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Performance Art as a Craft of Dissidence (2022)

This text was published in the recently launched “Performance Art in Practice – Pedagogical Approaches” (2022, Worthwise) Aapo Korkeaoja (edit.). The book offers 9 approaches for teaching performance art by different authors. My text is built on experiences teaching at the Kankaanpää Art School. The publication offers insights to performance-teaching by Tuomas Laitinen, Aapo Korkeaoja, Annette Arlander, Pilvi Porkola, Pia Lindy, Jussi Matilainen, Leena Kela & Tero Nauha. I’m flattered to be included in this bunch and I particularly enjoy Pilvi’s writing! The book is illustrated by Katriina Sjöblom. I like that it includes both practical exercises and the philosophy behind the teaching. My submission was originally written in 2019 but it some acuteness to it. The intuitive teaching manner I present as a dream in the text is now fully employed as a praxis.

I have always had issues with authority. This family tradition was passed on to me by my mother. I get offended when people tell me what to do and for this reason studying has been and still is challenging. Luckily Finland is a welfare state, and in the nineties primary school teachers were idealistic. They believed that everyone is good at something and their trust convinced me that my dissident attitudes would find acceptance in the field of art.

I try to pass on similar hopefulness when I get the opportunity to teach. In the past I’ve attempted to assert control over creative processes and I’m learning to get more comfortable with uncertainty. I fear that open processes end up strengthening existing ideas and do not enforce change, which I think is mandatory for combating the hostility of present societies.

To identify subtle changes which manifest in creative sessions, I have called for the meticulous documentation of events and ideas which emerge during a course. I now fear that the detailed study journals we write with students, take on an authoritarian role and steer the course on their own. To counteract this, I have begun to rely on intuition. Can intuition serve as a benign, anti-authoritarian force?

Continue reading “Performance Art as a Craft of Dissidence (2022)”

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Our reception at Glow Up was warm and the evening wonderfully festive. Malla’ gig invited everyone to dance and before this we participated in a performance by Vishnu Vardhani Rajan and admired poses by Tiia Kasurinen. Before the event we were welcomed by Pii Anttila, Sanna Karimäki-Nuutinen and Kunsthalle Seinäjoki staff. Karimäki-Nuutinen gave us a thorough introduction to the Kunsthalle history and current program. During the tour we got to meet and interview artists Ida Sofia Fleming and Vesa Rahikainen who had an exhibition in the top floor. Their work was based on rust, sound and rituals. Pii also hosted us a celebratory lunch and the co-curator of Glow Up, artist Aeon Lux gave us compliments when we parted ways.

We performed together as a group consisting of artists Tonya Björkbom, Julia Elo, Viola Jalaskoski, Uljas Kaitala, Anni-Maaria Leppänen, Sade Marila, Pinja Minkkinen, Piia Muurinaho, Ignacio Pérez Pérez, Sanna Svartström, +1 and myself. Tiia From & Onni Oja, who participated in the planning of the work could not attend. The performance was prepared during a two week intensive performance art course titled “Public and Performance” organized at Kankaanpää Art School. Our group was called Eero Yli-Vakkuri & Co. in reference to recent debates on “& Co.” -style charismatically led performing arts organizations.

During the two week program we wrote a collective study journal with the group, which shares lecture notes, drafts for the performance choreography & score and other notes, general glimpses to discussions and exercises. I particularly enjoyed a day we walked the city and Uljas presented the group with the Kankaanpää cemetery gravestone deposit/storage. The site reminded me of a past gig at the Malmi Cemetery, which hosts a similar deposit of gravestone gravel.

Our performance, perhaps titled as “This is your ancestor” (but not agreed to be titled such) was an effort to transform a rock with the collective will of our group, bodies and by facilitating audience interactions with it. We advised various choreographic motifs, which were be used to exchange experiences, such us temperatures with the stone. I think the majority of the audience came to contact with the stone and some even performed solo actions with it. We developed the performance by gradually growing our collective understanding of the materials of stone, bubble gum (which contrasted the hardness) and by debating what constitutes an audience or public. We loosely defined (but experienced and abided to) collective rules on how to physically engage with each others and the audienceperformers. Trust was built trough intuition and developed a good mood for the club.

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Experimental Clay Workshop 2 (16.-17th Sep.)

You are warmly welcome to join the Experimental Clay Workshop at the Vartiosaari Artist House. This workshop, the second in the series of clay-related gatherings, will be organised on the 17th of September from 10 until 22:00. On the first day we will restore the kiln which we built during the spring workshop, discuss ceramics and, as the night darkens, fire the kiln. The fired items can be collected the next day from 12 until 15:00.

The workshops will start at the Vartiosaari Artist House with an informal seminar where we will explore ceramics, kilns and the island habitat. Participants are invited to craft small objects and to form lecture notes using clay, which we can fire later on the same day. There will be outdoor excursions, tea and coffee. A pop-up food kiosk will open around lunch time selling Thai soup and refreshments, prepared by Jakub Bobrowski.

If you have made clay things during the summer please bring them with you for the firing. If you have done something fun with clay or built a kiln yourself, please let us know and we will reserve time for you to present your findings to the group! Please sign up by the 11th of September.

Due to a high volume of interest we kindly ask participants to provide a short introduction text, which would offer insight to your approach on clay and other earthly matters. You can also suggest songs, games and performances for the nightly firing ritual.

The long nightly firing ritual will celebrate energy sourced from our surroundings.

