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20211008

Future is Feudal? (2021) Kaino Wennerstrand. An expose of creative precariat life in Finland and a strong call to get organized! Their analysis of the academisation of arts feels accurate. By plotting events which lead to the academization of the engineering profession, we can identify that the elitism which universities advocate is fuelled by a “pursuit of a higher class status”. Many are into arts and academia to escape the burdens of their class. Following this, I agree that artists don’t categorically benefit from higher education. I think academic conventions can even be disturbance if the practitioner does not have broader academic interests (meaning that they want to be employed by universities teaching something else then art). Art offers more radical modes of thought and organization then academic practices. Hence, it is more equipped for leading change and yet… Almost all my leftists traits stem from art education in universities. #☭

The Finnish art scene at large has betrayed its working-class sympathies, to which they keenly pay lip service, and opted for upward mobility instead of class solidarity. The academisation of art that has taken art education and discourse by storm during the last twenty years has been a death blow to artists’ working class sympathies.

Although not the point of the text, I’m digging the portrayal of audio (or any performance related) technicians as service providers, who are tasked to elevate the habitus of their clients and to maintain the flow of events. Technicians preserve status quo. I’m reminded of all the times I’ve operated a mixer at events: Ultimately as a technician I’m responsible for a master fader. I serve as a media-police-officer, a security element which adds to the professionalism of the occation. Technicians make spaces safe. The power of the technician was also addressed in a recent performance by Timo Viialainen. For me a key element of the In the What did you do as a child when the thunder cut the power? (2021) performance, was a gradual process of cutting the main power of the performance venue.

A designer sells proof. The client doesn’t have to worry whether their publication looks amateurish, since a graphic designer has selected the font, or if their launch event’s atmosphere is dodgy, because a sound designer has curated the playlist. Another thing we trade in is client safety. Being protected from being deemed uncool or unprofessional also includes a kind of class guarantee.

Most of the artists I know and have worked with in Finland arrive from lower working class backgrounds and have survived (or are surviving) poverty. I share Wennerstrands optimisms and belief that trade unions are our best assets for developing egalitarian societies. I strongly believe that trade-unions have the responsibility for reaching out and aligning to the needs of the precariat labourforce. Like Wennerstrand I’ve only paid union fees and due to short term contracts, I’ve never received any direct benefits from my involvement. My membership in the Trade Union for Theatre and Media Finland, Teme is a performance of onside solidarity. I know and respect the work unions do in advocacy and policy making but their concerns feel remote.

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20210927

An entertaining talk by Jaron Lanier How the Internet Failed and How to Recreate It (2018). Not digging the naturalist vs. political human rhetorical device but forgiving it thanks to an acute description of addictions in social media. They are asking journalist to quit social media, to step out of the loop of addictions in order to engage in candid discussions about big tech and how they seek to alter behaviour. Also digging the analysis that we are not witnessing an emergence of far right political power, we are witnessing the emergence of cranky old people who are fuelled by social media engagement algorithms (which reward rapid responses that biased comments provoke). Lanier argues that voters align with cranky political leaders because they feel humane and are provoked, mortal and moody just like the rest of us. The behaviouralism/algorithm link feels like an interesting trail to follow. Inspirational oversimplification: Algorithms impose a mechanical world-view. #ॐ

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20210925

When sourcing parts for a RYO Paths module, I discovered that the Fairchild FJN3303R NPN Transistor is no longer manufactured. Searches on Octapart indicate that some companies still have the transistor in stock but they unfortunately only sell the chip in big batches. A company called Rochester Electronics would only sell me 12940 units and AVnet 16026. Both companies seem to supply electronic components for the manufacturing industry. If someone were to build over 5000 Paths this would make sense (the module requires three transistors). Modular grid indicates that around 700 users have the module already, so I imagine the market is saturated by now. The module seems to be from 2015 and there are dozens with similar functionality available. Perhaps 5000 sequential switches could be used to build a computer of sorts.

There are some potential substitutes for the transistor but I’m not skilled enough yet to confirm if the specs are a match. So I turned to ebay, aliexpress and other dodgy vendors. Some claim to be selling the same transistor but the price of a single unit is over 10€. It is also impossible to confirm that the chip is the right one.

Luckily the Modwiggler forum has a DIY Trade Thread [ Parts, PCBs, Panels ] where users announce stuff they are looking to trade with others. I found two entries both from 6-7 years ago from users indicating that they had some transistors to spare. I contacted one, got no reply, contacted the other and got a reply, and then the first contacted me too. Now I’m expecting to get 20 transistors in the mail! In a brief exchange we agreed that I’ll commit to distributing the extra units for builders/hobbyist from Helsinki. I got the units for free and I’m committed to distributing them further asking nothing in return.

