Category Archives: Random

a typical Sunday?

A bit confusing day. It started off very well, the weather was great – a really beautiful bright autumn day. I had a chance to read the newspaper sort of in peace, went for a longer walk with the dog and then for a short run. And I felt great! Because of ANTI, last week was just insane and I didn’t have a chance to exercise properly – I only cycled to work a few times but walked around the city a lot during the festival. Then on Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat and didn’t want to make it worse by exercising too much. On Thursday I had a small surgery and wasn’t allowed to exercise for a couple of days which is why I ended up taking Nerve Renew medication after reading its review online and just dint leave the house. Today it just felt great to be able to run although my pulse was rather high. Hope I don’t feel worse tomorrow.

For the rest of the day I guess I had a bit too ambitious goals of what I would get done. Had to comment an article, write a short piece, read, work on my schedules for the autumn etc etc. I did get a lot done but not enough. I felt especially bad for not getting to read as much as I wanted – I found it really hard to concentrate.

But I kind of made the ANTI 2012 programme and sent it off to Gregg to comment. Felt a bit manic really. I also made some notes about the meaning of ANTI as some people have written rather stupid and also totally incorrect things about the festival to the local daily newspaper. So we need to comment on and correct those. I also tracked down a date when one photo was taken related to the accusations in the writings.

So anyway, I feel a bit muddy. I’ve been also working on my upcoming performance and have had some exciting thoughts about how to structure and shape the work. So yes, there have been good things and moments but also I’m very aware that I need to do so much more. Oh well. Well well well.

Johanna

autumn harvest…

Crazily busy days! ANTI Festival is just around the corner, I’m performing next week Acts of Clothing in Jyväskylä, giving a talk tomorrow in a seminar in Kuopio, on Friday watching & evaluating a graduate’s performance in Helsinki, trying to squeeze in Pilates & Kinesis & Zumba & Cycling into my busy schedule and find some time to read and write and think. Should also see some performances. Not easy.

I don’t know if you remember that I planted some seeds of chili pepper and cherry tomato in the spring. The harvest isn’t that impressive but tomatoes are getting ripe inside and chilies are just turning red. Not much to eat but maybe I’ll dry the chili peppers, there are quite a few of them.





Feeling rather tired, so off to bed now.

Johanna

ANTI business and other stuff

These last weeks have been very busy with the upcoming ANTI Festival. This is the time when we need to make final decisions about the programme, confirm sites, think about all kinds of details in terms of artists, sites, how audiences move between the works and sites etc. etc. And this year is of course special as it is the 10th anniversary of ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival. Later during the spring we will let you know about the plans we’ll have for this special edition of ANTI. So stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure you’ll visit our Facebook page to hear the latest news and keep with the upcoming campaigns!

I’ve been preparing a new collaboration with Rebecca French from FrenchMottershead. We’ll begin to work in June when Rebecca comes to Kuopio and although there’s a million things to sort out and do before that, I’m still looking forward to it all soooo much.

Later in April I’ll visit Brussels as we have A Space for Live Art project meeting during the Trouble Festival. I’ll be travelling with ANTI Festival’s producer Laura and we’ll also work a couple of days in London with Gregg.

Last weeks have been great for cycling in Kuopio! The snow has melted away from the streets so no need to worry about the icy roads anymore. I’m so in love with my new bike and the Ortlieb back panniers. So useful and beautiful! The only downfall is that the roads haven’t been cleaned up yet and it can be pretty dusty riding down the streets. But it still feels great!

Johanna

post holiday blues and travel preparations

There wasn’t much anything special about the holidays besides the luxury of time. The time to do things that in the normal everyday do not get enough attention, do not have enough peace around to be able to happen.
So I read books. I knitted. I made a lamp (pic to be appeared later).

I knitted a floor pillow. And not only the cover, I also sewed the pillow inside the knitted one. The carpet is Tempo 207 by Hanna Korvela Design.



