Month: June 2023

The thought that fashion applies to city planning amuses me. I’ve never thought that way about the streets. I walk them everyday getting here and there, thinking if they are busy, sunny, pleasant, quiet, etc. but it never occurred to me that some streets are more in vogue than others. Apparently boulevards are urban landscape artefacts. Doesn’t feel that way in Vaasa though, I keep spotting these green corridors all over the city. I like them. When I cross the street and get on one of those neat paths in between the regimented trees, it makes me think that I have been transported to a strange island, floating in some separate realm with its own time. I notice how my pace slows down and my body relaxes. Feels like I am invisible. In a good way.

Ieva Grigelionyte, a current artist in residence at Platform, invites you to a conceptual tasting session. Over a couple of weeks in Vaasa, she has developed a site-specific menu that draws attention to the wide streets and the tree-lined pedestrian islands on them. Carefully curated bites will reflect on the fragments of the urban landscape, something we encounter everyday and yet rarely notice. Like a moment spent waiting for a traffic light to turn green or a generous tree canopy providing you shade on a sunny summer day. 

Ieva is Scotland-based artist who often works with the idea of edible landscapes. In her practice she uses a wide range of methods and techniques from foraging, ice cream making, fermenting, baking, sculpting, set designing and a few more.

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ODD ONE OUT 2024

It is with great pleasure that we announce the Open Call for ODD ONE OUT Art Residencies, hosted by Platform in 2024.

 We understand that as artists, there is often that one dream project—your creative magnum opus—that has remained elusive, trapped within the confines of the artistic career. 

The ODD ONE OUT Art Residency, scheduled for 2024, has been crafted to bring this long-awaited dream project to life. It is an invitation to break free from convention and embrace the unconventional, allowing your artistic vision to flourish and transcend previously uncharted territories.

This is the opportunity where you don’t have to shape your practice based on the request of a gallery, funding, or theme. This is the moment to express your true artistic vision. Let the ODD ONE OUT!

We can’t wait to help you make it come alive!

Platform is an art organization based in Vasa, a relatively peripheral Finnish town. We run an art space and a residency to offer live experiences of different perspectives in a location where this would otherwise be limited. 

We usually work with an annual theme that we also encourage our guest artists to examine. For 2023 residencies we asked the artist to reflect on the artist’s role, the practice of the artist and the relevance of art work/art works. So far the question has led to a lot of interesting discussions and we can confirm our suspicion: art and working with art is still relevant in today’s society. 

We have now established the significance of art; however, for the upcoming 2024 residency, our intention is to delve deeper. Through the implementation of the Odd one Out residency, we want to provide artists with the opportunity to explore and discover the aspects that hold relevance to their individual artistry, thereby fostering a sense of relevance within the surrounding environment. By participating in the Odd one Out residency, we offer dedicated time for artists to realize their visionary projects, which hold relevance either to their personal artistic journey or to the progression of their artistic pursuits. 

Jenni: “ I believe this is a great opportunity for the artist to express themselves. As artists we are in some range shaped by the influence of galleries, fundings or even surrounding communities. This is your opportunity to let out your artistic madness and I can’t wait to see it!”

Johan: “The best thing with hosting a residency is that I get to walk around with the artists and hear their thoughts. Often these thoughts and ideas are put together like a big clay blob. I think it is the result of a great ability to see patterns and the gig situation that many artists end up living in.

I don’t want Platform’s residency to be another lump that artists need to smack on the blob. I’d rather want them to use the time to sculpt, cut and squeeze in peace.”

We offer

 Accommodation, travel expenses (one return trip, cheapest possible) and a working grant (based on per diem, approx. 300 € per week). We also offer a small production budget of 1000 €, which the artist may reimburse by presenting original receipts of purchases, specifically connected to the project produced during the residency. The apartment is located near the city center in Vaasa. There is a bike, a set of tools and equipment available for the artist. There is wireless broadband access in the apartment. Platform does not at the moment house a studio, however a project space in the city center is available. The planned projects have to take this into account, space can be rented or borrowed if needed for the realization of the project and has to be negotiated in advance. The artist is given a contact person who is in charge of necessary arrangements, if any additional assistance is needed it has to be agreed upon well in advance.

We ask the artist to realize a project, which can be presented either during the residency or at a later stage. The artist is expected to give a public talk, performance or workshop about his/her/their work or an introduction to themselves at the beginning of the residency. We expect the artist to be able to communicate in English, Swedish or Finnish. We require the artist to spend at least 80% of the residency’s duration in Vaasa and the working grant is proportional to days spent in Vaasa. The artists are required to submit documentation of the produced project to Platform, as well as press release / information text / informal report or equivalent.

Application procedure

Please follow these instructions closely. Applications not following these requirements will not be considered. We require the artist to send a digital application to platform.rf@gmail.com with the subject ‘Residency Application 2024’ by the 30th of June 2023. The application should be one PDF document with your full name as the title of the document. Don’t paste any relevant information in the email that is not part of the PDF.

Please include the following in the PDF:

-An informal project plan OR motivation letter, max 1 page. The aim of the letter should be describing the kind of project you imagine doing in Vaasa, your motivation to apply for this residency and your expectations. The project plan should also include your preferred period of time, and state if the time period is relevant for the project as well as clearly state what time/ times that aren’t suitable.

We are looking for artists that can stay up to 3 months, but 1-2 months requests will also be considered. 

-Descriptions and images of 5 projects or art works. For videos, please add direct links to websites in the PDF.

-A CV of max two pages, including: name, date and place of birth, current location as well as email and phone number.

The application shall occupy no more than 12 pages and 5 mb. The board of Platform will make the selection. All artists will receive a notification by the end of September 2023. The board is under no obligation to justify the selection. If you have questions about the residency please ask them well before the deadline.

 Best

Platform Team

Jenni, Johan, Geir, Sara, Zarah, Niklas and Alexandra

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