Puha Muristus!

Puha Muristus!

Performance by Anna-Liisa Rajamart & Nora Sarak

I saw a good performance today! - on the Polymer Culture Factory Festival.  There was a lot of people - "strange" I thought, when we entered the room, it was so much people and it was a sunday - we entered an empty room. Before the lights went out we were all facing the center of the room. In the dark people began humming, which turned into a all surrounding chanting soundscape, interrupted by a violent argument - voices everywhere screaming out of the darkness. The feeling, the result of this aggression - despite the knowledge that this was performance - unseen but heard, crescendo, was so physical. I want to see, want to protect myself. The presence of the other people was very strong. There was an applause, and then a scream, and then the humming and lightbulbs crashing to the floor. 

It made impact :-)

Speed of Darkness and Other Stories

Speed of Darkness and Other Stories, exhibition at KUMU art museum in Tallinn, Estonia

From KUMUs website:

"Works by Finnish, Latvian and Estonian contemporary artists are represented in the project. Jaakko Niemelä is the curator and author of the concept for Speed of Darkness, an exhibition that closed in Finland in May and has now arrived in Estonia. This is supplemented by Other Stories, an exhibition that interprets the same subject, which was initiated by Eha Komissarov.
The selected art projects deal with the creation of the material base of darkness and search for a means to allow darkness to be transformed into material for an installation, by activating darkness," Eha Komissarov, one of the curators of the exhibition said. "Darkness becomes functional when we decipher it as separate phenomena, between which the artists create significant connections and points of contact, by using metaphysical opportunities and experiences from everyday life."

Whilst I think many of the works were good or even really good, I feel like the conceptual framework around "darkness" was a bit insufficient. I would really have liked to hear more of the curators thoughts and considerations - especially since a large part of the exhibit was installed in dark spaces which wasn't neccessary in all cases. How do we use the word "darkness", the idea of darkness, the idea of the void? We can understand this as many different things, and each suggest a different function. What is the function of the image of dark desolation, the creeping feeling of absence and presence at the same time, ghostlike as in Patrik Söderberg and(?) Visa Suonpää's  piece "A view from the other side"? http://www.socialtoolbox.com/ I have noted a similar sentiment in other works, and I am drawn to it. And I dont think I am alone in this. Why?

The same sentiment comes back in Karel Koplimets "Suburbs of fear"

Polymer Culture Factory, Tallinn

Part 1: A teacher said to me, several years ago when I was still in the process of getting my Fine Arts degree, that he didn't want to hear any more excuses. "I don't want to hear these excuses, noone but you is responsible for the work". It hurt. But I did get the point.

So this is a moment when I would like to pass this comment on to some other people.

I know it is not their fault; I know there is a festival building up; I have understood that this is the sort of lawless place where you can't expect your room (that you rent) to be clean upon arrival, or to get any sleep since people are building art-installations on the other side of your studio/bedroom wall between 18.00 pm and 05.00 am, every night; I have understood that some people have found these terms disagreeable and left without notice; I have understood that some have left without paying the bill which causes problems with the landlord; I have understood that some people don't have a facility for communicating certain things clearly, especially when they are under a lot of stress; I have understood that the organizers here have a bit too much on their plate and that they are actually really cool people (so other people say); and I know what it is to be undermanned and coordinator of a  festival. I know and understand all this. But its not my problem. What is my problem is how to negotiate this situation. And whilst figuring out where to sleep etc, what I don't want on top of it all is to get the ass-end of their bad organization and still be asked to excuse them for it.

Note: Excusing yourself is a way to avoid responsibility rather that to assume it.

It is not a way to say that you are sorry.

12/08/23

Tallinn

(with headache)

Part 2: The first weekend of the festival is over and I am going home tomorrow. A final wrap-up of my thoughts concerning this place, where was my head, where is my head. This is after all why I came here, for something to shift and change.

My previous point still stands I guess. I think this space could benefit from clarifying their vision (in contrast to the current pseudo anarchist laissez-faire) and in thinking what place they want this to be, also think about what people they want to come here.

Part of me can really appreciate that this simply is what it is and thats that, and that its is good as such and fills a function. Another part of me thinks that this place could be "fulfilling its potential" more than what it does right now. For what purpose would that be? To get funding? It would be a good thing if the organizers here got paid for the work they do, and if there was toilet paper and clean sheets. Or, would it be to attract a higher level artist in the contemporary international artscene, thus, for the prestige and the connections? It is very reasonable to criticize the idea that everything should be part of a career, expand, go somewhere. Yet, above standing reasons arent actually, I dont think so at least, bad reasons to focus the efforts of this place.

I think that the most interesting feature, for me, of Polymer is the mix. Art-teachers, amateurs, international artists, people with high degree, people with no degree, criticism and lack thereof - this place does succeed in allowing these different practices to coexist (at least during the festival). I think that is really cool, and its inspiring, and I have truly appreciated seeing all this art, and some stuff, and meeting all these different people.