Besides Australia & Sydney travel guides, I read quite a few books during the holidays. The best one was Raja by Riikka Pulkkinen and now I’m reading Luokkaretkellä hyvinvointiyhteiskunnassa which is quite thought provoking and inspiring.

I’ve made some preparations for the trip and finally bought a new suitcase! Love this Samsonite Aeris spin case:


And Sari from Visio cut & dyed my hair on Saturday. I think I’m slowly getting ready for the long journey to Australia…


Johanna

problems with my shuffle

I’ve been soooo annoyed by Apple for the last couple of days! Last year I bought an iPod shuffle from New York and now, a couple of weeks ago, the remote control of the headphones stopped working. First, I checked the exact date I bought the shuffle and realized that the one year limited warranty had expired, of course. As I was resetting the iPod and trying to find out from Apple’s website if this was a common problem that could somehow be solved, I found information that 3rd generation iPod shuffles with a certain serial number (made between 2009 and 2010) had a fault in the headphones and that Apple would replace them within 2 years of purchase. Hurray, I thought. My serial number fitted. I followed Apple’s guidelines on their website how to send a product placement request. The last page on their website said that my request had been submitted and that I will receive an email within an hour with the repair status information. But I will also have to FAX a proof of purchase to Apple. What the hell???? Anyway, I got really annoyed when I did not receive the email and I still haven’t. But even more annoying was the thought of having to fax my proof of purchase to Apple although I have an Apple ID and they very well and easily can see what and when and where I have purchased (I bought the shuffle in the Mac Store through my Apple account). So today I’ve set up a fax account to be able to fax the bloody receipt to Apple and there’s still no email from them. Should I make another product replacement request or what???? I also think Apple could have been in touch with the people having the shuffles with the headphone problem, at least the ones with the Apple ID… I wonder how many people have bought the headphones with the remote control without knowing that it’s not their fault that they are not working. 
Anyway, let’s see what happens!

Do you have a 3rd generation iPod shuffle with serial number:
xx909xxxxxx – xx952xxxxxx
xx001xxxxxx – xx004xxxxxx

Here’s what to do in Finnish: http://www.apple.com/fi/support/headphones/replacementprogram/
and in: English: http://www.apple.com/support/headphones/replacementprogram/

Johanna

weekend

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to fully enjoy the long weekend with the Independence day as I performed Acts of Clothing on Saturday night. But the performance went well and was fun to do. The audience consisted mostly of people who don’t spend so much time with art and many of them were positively surprised, enjoyed themselves and asked me where they could see something like this more often. So that was nice. But yes, I’ve had two days off which has been more than needed. My flu is now finally better and I’ve managed to catch up some sleep. I just don’t understand why I couldn’t fall asleep tonight… Well, I do understand actually. I’ve so many things to do and finish, emails to answer, meetings to attend and arrange that they all just twirl in my head. And I’m also doing a little performance tomorrow so that worries me a bit.
Anyway, we had a lovely dinner tonight with sweet potato pie, crayfish paste and rye bread and grilled salmon. Delicious! I also had time to hoover and go for a run. Not bad.


Last week I had a few meetings in different café’s in Kuopio. I seriously don’t understand why Burts Coffee, Kaneli or Fado cannot make their latte’s or cappuccinos with skimmed milk??? Latte for example has a lot of milk in it and tastes completely different if they use the so called ‘coffee milk’ (which tastes awful) or the full fat milk. I don’t understand why the owners of the café’s don’t get this point. So I couldn’t have a coffee in Kaneli or Burts last week. They have seriously lost me as their customer which is a shame as it would be nice to support the small business as supposed to the chains.

Johanna

Jee!

