Pipariparaati / Gingerbread Parade

Viime vuonna piparitaikina ajoi Bettien ja minut uskomattomaan luomisvimmaan & tunteiden paloon, jolle hellan lamput jäivät kakkoseksi. Syntyi muun muassa hysteerinen friikkishow sahattuine naisineen, voimamiehineen ja arjen tragedioista ammentava, koskettava tarina tulen tuhoavasta voimasta, joka voi osua myös piparkakkutalon kohdalle.

Kun sinä katsot piparitaikinaa - mitä se sinulle kertoo? Minne möykyt, klöntit ja kaulittu tasainen pinta vie ajatuksesi? Avaraan luontoon, kerrostaloviidakkoon, hattarapilvien utuun vai valtamerien syvyyksiin? Kurkistaako puun takaa kolmijalkainen hirvi, turvonnut siili tai korvaton kissa?

Anna käsien, kaulimen ja muottien johdattaa sinut pipariparaatiin, jollaista ei ole ennen nähty! Kaikki käsiesi luomukset ovat tervetulleita, joten postaa kuva Pipariparaatin tapahtumasivulle ja tuo kaikille kreisi joulumieli!

Piparisanomaa saa myös levittää!
♥ Kiki & Bettie

Freak Show by Kiki.

Last year was exceptional in many ways. But as Xmas is coming, we want to remind you of our wonderful adventures with ginger bread dough. The dough, which in our hands and under the guidance of gingerbread gods transformed into a freak circus massacre with ladies cut in half, world's strongest men & to the heart breaking tragedy about the devastating power of fire, which the gingerbread house number 13 had experienced.

So when you look at the gingerbread dough - what does it tell you? What do you see? Where do the lumps and the smooth surface after a little touch of rolling pin take your thoughts? To the wilderness of nature or highways of an asphalt jungle, to the haze of pink clouds or deep depths of an ocean? Is it 3 legged deer peeking from behind the tree, disfigured hedgehog or a cat with no ears?

Let your hands, rolling pins and cookie cutters lead your way to the gingerbread parade, the kind of one has never experienced before! All your creatures are welcome, so please, do post a photo to our Gingerbread Parade event wall and give a crazy Xmas greeting to us all! 

Please, do spread the word!

♥ Kiki & Bettie

Bettie's tragedy with house number 13.

Cleaning with camera, part II

Xmas tree number one.

Spying Maro the dog watching TV.

Pikku pulla got tired.

Article about my current exhibition in today's Turun Sanomat.

I have made my way to the study. Still looking for missing

maracas, matryoshka & other souvenirs from Moscow.

Instead I colour-coordinated my burlesque materials.

Blue & green.

Red & pink.

Black & violet.

Orange & yellow.

Things really tend to pile up.

One of the things I love about embroidery is the colors of the threads!

Halleluja! Here they are - the most beautiful little things from Moscow!
Now I can go and start to decorate the house!

The Dance of Death

View from the gallery

The Dance of Death- exhibition by Suvi Aarnio is now running at gallery Å, in Turku. It's open until the end of year 2011, so if you've a chance, please stop by!

Joka hetkessä asuu ikuisuus / The eternity lives in every moment, 2011

About the exhibition: "Joie de vivre and fear of death intertwine with folkore and popculture, leading us to the macabre shortcuts of subconscious, to the thin borderline of dreaming and being awake. Works created with embroidery and video present chaotic ideas of afterlife, the crushing power of nightmares, carnal death having a feast and randomness, we expose ourselves to every single moment."

Highlights 38/2011: 30+ makes a difference

This autumn, I've been working with a photo exhibition about Varissuo suburb here in Turku. Together with Chrisse, one of the residents, we've been going through archives & scrap books and spent hour after hour in a dark room viewing slides from the past.

 And today it all made perfect sense. We've selected a good amount of old pictures and decided to go and have a look at the locations and the way there are today.

The suburb was built in 1970´s - 1980´s and it become home especially for families with little children. Nowadays, the things that are said in connection to Varissuo are 1) it has the highest percentage of immigrants than anywhere else in Finland 2) the number of unemployed people is very high and 3) it is one of the most dangerous place to live in Turku.

