27.10.2021

Performance club Domestic

Welcome to the Domestic performance evening in Hugo event space on Wednesday the 27th of October from 7 pm to 9 pm. Event is free of charge.

Kunsthalle Seinäjoki invited two artists from the Varikko Gallery & Artists’ Studios, Aeon Lux and Alan Bulfin, to curate the performance evening at Kalevan Navetta. The club is bringing domesticity to Hugo event space.

The performances are about domesticity, household chores and household traditions. Prior to the event, artist-led workshops on the same topic will be held at Varikko. Workshops are taking a deeper look into the biodegradable materials at home that artists are using in their art practice and also as domestic products. Open workshop day at Varikko will be held on the 27th of October at 4-6pm.

Workshops are running at the same time for 2 hours.

Alan Bulfin: Scopy-eco leather workshop. Scoby-leather is made with dried scoby that has been grown in a wide glass jar. Adding oil makes it flexible and water repellent. Bulfin will run a workshop to share the method, how to grow scoby-leather to replace your leather products at home.

Aeon Lux & Jukka Nokua: Soap making workshop. Workshop about soap making from household cooking ingredients.

Nina Keltamäki: eco-paper workshop. Workshop about hand made paper from household waste.

Antti Ahonen:The Association for Experimental Electronics, KOELSE, builds art from abandoned home electronics.
The background of KOELSE has been experimental sound art but during the years, they have ended up researching the usage of abnormal devices.They run the Paranormal Museum of Technology -project, which is using unusual technical devices and creating interpretations from this electronic waste. In the workshop, you will get to know some of these equipments together.

 

 

Invited artists are Tomasz Szrama, Salla Valle and Tiia-Mari Aalto.

 

Tomasz Szrama
(b. 1970 in Poland) graduated in 1998 from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland. Currently he lives in Helsinki, Finland. Szrama shifts between multiple disciplines, including photography, video and other time-based works. Regardless of the medium, a dominant thread, common in his work is the use of his own body and methods of performance art, which he practices since 1995. Characteristic feature of his work is the use of spectators, active participation of the audience and improvisation. Such a strategy embeds his presentations into the tradition of understanding performance art as a process art, where the very moment of creation is essential. His work touches on themes of travel, trust in interpersonal relationships, and the ever present potential for personal failure.

Szrama has been regularly performing internationally in various events and festivals in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America. Further, over the past 15 years, he has been an active performance art event organiser. Between 2005 and 2013 he co-organised with Willem Wilhelmus Art Contact and New Art Contact, a series of performance art events that took place in various locations in Helsinki. In 2011 he co-organised Fake Finn Festival of Experimental Art, that took over HIAP Gallery Augusta for three days, showcasing the work of 21 artists. In 2013 Szrama co-organised Uprooted Fake Nations Festival, a three-day event that presented 16 international and local artists at HIAP Gallery Augusta. Further, he, together with performance artist Liina Kuittinen, organised a series of events titled Tonight in 2014–2015. In 2016 he curated the 18th edition of the International Art Festival Interakcje in Poland. Szrama is a working grant recipient from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland for the year 2016 as well as the years 2018–2020 and from the Kone Foundation for 2017.

Tomasz Szrama, Warrior at Home, 2020 photo by Maria Kuusniemi-Szrama

 

Salla Valle (b. 1990) is Helsinki based performance and visual artist. She has performed frequently in festivals and events in Finland and abroad. Valle has also organized performance art events (e.g. Performance Art Now! with Timo Viialainen) and taught performance art. In 2021 She started her MA studies at The Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki in the department of time and space. Valle’s approach is rather minimalistic. The principal elements she uses are duration, space and body as well as material created with daily life objects, simple technical equipment, sound and movement. Valle likes to use found material and work responsively with the location and situation where she performs. The topics Valle is interested in are related with durations, materiality and socio-economic structures.

Salla Valle, Liquids and forms, 2020. photo by Liina Aalto-Setälä

Tiia-Mari Aalto is a visual artist who lives and works in Tampere. In her performances, Aalto combines stage poetry, visual art-based performance, guided group exercises, theater and humor. Performances are often based on Aalto’s personal experiences. Her other projects include the Pre-Failed (esiepäonnistujat) podcast with cultural producer Heidi Yli-Yrjänäinen and Tiia and Reetta’s Friday Bar social media project with visual artist Reetta Partanen. In addition, she is performing in the Horonkäristys duo together with performance artist Maire Karuvuori.

“Yeah, I have done a lot of performances related to household chores – for example, a pretty big job was when I was washing with my workmate once the car bridges in the center of Pori! But soon I’m getting married and this is what my performance will be all about. See you then!” Tiia-Mari tweets.

Tiia-Mari Aalto photo by Minja Kaukoniemi

Event photo: Oat Camouflage by Tomasz Szrama, 2019