Evaluation of Karsamaki Snow Workshop

I have never been apart of a community workshop before and wasn't sure what to expect from my first experience, especially as the children would be of Finnish nationality. However, it turned out to be a very great experience enjoyed by all. Everyone worked together on a large installation, consisting of large snow sculptures. It started with the concept of the teenagers interests, a major interest being music, this had a great influence on the final piece.

The language barrier was not a problem, with some having great English skills we were able to communicate, but I also ended up learning a few Finnish words. The main one being Vasara, which means hammer, this was an important word for the construction of the snow moulds. It was a great feeling when we finished and our sculptures were lit up at night and we had a small opening ceremony. I actually found it more satisfying that the teenagers had enjoyed themselves and the work, than I usually am when I finish my own work. I have found this to be a lovely aspect of community art, particularly when a group came up at the end especially to thank us for a great few days. I think this experience will encourage me to take part in more community art projects.

Snow sculpting at Karasmaki

After a long day of stamping down snow into moulds we are back and having a sauna, preparing for another long day tomorrow. We have made four different moulds as the start for our interactive snow space we are creating with some teenagers from a near by school. This is part of a snow sculpting competition which is currently happening here in Karasmaki. There are about 8 school students as part of this community art program, we met earlier to discuss plans then started on the production of the four moulds, which will we sculpt into tomorrow.

Darkroom call for help!

A current graphic design student at the University of Lapland is forming a community arts project based around the darkroom at the university. I have only been in my darkroom back at Manchester but, from when I first walked in I thought it was quite cluttered and messy, and I am not the only one who feels this way. The project has been created as an attempt to overcome the current issues of the darkroom.

There are about 10 students involved in this project, some foreign exchange students and some Finnish students. We are working together to create a system so that the darkroom can function in an appropriate way. Currently, there is no tutor support as students keep leaving the darkroom in such a mess, for example chemical bottles are left everywhere, which is rather hazardous. The aim of the project is to combat this by creating a community in the darkroom where people will hopefully start to work together and create a better working space.

As I will be working in the darkroom while I am here, I thought it would be a useful project to become part of, and create a better working space for myself too.

http://groups.google.com/group/darkroom-ulapland/web/a-call-for-help-project

Light!

After the shock of the Manchester buzz, I was greeted with a new shock back in Rovaniemi. Not only was it -31 as I stepped off the plane but, the amount of light I was greeted with shocked, yet pleased me. There seems to be a sudden change in light and I have only been away for a matter of days. The city and landscape have come alive with light. I was taken aback by the glow of light even at 7:15 this morning when I woke, bringing excitement for the long days which will come in the next months.

Return of the Manchester buzz

I never thought that a return to Manchester would shock as much as it actually did. Surrounded by city noise; the banging of the bus, the screeching of cars an the general city buzz was more apparent than I ever remember. Maybe I had got used to the noise when I lived there just over a month ago but, now I am acquainted with the quiet and calm of Rovaniemi it aggravates me as I make my way through the city. I long for the only noise of he crunching of the snow.

The hustle of people I have to avoid and change my path for add to the aggravation - I think I am sounding like an old man hear, as the voice of my Grandad rings in my ears.

Marja Pirila

With an hour to spare at university, a random search through the library was my chosen activity. I often like to pick up a random book in a library or second hand shops and search through them, this often leads to nothing or just something that catches my interest for a second. But, today I stumbled across a book titled 'Interior/ Exterior'. This published work by artist Marja Pirila, I hadn't heard of her before but her work caught my attention straight away. From the first image I saw I could tell she used camera obscura, and couldn't wait to see more. She was using a room as a pinhole, which is something I have been wanting to do for a while now. I had only ever heard of it being done, and this was the first time I had seen photographs, it excited me straight away. After a bit of internet research I found out she was a Finnish artist who like myself had a keen interest in camera obscura and used this aspect in most of her work. I think she could be come a great inspiration. Ths image shown is one that stood out the me straight away, I like how to outside consumes the inside, even the person in the room., they truly become one.