I do wish them a dedicated coordinator and some funding. I wish that the next time I come here - will I? - there will be toilet paper and that I dont have to start my residency by cleaning out dirty dishes and mopping the floor. I have also other wishes but there is no point in repeating all that (see part 1). In the end, I have had an interesting time, something have changed and shifted and I am really happy I came here. 

In the studio, packing bags

Tallinn

12/08/27

Ditte Ejlerskov

www.ditteejlerskov.com
http://www.ditteejlerskov.com/WORK%202010%20-%20Reality%20does%20not%20spin%20-%20Ditte%20Ejlerskov%20.html

Found this artist whilst browsing galleries in Malmö. I find her way of working/ exhibiting very inspiring, like mind maps, mental charts. Good to remember for one of those days.

12/08/22
Tallinn

Sirja-Liisa Eelma "There is nothing"

Exhibition opening at the Draakoni Galerii 21-08-12

Sirja-Liisa Eelma 
"There is nothing"

From the exhibiton info sheet:
"Nine years ago the artist concentrated on the possible expectations and fears related to a hidden, presentimental object; while at the present exhitbion she interpreting hiddenness that invovles anticipation: ,,There exists a moment that precedes everything that is about to happen  . whether it be an insignificant incident, a funny coincidence , or a failure that has been planned ahead. Before every act and incidence, there is an instant, a split second, during which nothing is yet happening. It is a moment where everything is still "behind the curtain" . There is nothing. It's a miraculous moment that lets us believe that everything is possible. ON the other hand, this is a bursting illusion gradually reaching self-satiation, exploding into air like a torpedo, and spreading curiosity and anxiety around. Itäs a place where one arrives and has to start from the beginning in order to put one's world together. "


I like some of this artist's work, not all. However, the pictures in this show strike me immediately as a tangent to my own work. I have thought about the same thing (I have googled for pictures of curtains, but found mostly stockphotos - and the other day I was thinking of filming the curtains of changing rooms in clothing store). I have thought about it whilst holding an envelope in my hands, thinking: As long as this envelope remains unopened, my reality maintains two opposite possibilities, a yes and a no. For now, these are equally possible. As soon as I have opened this envelope and read its content, not only will my reality have conformed to one of these possibilities, but this instant of openness will be proven false in retrospect. Then there will only be the knowledge that this was the content the whole time, and that the feeling  that "anything can happen" was always an illusion.  

12-08-21
Tallinn

"Om det politiska" av Chantal Mouffe

"Om det politiska" 
av Chantal Mouffe

Från baksidestexten:
"Sedan en tid tillbaka har det politiska livet på många håll fått en alltmer konsensusbetonad prägel. Denna tendens beskrivs ofta i positiva ordalag som en utveckling från "förlegade" konfliktmönster mot ett "postpolitiskt" tillstånd av samförstånd och expertstyre. I skarp kontrast till de röster som hyllar denna förändring som ett framsteg för demokratin, varnar Chantal Mouffe istället för de allvarliga risker som den för med sig. I takt med att spektrumet av legitima politiska alternativ blir allt snävare, uppstår också farliga motreaktioner. Samförståndet mellan de etablerade partierna öppnar för populistiska och främlingsfientliga röresler som vänder ryggen åt demokratins grundläggande värden. För att hindra en sådan utveckling gäller det att  överge den postpolitiska inriktningen på konsensuslösningar och inse att konflikter mellan politiska motståndare utgör den demokratins själva livsnerv". (baksidan).

Varför finner jag den här boken så viktig? Jag har en upplevelse av att ha fått språket tillbaka, att ha erbjudits en tankekonstruktion som faktiskt hjälper mig att dechiffrera mina egna upplevelser.

I grunden ligger en kritik mot det liberala demokratiska synsättet, som utgår ifrån en demokratisk vision där själva institutionen demokrati endast finns till för att "moderera" den konstruktiva dialogen, det rationella förhandlandet mellan olika samhällsintressen. Denna idé utgår ifrån att det finns rationellt bättre och sämre alternativ och att det är möjligt att uppnå ett inkluderande konsensus mellan alla parter. Enligt Mouffe är ett sådant "inkluderande konsensus" runt det mest rationella alternativet inte bara en omöjlighet, utan det förnekar också politikens, demokratins själva funktion, dvs att erbjuda en arena där verkliga konflikter kan utspela sig inom kontrollerade former.