It turns out electronics as a hobby is about supply chains, archivist practices and social commitment. Turns out hardware is about care. The module is interconnected by design and its manufacturing depends on the good will of other builders. For me the rarity of the transistor is now a facevalue of the module. It makes me a part of the Fairchild FJN3303R NPN supply chain, a member of the rare transistor-gild!

In the process I also learned of the phases of the ljunggrenaudio/RYO eurorack manufacturer. A few years back (between 2016-19) they gave up on business due to health concerns and disappeared.  As their website ljunggrenaudio.com went down and got squatted, the schematics, technical notes, build manuals and patch notes were lost. In recent years the hobbyist community and their past collaborators have sourced the lost documents. They are currently housed on modwiggler and other sites. With out the documentation servicing and building the modules would have been difficult.

The short online-amnesia caused by lost documentations, the rarity of the transistors and the fate of ljunggrenaudio/RYO make the module build process more then a mere assembly (which most DIY kits are). It feels almost like a media archaeological excavation. I would like to learn more about the transistor thou and other things it is used for. I’ll distribute the Fairchild chips I was handed via Ore.e Refineries. I’m amazed by the realization that electronic components, chips and the logics, behaviour and functionality they poses are so finite. Already noted this when I started electronics as a hobby and it feel great to return to this with the Ore.e Ref. Fairchild supply initiative.

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20210916

We wrote an investigative article Our efforts to show solidarity for Palestine are tested at Kiasma, with Pietari Kylmälä for No Niin. The text was edited by Elham Rahmati & Vidha Saumya, who did a great job. With help from the kind people of the Boycott Zabludowicz campaign we were able to gain an update to the affairs of Chaim “Poju” Zabludowicz, a business person who funds an influential pro-Israeli lobbying organisation (BICOM), and who has a long record of investments in companies which work for the security and military forces of the State of Israel.

As a senior member of the Kiasma Support Foundation, Zabludowicz is deeply involved with the museum. In our view, their track record as an investor makes their affiliation with the public institution problematic. Kiasma should ensure that museum beneficiaries are not involved in businesses which benefit from military conflicts such as the current apartheid policies implemented by the State of Israel. We asked museum director Leevi Haapala for a response to the troubling details our investigation touched. Their response is available online.

Haapala’s response depicts a disconnection between politics and rhetorics. It’s disheartening to read how they deploy the museum’s newly announced safer space policy as a rhetorical device to slither away from responding to the concerns we’ve brought forth. They even spent a paragraph celebrating an artist whose artwork Zabludowicz’s involvement has secured into their collection.

In Haapala’s portrayal, as the director of the museum they’re also leading the operations of the support foundation. Paradoxically, while asserting that they are in control, Haapala also insists that since the museum is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the organisation cannot take a public stand in humanitarian concerns. This means that in their leadership the programming of the museums is meant to represent political struggles but not to engage with political reality.

The response depicts Kiasma open and willing to receive funds from anyone. It seems there are no standards, no qualifications – as long as you bring in money and love art, the museum’s happy to serve you. This stance is common for private museums. But Kiasma is not a private museum. It is funded by the state; we need it to do better.

The museum expects its visitors to follow their safer space policy but does not expect the same from their financial beneficiaries.

Kiasma is not a “safe space” if it continues to harbour businesspeople who are investing in companies which Amnesty International is investigating for human right violations. I will not participate in events in the museum until they set forth guidelines which ensure that their beneficiaries are not involved in business actions which violate international law and human rights.

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20210913

“Feed me, so that I may feed the horses”. My Kone Foundation application in a nutshell. The text is in Finnish and available trough this link. I think this is the last time I’ll apply funding for the Trans-Horse initiative in a research framework. This marks the fifth year I’m approaching art and research funders in Finland with the same core idea. The idea is simple: To ask a horse what we should do next. If this application returns as a dud, I have to move on before the zombie-proposal consumes me. I will also have to seriously reconsider if I can continue in the PhD program at Aalto. The university has been generous by offering a few teaching gigs and I’ve also inspected two master’s thesis but there isn’t enough paid academic work to sustain active participation and involvement with the faculty. I don’t have the means to commit. The odd-jobs and gigs I manage to secure require dedication which make reading and writing difficult. If the Kone and Finnish Cultural Foundation applications fail, I’ll try to source money for a small independent publication which will summarize the work I’ve done teaching art with-and-in relation to horses.  I don’t believe not having a degree is a hindrance for the work I do and I don’t think it has a severe impact on my opportunities to be employed by universities because my asset lie in engagement rather then research.