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Month: September 2011

TO HAVE / TO OWN

Published 22/09/2011 by Platform

During 2011 Platform has chosen to work with the theme To have / To own; both because it fits well as a theme for a late 10th (11th!) anniversary, and as a reaction to the current cultural situation where art as well as other cultural fields have gone through big social, cultural, economic and ecologic changes. The selection of the theme is based on the assumption that different artists’ and individuals’ reactions on, and understandings of, “to have” and “to own” arouses questions and generates discussion on cultural heritage, nomadic patterns, communication, independence and sustainability.

Symposium “TO HAVE / TO OWN”, 23rd–25th September 2011, Vaasa City Hall, Chamber Music Room, Vaasa, Finland.

The symposium allows for discussion and collaboration on issues related to three given topics; activism and democracy in contemporary art, artist identity and localness in a global context, and dealing with different forms of collectives and the engagement of the community.

Friday September 23rd
15-15.30 Ulrika Ferm (FIN/DE), artist, curator, Berlin; Introduction
15.30-16.15 Rolf Büchi (CH/GB), writer, London; Activating Democracy.
www.iri-europe.org/en/publications/guidebooks
www.activatingdemocracy.com
16.15-17 Jaana Kokko(FIN), artist, Helsinki, Thoughts on anarchism
www.jaanakokko.com
30 min. break
17.30-18.15 Shelly Silver (USA), artist, New York; Response – Responsibility.
www.shellysilver.com
18.15-19 Per Huttner (SE), artist; Can art change the world?
www.perhuttner.com
19-20 attending opening City Art Hall, Vaasa
20- “Vaasa in Luck”- closing ceremony at the Platform studio
http://luck.random-people.net
Saturday September 24th
11-11.45 Mika Hannula (FIN/DE), writer and curator, Berlin; Modernity Retired – Outline of a Project.
11.45-12.30 Esther Pilkington (GB), artist and curator, Wales; Collaborations – The Things We Do Together.
http://geheimagentur.net
http://random-people.net
90 mins for lunch
14.00 – 14.45 Nina Czegledy (HU), artist, curator and writer; Paradigm Shifts in Contemporary Media Art  Practice.
www.ninaczegledy.net
14.45-15.30 Kennedy Browne (IE), collaborative practice of Gareth Kennedy and Sarah Browne, Ireland; How Capital Moves.
www.kennedybrowne.com
coffee 30 mins
16.00-16.45 Helga Steppan (SE), artist; “Lost and Found” site-specific project.
www.helgasteppan.com
Sunday September 25th
11-11.45 Stine Hebert (DK), acting director, BAC, Visby; Institutionalization of the Self-Organised.
11.45-12.30 Maureen Connor (USA), artist, New York; How to be an Artist in Residence for the US Government – a project of the Institute for Wishful Thinking.
www.theiwt.com
30 min break
13-13.45 Sophie Hope, practitioner, London; Censorship, compromise and cancellation? The culture of commissioning socially engaged art in the UK.
www.welcomebb.org.uk
13.45-14.30 Minna Heikinaho (FIN), artist, Helsinki. Experiences in the urban space – the incompleteness of community art. www.saasanoa.com

 

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Forgo

Published 21/09/2011 by Platform

The project “Forgo” focuses on people who, for one reason or another, have chosen to or been forced to forgo something.

The project is a collaboration between artists Brynhild Bye (NO), current artist-in-residence at Platform and Maria Nordbäck (FI). Together they will arrange several sewing and embroidery workshops in cooperation with local women’s groups in Vaasa, Finland and Trondheim, Norway. The collaboration will lead to two exhibition works; a tapestry of embroideries assembled into one blanket and a documentary photographic work of selected individuals.

The project is based on social engagement and art’s ability to help in identifying opinions and attitudes. The work will be exhibited in the exhibition “To have – To own” at KUNTSI Museum of Modern Art in Vaasa December 2011.

The first open sewing circle will start monday 12.09.2011 at 7 pm at Platform Studio, Korsholmsesplanaden 6–8, Kasern 14

We are also looking for individuals or already existing sewing circles to participate in our project.

If you are Interested contact us. Send an email to: maria.nordback@netikka.fi

More information on www.brynhildbye.no/english

Brynhild&Maria

 

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Vaasa in Luck

Published 14/09/2011 by Platform

Vaasa in Luck is a project by Esther Pilkington (GB/AT/DE), current artist-in-residence at Platform, which will be conducted during her stay in Vaasa; Esther has a piece of gold, which she offers to trade for something of lesser value. The object she gets in return she will again offer for exchange, and again, and again – until she is left with nothing. If you have anything at home that you do not need or want anymore – now is the time to give it away for something you might need or want. If you swap objects with Esther, you can only win!

Vaasa in Luck is a meditation on a well-known fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, entitled “Hans im Glück” (Hans in Luck). In this fairy tale, Hans, after 7 years of servitude, is set free by his master and rewarded with “a piece of gold as big as his head”. On his journey home, Hans first trades the piece of gold for a horse, then the horse for a cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, the goose for a grindstone that eventually falls into a well. Left with nothing, Hans is happy: “No one under the sun is as fortunate as I am”.

The exchanges of objects will create encounters and while, on a material level, Esther will aim to loose, what will be gained from the exchanges is an archive of stories attached to the traded objects. The objects, exchanges and stories will be documented on-line, as well as in a lecture performance that marks the end of the project – it is there that Esther will give away the final object in her possession.

The project will open with a short lecture performance on 27.8.2011, 7:30 pm, at Platform’s studio, Korsholmsesplanaden 6-8, Kasernen 14. After this, until 23.9.2011, Esther will be at the studio Wed-Sun from 4pm to 7pm, in order to exchange objects. Appointments can also be made outside these times. More information on the project and on the objects will be made available on-line at luck.random-people.net. You can contact Esther on luck@random-people.net for further questions, comments and, most importantly, for suggestions about what you would like to trade with her.

 

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