Jag behövde att någon som har läst massor med böcker mer än jag, och säkerligen är mer vis, stödde mig i denna enkla insikt: det finns konflikter. Vi är inte alla överens. Och det handlar inte i slutändan om rationellt mätande av statistik hit och dit utan om värdegrunder, och om passioner, och behovet av kollektiva identiteter. Mouffe skriver om passionerna:

"Vad det rationalistiska perspektivet inte begriper är att det som driver människor att rösta är mycket mer än den rena viljan att tillvarata sina egna intressen. Röstandet involverar en viktig affektiv dimension: vad som står på spel här är frågan om identifikation. För att kunna handla politiskt måste människor ha en möjlighet att identifiera sig med en kollektiv identitet som erbjuder en självbild som det kan värdesätta. Den politiska diskursen måste erbjuda inte bara politiska program utan också identiteter som kan hjälpa människor att begripliggöra det som sker och ge dem hopp om framtiden" (31. Lite senare citerar hon Yannis Stavrakis i hans diskussion av Lacan:

"Genom sitt påstående att sociala fantasier vinner stöd delvis därför att de är rotade i kroppens "jouissance" kan njutningens problematik hjälpa oss att ge ett konkret svar på frågan rörande insatserna i den sociopolitiska identifikationen och i identitetsformandet. Enligt den lacanska teorin ör det inte bara möjligheten till symbolisk koherens och diskursiv stängning som står på spel inom dessa områden, utan också njutningen, den jouissance som genomsyrar mänskliga begär." (s 33).

För mig framträder formuleringen "För att kunna handla politiskt måste människor ha en möjlighet att identifiera sig med en kollektiv identitet som erbjuder en självbild som de kan värdesätta". Den tangerar en annan tanke, där politisk konflikt ersatts av "rätt" och "fel". Mouffe skriver "I ett dominerande perspektiv som gjort sig av med motståndarmodellen kunde dessa partier inte heller beskrivas i politiska termer, det vill säga som motståndare att bekämpa med politiska medel. Det blev därför bekvämt att dra upp frontlinjerna på moralens nivå och låta striden stå mellan de "goda demokraterna" och den "onda extremhögern" (s 74). Rätt och fel. Ont och gott.

I detta känner jag kanske igen mitt eget utanförskap. Jag kan inte identifiera mig inom den konsensusmodell och den uppdelning i rätt och fel som många verkar ta för givet. "Med andra ord konstrueras ett "vi" (vi "moderna människor" som följer med i den reflexiva moderniseringens rörelser) genom att ställas i motsats till ett "de" (De traditionalister eller fundamentalister som söker hindra samma rörelser). De senare kan inte ta del i den dialogiska processen, vars gränser etableras just genom deras uteslutning" (s 58). "Att tala om "modernisering" på det här sättet är utan tvekan en effektfull retorisk gest som gör det möjligt att dra en politisk gräns mellan "de moderna" och "traditionalisterna" (eller "fundamentalisterna") - samtidigt som det faktum att denna uppdelning är helt och hållet politisk förnekas" (s 57). Jag upplever en konstant friktion i det att både jag (och min omgivning) gör ett antagande om mitt innanförskap i denna gemenskap, men jag upplever att jag inte får plats, att mina tankar på olika sätt ogiltigförklaras - framförallt att problematiserandet som sådant ogiltigförklaras. 

I vilket fall så kan jag ju avrunda med att jag finner den "agonistiska" principen som Mouffe framlägger intressant, inte bara i fråga om vad demokratins grundläggande syfte är/borde vara eller ens idéerna om en multipolär världsordning - utan vad som händer om man tar principen om pluralism, agonism och utsträcker den till att gälla i ett vidare sammanhang - Diversitet.
Från principen - vi strävar efter en viss likhet/ utgår ifrån en viss likhet till principen - vi strävar efter en viss diversitet, en viss agonism. Det påminner om de tankar som flimrade förbi i Bukarest texten "Connectedness is overrated". Förutom tanken på vad en sådan utgångspunkt skulle kunna göra för ett samhälle, en stad eller ett kvarter, så är det också en utgångspunkt för mellanmänskliga relationer - utgångspunkten att vi tycker mer eller mindre samma sak, kan bara leda till frustration och oförstående inför det faktum att så inte (alltid/ för det mesta/ nästan aldrig) är fallet. Att utgå ifrån olikheten istället erbjuder möjligheten att finna likheter som binder oss samman, snarare än olikheter som gör att vi faller isär.


12/08/21
Tallinn

Speed of Darkness and Other Stories

Speed of Darkness and Other Stories, exhibition at KUMU art museum in Tallinn, Estonia

From KUMUs website:

"Works by Finnish, Latvian and Estonian contemporary artists are represented in the project. Jaakko Niemelä is the curator and author of the concept for Speed of Darkness, an exhibition that closed in Finland in May and has now arrived in Estonia. This is supplemented by Other Stories, an exhibition that interprets the same subject, which was initiated by Eha Komissarov.
The selected art projects deal with the creation of the material base of darkness and search for a means to allow darkness to be transformed into material for an installation, by activating darkness," Eha Komissarov, one of the curators of the exhibition said. "Darkness becomes functional when we decipher it as separate phenomena, between which the artists create significant connections and points of contact, by using metaphysical opportunities and experiences from everyday life."