Lumene is back with a loose powder, this time translucent mineral powder! I haven’t tried it yet but refuse to think that it wouldn’t be at least as good as the old loose powder. To my total surprise, I learned some time ago that Lumene had stopped making the loose powder, which I had used for years both in my private life as well as on stage. Occasionally, I tired other loose powders as well (Chanel, Dior, Blasco…), but always came back to Lumene. So I was shocked and didn’t know what to do. I tried Chanel, Max Factor and the latest try was Loreal but I wasn’t satisfied! So when I was in Helsinki, complaining to my friend Maija how badly the Loreal powder was doing the job, she later texted me that Lumene is back with a new mineral loose powder. So today when I quickly popped into town and Anttila’s second floor, I looked if the powder was there and yes it was. I didn’t hesitate for a minute. There was also a Lumene representative in the shop (wearing Nanso’s dress) and I quickly told her how devastated I had been when they stopped making the loose powder. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one as they had received so many complaints that now they finally came back with a new one. I’m not a total fan of Lumene but there are a few products I do like, for example the Time Freeze Instant Lift Serum. Today, inspired by the powder and the representative, for the first time I bought their Wild Rose Lipstick in a new wonderful vintage red color called Joy of Brightness. I’ve only tested it tonight but feels good.

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In Helsinki I met with my web master and discussed about updating the site. One thing I’ve been thinking a lot is whether I should remove the blog from the site and have it somewhere separately. He and few other people I’ve talked about it with, think that I should keep the blog on this site (we will remove it from the front page, though). They say that my life is my work and my work is often about the everyday, the observations about the everyday, the small and sometimes insignificant things that occur, happen and I come across. But it is exactly posts like this that I’m hesitating to post on this site! I’m very conscious of writing about my interest and inspiration of design –weather it’s about design of furniture, cutlery, clothes or shoes-, fashion, traveling etc. People have such strong views of high & low art although it is often exactly that boarder that my work also touches…

Anyway, in Helsinki I also had a heated discussion with one choreographer whether my work is dance. Maybe more about that in another post!

Johanna

Kuopio housing fair

I visited the Kuopio housing fair (Kuopion asuntomessut) on the opening day. Over all, I must say that the fair was a slight disappointment. I’ve been running and jogging around the fair area regularly during the last couple of years, so I knew a little bit what to expect and not to expect too much. But still, I was left feeling very disappointed. Savon Sanomat wrote today that people are so positive about the fair and nobody has anything to criticize. Well, I don’t agree. The friends with whom I was there and the people with whom I’ve talked about the fair, haven’t been that impressed. For me the fair is boring. I didn’t see anything new, any new innovations whether good or bad, just the same kind of houses and architecture and furniture you see in any contemporary design magazine. Of course, some of the houses are built on stunning locations by the lake and the presence of the Finnish nature is very strong but the houses themselves didn’t really impress me.
I saw a lot of very narrow stairs (impossible for two people to pass each other), strangely large fireplaces dominating living rooms, some rather kitsch interior decorations and a lot of boring ‘safe’ design with the same lamps, same carpets, same sofas, boring kitches…
Two houses I liked the most were this passive house Kusti and this wooden house Aamunsäde. To enhance the aesthetic appeal and durability of your home, consider using timber cladding exterior, which not only adds a natural and elegant touch but also offers excellent protection against the elements.

Kusti:Kusti1

Kusti2

Kusti3

Interesting windows
Kusti4

Kusti5

Aamunsäde:
Aamunsäde1

From the outside this house was more harmonic and balanced than inside.
Aamunsäde2

Aamunsäde3

Here’s some other stuff I liked but don’t remember the exact houses.

An interesting contemporary front but inside was rather…
julkisivu


A nice loft with familiar furniturep1020643.jpg

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An interesting tile made from recycled glass by Lasilinkki
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Fair folks

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Spot the nice chairs…

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Maija enjoying the chairs by EcoFurn. They might end up in our garden or sauna one day from www.pintanikkarit.fi. p1020688.jpg

Off to some house building stuff now… It’s nice to be on holiday- more time for building projects and house cleaning!