 However, if you ask from people living in Varissuo, You get completely different opinions. There are many who've lived in the area since the beginning and wouldn't move away, unless forced.

 However, the nostalgic suburban romanticist raise her head in me again and I have to say, 30 + years do make a difference. It's not only the high contrast in old photos or the bushes and trees that have grown but the feeling of new beginning, high hopes of happy life, utopian vision of the "a compact city is a contact city"-ideology and the unforeseen future which with the knowledge of today are so strongly present in these old photos.

 

And it hasn't all gone for better. Feel free to visit the exhibition once it's ready - i'll let you know about the details later!

PS: Oh, and tomorrow I'll go and have my hair cut at the same place where my dad 40 years ago - speaking of nostalgy!

Highlights 37 / 2011: Nuclear Winter in Bambiland

It's been a very special week, 'cause I've actually been able to spend time in my tiny little studio in Fimbul Artist Studio Space. The reason for this uncommon behaviour was Kulkulupa -event, during which artists all around Turku open their studios for the public.

 So did I. After a throughout arranging / organizing / cleaning of the space. It turned out nice, I've even got a table for embroidery work and nice little floor for rehearsing burlesque or stripperformances - a new term I learned from fabulous artist Tigger.

Despite of my not so welcoming gesture,  I think people really enjoyed coming to Fimbul. The area was used by the army for many decades and is still surrounded by fences. If lucky, you can see foxes and deers running around!

  Or even bumb into an abandoned boat on your way home. Oh and if You wonder about nuclear winter in the title, it's because Fimbul means nuclear winter.

 We even had a pop-in cafe where Tuike was taking care of business.

 And I was drinking far too many cups of coffee.

 And smoking  a lot of cigarettes while enjoying the beautiful autumn sun.

 Before I discovered, that when laughing, my upper lip makes a really strange wrinkle. It looks like I'm using snus!!! Oh dear, back to the silly teenage days, when I actually did experiment with snuff and received not so flattering nickname Suvi "Metrihuuli" Aarnio.  Huh, well that was the only and last time for that silly business.

Speaking of silly business...It's good to step out from one's comfort zone once in a while and do something different. Like performing at the Art Fair Suomi for the readers of Gloria magazine.

The performance was made in relation to the opening of Performance Art Bank, a database for Finnish performance art. I had a chance to be listed there as well, which definitely is one of the highlights of this week! 

I wish you all a wonderful upcoming week with lots and lots of this and that to remember later on!

Highlights 23 / 2011

Oh dear, I have totally forgotten about last week's highlights! Was there any? Oh well, just little something. Like that I had a chance to talk face to face with the artist whose work I have been adoring ever since a silly little art student in Glasgow School of Art in 1999.

David Shrigley: Antidepressants

His conversation starter was: "Do I look as bored as I am?" at the opening of his exhibition. 

  After a little bit of digging I also remembered the first minigolf session with Miroslove & friends. As usual, I came in the last place, but had the biggest number of hole-in-ones! Hole-in-One was also the name of exhibition we had in gallery Titanik, Turku many, many years ago.

Photo: Reino Koivula

I made a tiny little zen gardenish track, where the player was supposed to make her way through green Tetris-blocks into the hole in the ground. Hmm...well, that's what there is to say about it.

Last week was also full of friends, families and good food! I was lucky to meet with Elina & Maija, who are my dearest and oldest friends but whom I hardly ever see anymore. But it's good to know that nothing changes between us, even if the world and our lives have turned upside down.

I've also finally started the embroidery works for the upcoming exhibition. Huh, let's say there is more than one stitch ahead.

And speaking of art, If you have a chance to visit the city of Joensuu - go to the local art museum! Hellcat and Heavenly creatures exhibition by fabulously talented artist Petra Innanen is there until the 25th of September 2011!

Petra Innanen: Hong Kong Schong

Welcome to the Human Zoo

Animals and humans, exhibitions, exotica and art- something I seem to bump into on a daily basis. A few days ago I got a lovely message from Hilja, who was photographing the burlesque party "Human Zoo" in Turku more than a year ago.

Ants in my pants by Hilja Mustonen

She is just simply wonderful! And if you don't believe me, go and have a look at her blog!