Whilst I think many of the works were good or even really good, I feel like the conceptual framework around "darkness" was a bit insufficient. I would really have liked to hear more of the curators thoughts and considerations - especially since a large part of the exhibit was installed in dark spaces which wasn't neccessary in all cases. How do we use the word "darkness", the idea of darkness, the idea of the void? We can understand this as many different things, and each suggest a different function. What is the function of the image of dark desolation, the creeping feeling of absence and presence at the same time, ghostlike as in Patrik Söderberg and(?) Visa Suonpää's  piece "A view from the other side"? http://www.socialtoolbox.com/ I have noted a similar sentiment in other works, and I am drawn to it. And I dont think I am alone in this. Why? 

The same sentiment comes back in Karel Koplimets "Suburbs of fear". All in all I think the film was really beautiful - with exception of the strange freezeframes. When I went beyond the projection room and saw the model where the film was made (live I guess) I felt that I would have wanted these two parts entirely separated (seeing them in different exhibitions perhaps). I would never have wanted to see how the film was made, or in case of the model, what happened with the photage of the constantly shifting cameras and blinking lights. I'd rather it hadnt been explained, but that the source/ purpose remain unknown. It would have left a deeper feeling in me (one that I had before I went from one room to the other) of the works inherent mysteriousness and beauty. Also here it is desolation that resonates through the work, that makes it strong and gives it an almost gravitational pull. It is the desolation that causes the sense of fear. And I guess it is in that fear I see beauty?

 Paula Lehtonens work "Multiverse Now!" reminded me of screensavers and some space-race- computorgame that I have seen at some point. In this way it doesnt seem very "new", but whatever charm previous similar works that I have seen or screensavers have had on me, whatever it might be - it still works. What strikes me though is the feeling that its about standing on the edge to the other dimension - rather than entering. It is as if the mere notion of this "other place" is enough. 

From Lehtonens site:

"The installation creates illusions of gateways to other dimension. The work is inspired by theories about the possibilites of such other universes."

 

Tallinn

12/09/11

"Camera Lucida" Roland Barthes

Reading Roland Barthes "Camera Lucida" two things stand out to me:

The Mother
How the analysis is entangled, no, not entangled, pursued, through the contemplation and experience of personal loss. And its the loss of a mother, not a father, or a child. It strikes me as bold to talk about his love for his mother in this way. And that this loss, and his wound, is the basis for the analysis of photography, through the analysis of the photograph of his mother in the Winter Garden - that something so personal is both method and material for this analysis is simply wonderful. Such an analysis has a truthfulness and poetic beauty that numbers and references can't achieve.

Was there a time in which there could be analysis made based on feelings, the musings over a state of mind and heart, through experience only, and with oneself as the only expert? Has this time passed? It seems like a privilege.
Death
- And death, of course. The mothers death, the mother who he attempts to find in the photographs, but fails, and then perhaps succeeds, and then fails and succeeds again. As Susan Sontag talks of memento mori (photographs are always memento mori) in On Photography so does Barthes in his own way. He writes: "But the punctum is:  he is going to die. I read at the same time: This will be and this has been. I observe with horror an anterior future of which death is at the stake. By giving me the absolute past of the pose (aorist), the photograph tells me death in the future. /...)Whether or not the subject is already dead, every photograph is this catastrophe." (pg 96). It makes me think that perhaps this is the force of any photography, this is the force of photography as such; it holds the nostalgic love of life and fear of death, not only of those who are in the picture but it reflects in me; I feel my own future death stab at me as my eyes meet those in the photograph. Barthes writes on a previous page:

"All those young photographers who are at work in the world, determined upon the capture actuality, do not know that they are agents of Death. This is the way in wich our time assumes Death: with the denying alibi of the distractedly "alive", of which the Photographer is in a sense the proffessional. For Photography must have some historical relation with what Edgar Morin calls the "crisis of death" beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century; for my part I should prefer that instead of constantly relocating the advent of Photography in its social an economical context; we should also inquire as to the anthropological place of Death and of the new image. For Death must be somewhere in a society; if it is no longer (or less intensely) in religion, it must be elsewhere; perhaps in this image which produces Death while trying to preserve life. "(92)

This reminds me of Zygmunt Bauman, who has also written about Death and, if I remember correctly, the extents to which the contemporary society is concerned with expelling Death. From life, with drugs and preventive treatments, from view, with elderly homes and other institutions. And we are concerned, whilst living, with eternalizing life, perhaps, quite possibly, by photographing ourselves. "This is who I was", "This was my life" to the afterworld.


Tallinn
9/8 2012