Participation in the workshop costs 25€ and we can host 15 attendees. The fee will be used to cover the fuel and material costs. Any surplus gained from the donations will be shared equally with participants who have prepared presentations for the group. Event organisers are motivated to support the Vartiosaari Artist House.

  • Sign-up by the 11th of September (midnight)
  • 17th of September 10-22:00. Talking clay, firing the kiln and celebrating energy.
  • 18th starting at 12:00. Picking up ceramic objects.
  • Location: Vartiosaari Artist House across the shore from Reposalmentie 1
  • See https://www.aurinkolautta.fi/ for ferry schedules and fares. Transportation by night will be organised with a row boat.

Sign up by email to nomadickilngroup //äät gmail.com with a short introduction on why you would want to take part in the workshop. If you have questions regarding the Vartiosaari Artist House refer to Monika Czyżyk. If you want to reserve a spot for sharing your clay or kiln discoveries contact me at eero //äät storijapan.net or 0505729743

About the Nomadic Kiln Group: We started playing with clay last year and early this spring we organised the first Experimental Clay Workshop. During the two day session we collected clay from the forest, learned how to clean it, built a wood fuelled kiln from upcycled bricks and fired ceramics together. Now as the autumn arrives, we invite the old and new participants around the kiln for a second burning and for the sharing of any knowledge on clay.

Photos from the first workshop and a kiln building guide: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10fJQoHA0MzMqTojnaF_FcyIbI0G5Ddvq

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Experimental Clay Workshop at Artist House Vartiosaari (6.-7. June)

Experimental Clay Workshop: Digging, shaping and firing from nature at Artist House, Vartiosaari island (FULLY BOOKED!)

Artist House in Vartiosaari island warmly welcomes you to the first workshop from the speculative nature series focused on CLAY. The workshop is hosted by  artists Monika Czyżyk, Elina Vainio and Eero Yli-Vakkuri who have formed an experimental clay group. The workshop has a DIY approach with a keenness to material experimentation and research. The goal of the workshop is to learn where and how to collect clay from its natural environments. How to clean and work with it. How to build your own ceramic kiln, how to fire it using local area resources as fuel and to enjoy the abundance of energy natural settings provide us. We will also prepare your own ash glazing, to complete a full geoartistic cycle.

Location: Taiteilijatalo, Artist House, from Reposalmentie 1 you can take the sun ferry.

Monday 6th of June. 10:00-18:00 (or as long as it takes). Building a kiln and preparing firewood.

Participants are welcomed with tea, coffee and spring water in the garden of the artist house. The group will share insight to Kurängen spring, a site where clay objects which will be burned in a kiln are prepared from. The group will divide based on their interest. The first half has the opportunity to join a sensual walk and dig or commence work on the kiln.

On the walk participants can either partake on a walk together to the heart of the island. The area with the richest biodiversity and swamp, the rich bacterial microflora allow more rare plant species to grow. From there we will respectfully collect clay. After the walk the clay will be cleared. Tools and stations will be provided. Participants can make their own small objects. The kiln building group will prepare mud-cement and lay bricks to form a functional kiln and prepare a lot of firewood for the next day’s burning session.

Tuesday 7th of June. 10:00 (or as long as it takes). Firing the Kiln We made and forging iron to pass time.

Participants will be welcomed with tea, coffee and spring water in the garden of the artist house. Participants can bring their own dry small objects ready for firing. Note that for the wood firing it is recommended to use more sandy clay. You are welcomed to experiment with glazing ceramics, arranging ceramics in kiln. As soon as the kiln is ready the firing of the ceramics begins. We will use three different techniques of increasing temperature and work on site by adding wood for 6+ hours.

You are welcomed to invent rituals by the fire with us. We can learn a bit about forging using scrap metal bits and rail track for an anvil. During the firing time we will eat a vegan lunch. It will be possible to visit gardens, and some sites in Vartiosaari island. At the end of the day after the ceramics have cooled a bit we will sneak a peak to them and leave them to cool overnight.

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The Non-Sitting-Stuff-Not-About-Horses-vol0  publication is based on a collective online study-journal which was written during the spring of 2021 by participants of the Horse & Built Environment course for Aalto University (UWAS-C0071). Group members met weekly at the Kaarelan ratsutalli stables, discussed horse & animal matters and observed horses while executing various stable chores. During a six week period the group succeeded in tiling a floor in the main stable, demolishing an old storage, planting grass and performing a plethora of other maintenance tasks. The group’s activity intertwined with the daily routines of the stable and was periodically interrupted with horse handling exercises, lectures and discussions.

The publication is co-authored. It is inspired by early 1990’s horse hobbyists zines (see Ihahaa mag. in useful links). Group members have used the online document for collecting observations and to discuss different inputs & articles. Texts could be written anonymously and authors were tasked to create guidelines for managing the document. The text is wild: It was presented as a Pasture where group members could wander seeking nourishment and as a Compost which shows how different inputs and shared moments have been processed and digested. The publication is a snapshot to the thinking which the groups activities and engagement stirred up. It is raw –in the best sense of the word– including creative writing, diary entries, article reviews and links to inspiring media.

We hope you will enjoy this decay.

Dormalen, Gaudé, Harouny, Jalasaho, Keil, Kiviaho, Kolehmainen, Pietari Kylmälä (lecturer, editor), Lecerf, Moberg, Nimetön Nyan Cat, Nurmi, Polkinghorne, Rosina, Visuri, Eero Yli-Vakkuri (lecturer, editor) & Zhao