Johanna

back to business

Last weeks have been a bit of a struggle in terms of adjusting into a new rhythm of getting up really early. The summer wasn’t pure holiday but mornings were mellow –not only for me but for he whole family. My daughter started school two weeks ago and as she goes to the Steiner school in Kuopio, her days start every day at 7.55 am. And that’s quite early in my opinion. Anyway, I’ve found myself quite disorientated and almost dysfunctional at times as days seem to be suddenly filled with appointments of bringing or picking up someone from somewhere.
And in the midst of that, I’ve tried to keep up with my running as my first half marathon is coming up soon, on the 5th of September. Today I did my last long run (16 kilometres) before the half marathon and the upcoming weeks will be a bit lighter and easier with the training. That’s great as some of the long runs have been kind of ‘fighting my mind’ although I think I’ve been able to overcome many psychological obstacles lately in terms of my running. Now there’s a lot to think about in terms of pace and gels / energy drinks during the half marathon especially as I easily get problems with my stomach during running. And of course there’s the question, what to wear?
The Functional Team, where I’ve done my functional training and which has been coaching my training for the past year or so, has moved to a new beautiful space with three studios and KINESIS circuit training possibilities. I’ve tried out KINESIS twice now and I think it’s something I’ll be doing a lot during the autumn. It just feels great and efficient but at the same time fluid and soft. I’ll have my third workshop session tomorrow and then I should be ready for individual KINESIS training. I’m really looking forward to that!
I’ve started rehearsing on my upcoming work and I’m really excited about the collaboration with Marcia Farquhar. More about that a bit later. Last week I had a photo shooting session of the BODY/HAIR performance and I hope I’m able to post a few images next week.
Now I need to get some rest. I feel the long run in my legs and there’s no mercy in the morning when my daughter’s school starts!

Johanna

aftermath

I’ve realized how stressful the spring was and now that I’m easing into the summer and a bit of a holiday, I start to feel all the workload in my body. I even haven’t had the time to sit down in peace to write my blog and there are numerous things that I haven’t managed to complete the way I would have liked or needed to. I have some issues with my lower back and neck which need a bit of focus, time and energy.
My performances during the Kuopio Dance Festival as part of Paikallisliike 09 event went well but left me with a lot of questions. I was very happy that some collegues, people from the Finnish Dance Information Centre and at least one international writer were present at the performances but I don’t understand why the Kuopio Dance Festival cannot collaborate with the regional dance centre more thoroughly. Many dance professionals say that the Paikallisliike programme is much more exciting than the actual Kuopio Dance Festival programme but still there are a lot of writers that were in Kuopio who did not bother to see the full Paikallisliike programme because they don’t consider the program seriously. Jussi Tossavainen from Helsingin Sanomat and Eeva Kauppinen from the Finnish theatre magazine and Kaleva newspaper -among others- were here but did not attend the full Paikallisliike programme (they also didn’t bother to attend the launch of the ANTI Festival 2009 programme). I saw Eeva in one of the performances, which consisted of two worst works I’ve seen for a while. I don’t know, but I think she was there because one of the works was a premiere by Rimpparemmi, a folk dance group from the same region where she lives. Jussi Tossavainen I only saw in the Veljmies supermarket gambling and didn’t feel like saying hello to him. I don’t know – I just don’t understand why writers across Finland and Europe come all this way but instead of seeing as much as they can, they gamble, take salsa classes or otherwise just relax as supposed so showing interest to contemporary dance artists’ works? This really depresses me. Well, an exception was Ann-Marie Wrange from the Swedish Dans Tidningen who came to see several nights of the Paikallisliike event and who also attended both of my works. That was really lovely and I enjoyed her presence in BODY/HAIR a lot.

There’s a lot I would like to blog about but I will have to continue tomorrow. Today I went to functional training and cycled back and forth and feel pretty exhausted now. I’ve promised to my trainer that I will run a half marathon in September so I’m in the middle of my running programme. I’ll write more about that soon.

Johanna