Kuvankevät

First of all, i want to apologize to you, my loyal readers. It's been over a month since i last wrote here. I have been seriously neglecting my duties. There is a reason for this. I'm not the sort of a man who likes to complain about the difficulties of making art. But this time it's been somewhat of a struggle. The problem is that i've been a little uncertain about the project from the beginning. I've felt that i'm repeating some old and dated working methods and i'm not pushing myself enough to renew my practice so that working would have that exciting and empowering feel to it. For that reason i tried to make everything in the production as simple as possible. I collected a group of friends with who i semi-improviced the main scene, i decided not to hire a film crew, i filmed the piece at the school in the same location where it's installed in now. I did hold on to the special effects because they had to be done professionally. And it worked out. They look good. But in the midst of self doubt i pushed aside the idea of writing this blog.

Nevertheless, the piece is done and on display at the spring show. I did realize during the edit that there is actually something interesting in the whole thing. The work does bring up the issues that i've been dealing with but in an open and obscure manner. Of course, like in all of my works, it can be read very literally when it might seem a bit banal but that's ok as well. I'm happy about the installation also. The 3D effect actually works which i was kind of surprised about. The concept of two images molding into one is essential in the work so i'm relieved.

Anyway, i try to be more active in the blog during the show. I think there are still some issues to be discussed content-vice. The food part of this blog is a little slim now since i've been eating kind of unhealthy lately because of all the work. I was also sick one weekend. One of the great things about spring is that it's the time of the asparagus. We did manage to make them once last week. Asparagus with hollandaise sauce and pike-perch (kuha). That was exquisite.

Tonight it's the opening!

Let me explain you the basic concept of the piece i'm doing for the spring show. It's going to be a video installation consisting of two projection screens opposite to each other and a small mirror display system in between them. The material on the screens is stereographically recorded with two synchronized cameras, imitating the humans binocular vision. The other screen represents the left eye, the other the right one. Through the mirror display on the middle the two videos on the screens are merged into one three-dimensional moving image. This is kind of a spatial reconstruction of the Wheatstone's Stereoscope: the 19th century 3D display apparatus (of which i posted a picture of in my previous blog entry). The material on the video builds up from two parts and a voice over. It starts from a montage of images about the Vainö Aaltonen's nude statues from the Finnish Parliament House. On top of that parts from the Francis Bacon's Of Simulation and Dissimulation text is being read. Then the image turns into a small conference room where a person is rehearsing a speech or a public statement with his group of staff. Then the person walks from the conference room to a lobby where he is giving the statement for a TV camera. The funny thing in the whole piece is the interruptions in the stereographic flow. Since the 3D image consists of two separate views it is possible to make differences between those two views that disturbs the 3D experience. In this installation the viewer is able to see the variations either in the space through the two projection screens or as a "contaminated" 3D image through the mirror display. The variations between the two images in this case are going to be radical over exaggerated differences in the persons (the guy giving the speech) action. For example, in the other image the person whispers something in his assistants ear, in the other one he bites the ear of. Or, in the other image the person starts to talk to the microphone, in the other one he throws up corrosive liquid on top of it and the microphone starts to melt. All this happens simultaneously in the two screens.

All this seems a little complicated when explained like this but i try to keep it as simple as possible. I feel somewhat stupid for not starting the preparations for this project already last year. But i had a busy autumn and in some point i was under the impression that it could be possible for me to take part to the spring show next year. Well, due to the tightened regulations from the school we are supposed to go through the final show in the appointed time (which in my case means the spring of the second year of the studies a.k.a now). This brings me to a situation where i have to make decisions quite fast and simplify the production a bit. This necessarily doesn't have to be a problem. I like working fast, going with the gut feeling, improvising during the shoot. Nonetheless, some things have to be carefully planned and organized. Otherwise it's all going to turn into a disoriented pile of crap. My main concern (apart from the whole subject matter or the treating of it) lies in the special effects and the installation.

Luckily, there's always food. Eating and drinking consoles me. Last week we went for a dinner to Korea House after an opening. In 2009 i did a residency in Seoul and i was left with a craving for korean food. It's funny 'cause at first it didn't seem so special. But it's all about the simple but distinctive flavors and the whole eating routine of multiple dishes, eating together with others, spending a lot of time doing that. We had a seafood omelette, spicy pork stew and bulgogi together with beers and a bottle of soju. Great fun!

Last Saturday me and my partner Miina were making dinner with our friend Diego. It was a regular food fest. We cooked and ate for 12 hours. First Diego made a carpaccio with prosciutto ham, manchego cheese and fresh organic arugula which actually became more like a small tapas plate when added some beautiful white beans with herbs and garlic and an onion-spinach omelette. After that Miina prepared a pureed soup from this thing that we realized is called Jerusalem artichoke in english (siis maa-artisokka). After a quick google browse i noticed that it doesn't have anything to do with either Jerusalem or artichoke, but i guess that's a different story. Anyway, the soup again was delicious, with just a little raw garlic and cream added in the end. For the main course i cooked lamb leg braised for a long long time in tomato sauce with pureed celery, onion, garlic and thyme. That came out pretty good. The meat was tenderly overcooked, you could go through it with a fork - like it should be. For the dessert we had mascarpone cream flavored with vanilla and brandy topped with raspberries á la Miina.

Through our discussion and the whole situation in general we realized that the connection between art and cooking is not in creating stuff. What is important in art is the sharing of an experience, the act of caring for your surroundings and the concept of giving something meaningful for another. Also, preparing a four course meal just for yourself would be somewhat absurd. You need the social context.

In the end of the evening i was explaining what i'm trying to do for the spring show: a spatial reconstruction of the Wheatstone stereoscope, stereoscopic video projections, voice over text of Francis Bacon's Of Simulation and Dissimulation essay, images of the statues in the Parliament House, a scene of a guy rehearsing a speech with his staff, old school in-camera special effects. I understood that i still have some important things to figure out. What is the work actually dealing with? The concept of seeing, representational and simulative nature of truth, the "fascism" in contemporary political system, mechanisms of power… For me it's usually quite hard to pin-point what is the main topic of an artwork. Under the surface of things there is always a multitude of issues. Of course, it's up to you, my dear reader/viewer, to decide what is relevant.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MDFan__QXg&feature=related