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20161128

Visited Hybrid Matter symposium at TeaK last Thursday. Jennifer Gabrys gave a talk concerning animals as sensors. She referenced projects that had embedded animals with sensory technologies to collect data on weather conditions, migration routes etc. The approach is of interest for our Trans-Horse project. We’ve investigated the possibility to set the horse’s views and environmental requirements as a premise of urban planning in hopes of crafting more environmentally engaged and versatile environments. Gabrys approach was critical and she argued the majority of animal aided data is used to confirm human perceptions. She is currently working in a project called citizensense.net. Her talk gave me the idea to use the horse care-journals of the Mounted police of Helsinki as data to study city development!

Steen Rasmussen gave an interesting talk about BINC economics (bio-, info-, nano- and cogno.). His talk was a useful reminder of the historical importance of the middle class: The empowered, wealthy and democratic middle class of the last century was a unique historical glitch and automation of labor is it’s biggest threat. He was optimistic about 3d printing and other “new” manufacturing technologies and urged the audience to engage with new technologies open mindedly. Unfortunately many new technologies categorically renunciate agency of the makers. This renunciation is embedded in modern worldviews – Factories and 3d printers are equally bad! There are no new technologies.. New tools fuel the same old colonization. After the symposiums I came across the concept of Critical Making which I’ll have to study more. Critical Making seems to fit many Ore.e Refineries projects neatly.

On Friday I joined a dinner organized by the Union for Rural Culture and Education. The dinner completed my involvement with the Grey Cube Gallery project. I was seated next to Päivi and sound artist Petri Kuljuntausta. Kuljuntausta was kind enough to share field recording techniques and motivated me to continue with sonic experimentations. We talked about the Ihme audio-guide project I completed last spring and he had some ideas on whom to contact concerning the future of the project. I had to leave the dinner early as I rushed to Turku. On the buss I read some of Kuljuntaustas texts on sound art. He has used a KaossPad in his live setup.

In Turku I met with Jesse and we made 232 separate machine/tool sounds and two binaural recording at his smithy (The binaural equipment is on loan from Circus Maximus). The recording went as planned and we worked on site for eight hours. The majority of the sounds are high pitched and we’ll possibly make additional recordings next year. Jesse had the idea of fitting the smithys floor with piezo microphones, so that we could hear the bottom end sounds. We’ll likely call this sample-pack “Sound of Work: Blacksmith vol.1”. I’ll demo the sounds for Jesse next weekend.

I’m meeting students from the Kankaanpää Art School online this week to discuss their upcoming graduate exhibition and art projects. Also met with Antoine Pickels concerning possible Trans-Horse engagements next year.

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20161121

Right-wing politicians in Helsinki are planning to build a new museum. They want to give it to a USA foundation which is planning to use the space to present artworks a millionaire called Peggy collected during her travels. They also want to show pieces which USA millionaires have brought to for taxation benefits. There is also plan to present “local-art”, which sounds like a new genre in the making. They want to call the space Guggenheim Helsinki. It’s a Guantanamo for art. Artworks (and dead artists) will be tortured as evidence of the west supremacy over aesthetics and styles. It is made to block Mental-Iskander Missiles and to serve as a Pokemon Go stop. 

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20161120

Visited “my shapes, your words, their grey” by Philipp Gehmacher for Baltic Circle festival. He danced and talked. The movements were inspirational, he worked to convert stutter and hesitation into dance – But the movements were not introverted as some gestures echoed poses that are familiar from street protests. The lecture he gave while dancing was an uninspiring illustration of the theory of performativity and new materialism. He was plowing space for the agency of objects and working to present himself as a material being. His claim was that when objects and humans meet in the realm of art, they lose their contrast and become “grey”. He tried to align himself with the materials but the process felt forceful – The objects were only supporting his storyline. The piece came off as a ballad for the agency the artist has lost. 

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20161116

​’Decolonization is not a Metaphor’: Artists space steps out of analysis and into action. by Angela Brown. The article links gentrification, colonisation and specific modes of artistic creativity. Stuart Hall claimed that corporations present modern art in their public lobbies and office spaces as evidence that they have conquested the mind. Corporations see modern art as a quantization of the subconscious and human creativity. Brown’s text shows that artists benefitting from the production and exchange of corporation-pleasing-aesthetics are also guilty! She also discusses artworks as tools (they don’t represent, they are yielded), which is a familiar approach. 

How To / Why Make Internet Art educational series by Nick Briz. Mostly familiar stuff but made in a upbeat tempo and fun to watch.