It’s a lovely sunny morning and I am working outside. I bought some colourful A4 card from the supermarket and started marking up grids, and cutting out letters for my ‘Follow the bear’ sign. Anna translated this into Finnish which reads ‘Seuraa karhua’. I wasn’t fully prepared for making a sign in the forest and I had to scavenge for something to stick the letters down. I managed to find a small amount of invisible tape and some blue tac. Anna has been working in the house on the computer researching and writing her proposal. Since being at the summer house we have spoken about our individual ways of working and how they compare. I am very structured generally starting my day writing, taking pictures and reflecting on ideas. I don’t like to over think what I’m doing too much as on the whole if I do the work isn’t very good. I guess this is why most artists I know have a number of ideas, projects on the go at once. I would rather compare my process of working to finding a rhythm and flow rather than a rigid structure. Anna saturates herself in reading, cooking, pottering around, making and doing in relation to the house. She tends to work towards fewer projects although they are larger in scale. Please follow this link to read Anna Puhakka’s blog:
http://believeinprocess.blogspot.com/
Anna had assumed that both our practices were similar when in fact they are very different. We haven’t managed to make any work together, although we did talk about making a music video. This will be quite challenging to do in one night after a few ciders. Both of us have immersed ourselves in our own individual work. This has made it difficult to make something together as when we are not working we like to relax in each others company. So far my text based sign is made and the bear-box-head is ready to go. I may use colourful bunting to wrap around my legs or simply wear black, holding the sign with one hand, pointing with the other wearing my bear-box on my head.
Woke up this morning with a swollen ankle my poor leg cant take the mosi bites. We decided to go and check out some second hand stores in Joensuu looking for random stuff that might inspire and some blue cloth for the The Evente stand. Last night instead of counting sheep I kept going over and over my performance script which is making me feel more prepared for Friday. I digress back to second hand shopping, there wasnt much in the first store and then we went to another which was oddly organised and displayed. I like how they have tried to make some effort with the display creating there own A4 poster of found logos, making the objects appear more authentic. In the Radley shop I am used to seeing cleanly displayed bags by design and colour, however this was a real mish mash approach. These are some of the random objects I bought:
International T-shirt
Glass banana
Polaroid case
Toy aeroplane
Ball type rubix cube
Button ring
Speak English tapes
I am fully loaded with ibuprofen and anti histemin tablets so feeling a little drowsy. Yesterday I managed to video the T.V cloth and on this occasion the weather was windy which created the desired effect. Ideally I would liked to have filmed this in widescreen however anna’s camera did not have this function. I am a little anoyed with myself as I should have brought my own equipment, although I wanted to travel light. If I want to turn myself into a human visual landmark I need to create a text based sign. I am just not feeling like it tonight and plan to wake up early in the morning to get this done as it is will be our last full day at the summer house.
Had a day off on saturday and visited a place called Koli. I imagined it to be a small town like Joensuu, although when we arrived it was very different. To get to the peak of Koli you have to climb some stairs or wait for the electric lift. Once we reach the top there is a hotel, musuem and tourist shops, in the winter it is a ski resort. The main attraction is the landscape a gigantic lake, there are a variety of walks around the forest which is a National Park. We take a short 3.5k walk and decide to take a detour down to the lake. A brisk walk turns into a steep decent and I wonder how we are going to get back up to the top. Eventually the lake comes into view through the trees and I soon realise that to get back we would have to climb back the way we came. A forty minute walk turns into a high impact climb. An hour and a half later we make it back. A few more stairs to the top and we get this amazing view. Not quite a hike but the closest I have ever done, but worth it.
We are due to leave on Wednesday and I still want to realise my last video of the T.V cloth and re-photograph the shoe cleaner with Anna’s high res camera. I intend to record the sound of the forest although this is difficult to do without the sound of the occassional passing car. To avoid this I will video early in the morning or late at night. Reflecting on my journey to the shops, getting lost on my way back I have been considering dressing myself up as a visual landmark. In performance wardrobe I would place myself at the fork in the road were I made the wrong turn. Could this remain a drawing? If I have the time I would like to actually do it. Miss Evente performs on Friday night so I need to re-hearse my script and dodgy dance routine. I am starting to get excited and a little nervous about my upcoming performance.
Finally the sun has made a come back and I get the video footage I want. It is a cloudy day although this has added to the mystery of what is behind the blind. The sun gently fades in and out creating an abstract image which on this occasion is not recognisable as leaves and branches. On full brightness the blind becomes smouldering embers or a burning piece of paper. Intermittently the movement is disrupted by the still image as the light fades. Sitting outside drinking my tea I hear the rustle of the leaves and life buzzing around me. I would like to record the sound of the forest and have this playing alongside the video of the domestic blind. I feel I am observing and recording life animations. This has come up in my work before the desire to use what is already in the world as material and a fascination with the way things move through space. The T.V and the domestic blind videos, are they a poetic, playful take on the way we consume images in our homes? It felt really good to have got the footage on DV tape which made me feel re-energized for the day ahead. I did some chores around the house such as washing up outside on the veranda, collecting wood, and drawing water from the well. I had a walk to the nearest shop which is around two miles up on the main road. It’s funny when you are not sure as to were you are going the journey seems longer. I eventually find the store and on the way back I make a wrong turn not recognising any familiar visual land marks. I turn back and realise were I went wrong. At a fork in the road my natural instinct was to veer left. However in Finland people drive on the right which eventually lead me back to the house.
Just received good news, my cardboard cut-out has arrived at Gallery Jangva!
Yesterday Anna did the washing up outside and left the plates on a long cotton cloth to dry. The cloth is fringed with red crocheted lace and embroidered with the initials T.V. It wasn’t until I put the plates away and hung the cloth out to dry that I made the association of T.V with television. I firstly photographed the hanging cloth and then straightened it to look more like a television, rectangular shape. I left a strip at the bottom revealing the grass behind. I recorded this on video using an upside down bucket as a tripod. I used Anna’s high res digital camera which is quite old although takes brilliant pictures that picks up the delicate detail of the textured white cotton. I would like to video the cloth again on a windier day and placed in different positions to make this simple piece more animated. However I like the minimal action in the video and how this parody’s the limited mental and physical action of watching TV. I wonder am I longing for T.V? Yet again my work is waiting on weather permitting with the day starting overcast and rainy. The weather is teaching me to wait and not force the work. When the time is right the work will come. As the rain falls outside I am warm and toasty inside the house with the fire crackling and burning away. I simply have to keep the fire going, adding logs one at a time. The stove quickly heats up the water which I used to have a wash in the sauna after my run. It’s amazing how little water is needed compared to the amount used by a shower. Anna’s cousin and partner arrive later today, they will be staying in the other house until Sunday. I still haven’t heard if my cardboard cut-out has arrived in Helsinki, I think I may have to chase this up as it has been a week since I sent it from the UK.
