Mutation. We also managed to have a little premiere party we failed to keep here because of the yoga course we were on.
Besides working with Gregg over the weekend, I also had to finish two major grant applications. I also was supposed return my tax papers today and I had to call the tax office last week to get more time to do it. My tax papers are quite complicated and it takes definitely more than two whole days to complete them. So that’s ahead of me…I also feel a bit guilty for working too much without any days off. My children miss me a lot and call me to work crying. So I’m really looking forward to having a few days off over the Easter although my son is planning to visit his grandparents. I also haven’t been over to the Blue House for ages, it seems…
I’m at the moment working on two new projects and thinking about the schedules and crew and all kinds of things. It’s exciting but at the same time it’s a bit crazy to just finish one big piece of work and immediately dash into the next one. Year after year.

Take care, Johanna

Performance in Joensuu on Wednesday

I’m off to Joensuu to perform Mulla ei oo mitään päälle pantavaa with Jaana and Jaap on Wednesday. We’ll perform in Taidekeskus Ahjo, Koksi-sali at 7 pm, in case you want to see the work.
mulla-ei-oo_kuopioperformance-001_pos.jpg
mulla-ei-oo_performancekuopio002_pos.jpg

Photographs by Pekka Mäkinen.

It seems I have a million things to do before that and somehow the work is not getting any less by working… And then there are yearly nightmares like the tax papers and grant applications for the arts council of Finland to be sent in by the end of the month. And just to make sure I’m very busy, right after I come back from Joensuu on Thursday afternoon, Gregg arrives in Kuopio at 6 pm. I’m really looking forward to this all, but I don’t understand why everything needs to always happen at the same time? The week is going to be extremely busy so you might not hear more of me this week.
I spent some time today at the Blue House meeting our electrician and plumber. I also ordered the outside wood panel for the house as well as some birch veneer plywood to the ceiling and one wall upstairs.
The weather has been incredibly sunny, warm and beautiful. The snow has melted away really fast and we are very optimistic to get to work on the outside panelling of the Blue House in April or May.

Hope to see you Joensuu on Wednesday. I’m off to bed now.
Johanna

Busy day at the office + acupuncture hangover

Lot’s to think about. Have been in touch with the ministry of foreign affairs about inviting some foreign guests to ANTI –festival and got for a change quite excited about the possibilities. It would be so great if we could invite a couple of international editors and a few directors and curators to the next festival and highlight the international position of ANTI. I had a Skype session with Gregg and as usual, it felt really good to go through things with him. His visiting Kuopio next week and I’m so much looking forward to planning the festival and going through the applications with him. The association behind the festival has its annual meeting next week and today two new members joined our association, hurray!
Last night I was totally wiped out by the acupuncture treatment. I had to go to bed at something like 7.30 pm and I woke up when Pekka came home from work after 9 pm. The treatment was really good; it’s pretty amazing how you can feel your meridians running down the spine, across the back, from the neck down to the arm etc. Jori did also some cupping to me and the marks on my back are pretty intense… I’ve felt much better with my shoulder and neck today but I ended up doing too much cleaning and household stuff tonight. And that was because it turned out that my daughter has pinworms! Disgusting. They have had them in her day care but I have never ever had them in my family before. So I had to buy the medicine for all of us and wash all bed linen, towels, toys, bathroom…well, I might be overreacting a bit but I truly find it horrifying. Pinworms are very common, apparently, but I’m definitely shocked and upset.
I’m planning to work at the Blue House tomorrow, there are a few things that need to be sorted out and decided soon. Some work needs to be done as well but I’m not going to sit by the computer all day.

Hope you are well.

Johanna

yoga, performances, dreams of India

Mulla ei oo mitään päälle pantavaa performances last week went really well, they were all full and the audience seemed to like the piece a lot. It feels really good to continue next week in Joensuu, then later in May in Helsinki and in June again here in Kuopio. The piece is really fun to perform, it’s challenging and the dialogue between me, Jaana, the live sound and the audience shapes the work differently every time.

I didn’t really have a chance to celebrate the premiere as at the same time I was on a yoga course and had to wake up early each morning. Anne’s course was once again really good and I felt such peace and bliss to practice with her. I have now recovered from the sciatic nerve pain that I suffered from all autumn and it’s been such a pleasure to practice the primary series as a whole. I talked with Anne about her last visit to Mysore and got so inspired to travel to India that I’ve been constantly thinking about my possibilities to make the trip. It would be so important for me to go but I have the family to take care and think about. So I haven’t made any reservations yet. But the idea of spending a month in Mysore, to focus on the practice and to develop my work in a different environment is all I dream about at the moment.

I had some meetings today and I talked about Savon Sanomat newspaper’s politics of not writing about dance and about having more freelance dance artists on the board of the regional dance centre. I also couldn’t help but wonder how from all the artistic board members only one person came to see my latest work and none of them were in any way sorry or bothered that they didn’t come to see it. I must say this does bother me although we had plenty of people in the audience, so it’s not about missing an audience but just curiosity about whom the work attracts. It’s interesting. And a bit sad.

Since my sciatic nerve is better now, I’ve had some strange things going on in my neck. So I have an acupuncture treatment tomorrow that I really look forward to.

Johanna

A few places left for Mulla ei oo mitään päälle pantavaa –performances!

If you haven’t made a reservation yet and want to see the new work premiering tonight, there are still a few places left for Saturdays performances at 5 pm and 9 pm. Email or text me for reservations.
See you!
Johanna