DJ's Miroslove Satan & Naja Naja by Hilja Mustonen

Campfire in a Zoo -exhibition by Turku based artists Annika Dahlsten and Markku Laakso are one of the must-see-things during the summer holidays! In addition to the Mechanical Music Museum in Varkaus, where Miroslove wants to visit every 10 years.

Annika Dahlsten & Markku Laakso: "Campfire in a Zoo"
The Finnish Museum of Photography 15.6. - 31.7.2011
(Photo: The Finnish Museum of Photography)

And just to stay in the wonderful world of the exotic other, jungle, palm trees, zoos and bizarre things, here is a little crazy video made about the Kokonut Kult burlesque club and our rituals. 

KOKONUT KULT

Music: Ismo Laakso Psychoboogie Explosion featuring Petri Bäckström

Original club photos: Kerttu Malinen

In my dreams I'm dying all the time

This song was playing on the radio a couple of days ago and instantly it took me to Glasgow in year 2000. 

I was studying at the local art school GSA, living on a Red Road Court in a suburb called Balornock. On the 24th floor watching the airplanes fly by when I woke up. The buildings used to be the highest in Europe, but in mid-2000´s they were demolished.

http://www.theglaswegian.co.uk

It was a whole different life back then. I was dating an ex-librarian, wanna be musician from Fancy & Spook, which is actually are doing quite ok now. In addition I was working as a dishwasher in a busy restaurant - tell me about hard and hot work! Eventually I had to return to Finland to finish my studies, the relationship didn't last but I still have a lot of fond memories of the city itself.

Back to the title of this post. Lately I've caught myself thinking about death. I have always had a great suspicion towards doctors, hospitals etc. which probably has something do with my mother being a nurse, who always said: "Just stop complaining and You'll be fine!")

My mother as a young nurse

But eventually I am going to end up with some lethal disease and as a heavy smoker it'll probably be cancer of some sort. Will I go and see the doctor and get some help? Or should one keep just going on as long as possible and then just kill herself? Is postponing the death / suffering in life worth of it all? Or should one just live as full life as possible so that the unstoppable death won't be so irritating? The only thing I know is that when lying in my death bed I don't want to be the one saying: "What a shitty life I had, thank God it has come to an end now."

David Shrigley ŒLaundry¹, 2006. Animaatio / animation, 2:40 min, Edition of 6 + 1AP.

Oh well, back to happy thoughts! Ever since a teacher at the Glasgow School of Art advised me to have a look of the work by, GSA graduate /  artist David Shrigley, I've been a HUGE fan of his! Next week, at the Turku Art Museum will open an exhibition of his animations and I am so going to be there! I only hope he is not there, 'cause I might be screaming, crying and praising him in a disturbing way. Anyways, I'm going stay in a Glasgow state of mind for a while now.

Sweatshop and bagels

or spending a sunny day in a glazed balcony. I moved my craft stuff there (sorry M!) and for the past two days, I've been making tassels, pasties, tassels, pasties, tassels, pasties. In the end, I had 12 pairs. Which I hope, helps with the fact, that I always break or misplace (read loose) them.

Today I also once again thought how strange it is, that for some performances the idea, the costume, the props, the make-up and all that takes time and time to get in shape. And others, just pop up in your head and everything is ready before you know it! So, come and see what I've been working with to the Kokonut Kult burlesque club, June 30th at the Kokomo Tikibar!

Speaking of fruits, I've only recently discovered the delights of smoothies!! How have I survived this long without them!?!! I played a little housewife this morning, making breakfast (to be eaten outside in the balcony) and baking bagels! Also for the first time in my life! They turned out tasty but ugly, a very common outcome in this household :)

Since it's summer, it's nice to remind of lovely things You can get from the sales after Christmas. Look how pretty bird I found! I let him (for some reason I think it's male) out of the cage even though a real bird aka shit torpedo had been having some sort of riot out there couple of nights ago.

The balcony offers in addition to craft workshop and home made breakfast, also a little bit of modern art! This gorgeous tray (portray of me me me) was painted by, once again my super talented and dear friend Petra Innanen aka Bettie Blackheart, who actually at this very moment is setting her tatas on fire at the Venice Biennale!