SuomiWhat is written about the work
On my last Biennale day in Venice, I visited the Italian Pavilion. I had already visited that scaffolding-filled space two days before, but turned away from the door, tired as I was. Yesterday I ran into a Finnish colleague at the Fondazione Prada, in the fantastically crazy Christoph Büchel’s multi-floor work Monte di Pietà, and… Read more
Santa’s questions
hey how are you doing? are you happy? what makes you happy? what makes you smile? do you smile often? do you have what you need? do you have enough? which one you prefer, to give or to get? do you feel you are seen? do you feel you are heard? are you in control… Read more
About Pleasure, the performance, and pleasure
I thought about sex when Annika called me and asked whether I would be interested in joining Oblivia for their piece Pleasure. I like sex, but making something about that kind of pleasure on stage does not interest me. Obviously, Annika was not talking about anything like that, and eventually, I said yes. (It’s rare… Read more
By land
I avoid flying in Europe. I travel mostly by train. During the last year I’ve travelled once to Italy and twice to Germany, realising once again how long way it is from Finland to Central Europe. During the next six months I’m going to Sweden, Austria, Italy, and twice to Germany. Some trips I can… Read more
Business as usual?
Yesterday I saw Sun & Sea, the Lithuanian opera that was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale in 2019. It was warm in the big hall of the Cable Factory but it was only natural because we were watching a sandy beach. Natural? It was warm because of some sixty 2kW lamps in… Read more
On irreplaceability
Jussi got ill in the weekend, ten days before the premiere of the Water Concert. Right away, he said two names of possible substitutes. We don’t want to cancel the shows, do we? No! Jussi wrote: ”Everyone can be replaced. We, the original threesome, make always different versions, or what?” We found a good substitute.… Read more
On artivism
As an artist, I feel sometimes that my doings don’t have any significance. Can I go on making art when it would be more important to participate in the activities of the Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace for focusing attention to climate change. Can I go on making art when it would be more important to… Read more
Two performances
Two performances, the first I make as a spectator, the second as an artist. A popular actor parks his big, shining black Porsche on the street, gets out, dressed like people dress when they take their dog out on bad weather, and enters café. He buys a cardboard cup of coffee and exits. Picks a… Read more
On uncertainty. Indeed.
Yesterday I sketched a newsletter because I was about to travel to a festival in Gothenburg in early January, with the Firehead. I left the sketch to rest for a night. In the evening I got an email that the festival was cancelled and the next one will take place in January, 2023. I wrote:… Read more
Doing nothing
The late autumn and the whole winter I had a lot to do. In April, in the countryside, I realised that I was sitting on my rocking chair, watching the birch tree quivering in the wind. Doing nothing else. Being. I startled: could I get used to it? What about if I won’t feel like… Read more