The start of my tea-bag diary...

Over the past 12 hours there has been some great light here, I woke up during the night to see the sky glowing orange with such intense it was beautiful. The sun came out today, and has been the highest I have seen since I have been here. The glow catching the top of the trees and just shining through at some points is magical. All it needs is the sun to bring life and beauty to this place.

light in Rovaniemi

As part of my studies at the University of Lapland I am taking part in an independent photography course taught by Michael Jabobs. I find him to be extremely passionate and interesting, and I think he could become a great inspiration here in Rovaniemi thinking more about life and the effects of things around us. Today he was making us think about the effect of being here on us and the climate we are being accustomed to. I have already considered this a little and thought about the effects, even though I think some may be bad! - I find myself not being able to get out of bed in the morning due to the darkness. I find this usually to me my most creative part of the day in Manchester but, this has changed here. The biggest influence on me here has been light, I think this is because of the drastic changes and the limited hours of the days. Even though they are much longer now than before I came. Light seems to have a great influence on everything here, and something very close to this area, due to the varying patterns of the sun during the year. I am not sure if the light has had much effect on me, apart from my ability to get out of bed, but I know it has effected some quite a lot more and some find it really hard to sleep in the winter. As light is a large part of my general practice this is something I want to monitor in my stay here. Will the light effect me too??

Pinhole exhibition by student at Lapland University

Passing through a few small exhibitions at university today I noticed a few small pinhole photographs. There is a clear focus on nature, which is something I want to look at in contrast to Manchester. The photographs are clear yet have a beautiful hidden and secretive tone, which intrigues me. The photographs have been placed in a light box and lit from behind, I can not tell whether the negatives have been copied onto acetate but the light flows through quite naturally like the sun would, and gives a poetic effect. This is something I have never thought to do but, I may try placing a light behind some of my pinhole images to see the effect.

"I am for an art... that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum." Claes Oldenburg. I saw this quote today and thought it was quite fiting to the site-specific project. Myself I believe that art is more than something that sits in a gallery. It is about experience.

Finnish culture

I have been introduced to many aspects of Finnish culture since I have been here, one aspect being a sauna followed by rolling round in the snow then a sauna to warm up, which was a refreshing experience. I have been very interested in traditional Finnish culture for example, Saami tales and their beliefs. I have found out today that it was or still is a common belief that the northern lights, or as they are known here Revontulet, happen because of the arctic fox. It is believed that it is the foxes tail brushing against the snow as it runs that creates sparks which are sent up into the sky. This seems to be quite a romantic and fairy tale way of thinking, which is probably what attracts to me to it.

Tea bag curtains

While looking into the use of tea bags in art I came across an article documenting the work of Este Lewis, a 25-year-old Brooklyn artist who has made a curtain from tea bags. I thought this idea linked well with my work, as while creating my tea bag diary they are hung up on my curtain rail, and are acting as a very small curtain as I am yet to actually get curtains here. Este Lewis creates digitally printed wallpapers, which show the pattern of everyday items, such as napkins, candy sticks, sticks of gum etc. She has used tea bags in designs before, she says she loves “how the particles inside make up the different landscapes in each bag depending on where they fall, and I like how the light passes through them.” I had never thought of this before but they are very interesting objects to look at, although their shape is always the same there is alway something unique about each bag of tea, which I like.

Tea bag diary

As part of my Adaption Charting course in Finland I have to create an artistic diary documenting my time here. This could be anything from a book to as I am doing a tea bag diary. The idea came from the fact that my flat mate makes a large pan of herbal tea everyday and heats it up every so often, the smell it creates makes the cold flat feel more homely. So, I will use these tea bags to as a way to document my stay, while keeping hold of that homely feeling I miss so much. I will stitch a small image and the date into each tea bag, commenting on something important to me that day.