COMMUNITY ART IN II

rantapohja

Stylistically many of my photographies are located somewhere on the borderline between documentary and art. This summer 18.7.–20.9. I will present a series called Endless Summer in public spaces here in Ii. The series was created by objectively following the lives of some of the personalities but also by actively discussing with others of them.

Here in Ii some of the elderly that I have shot has prepared masks to wear in the pictures. With these masks they are able to hide or highlight their wishes, dreams, or fears. The idea to the masks came from some of the old men I shot in more traditional documentary way. They had made themselves masks and other objects to strongly mediate their feelings. In this final series these situations, feelings, and persons documented in a more traditional way are mixed with photos that were created by using more community based working methods. Together I think these images create an honest and multifaceted picture of the post-war generation.

For my Finnish speaking friends: Here is an article released in the the local newspaper Rantapohja. Text and photos by Leena Takaluoma

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MR. RENAISSANCE GENIUS

Last night exactly at 3.30 a.m. Mr. Renaissance Genius aka Artist Himself aka itte Sinikoski got an idea. He decided to create a masterpiece. He decided to give himself 15 days and after that he will show you the best art work ever created!

…or at least he came up with the title of his forthcoming exhibition and according to himself “that’s pretty revolutionary, too”.

Stay tuned!

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ORANGE

Sinikoski002

Yesterday the sky here in Ii was glowing through the whole night in super intensive orange colors. Pardon me, but it’s hard to take elegant and sophisticated photos when nature is playing this kind of cheap drama with all the light effects 😀

Take care, Peki

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MY PEOPLE

workshop, Sinikoski

This wonderful gentleman came to today’s workshop in his own car. Because the workshop was limited to people over 65 years he wanted to show me his driver’s licence to prove that he will turn 90 in just a couple of months. –So I let him in 😉 And oh boy what a great day we had! Handicrafts, spontaneous singing, coffee, ice cream, lots of talking and great photos. There are those people who really make the difference and as I told to this old man, he really made this day special for many of us. I know that this time of the year it’s more trendy to post holiday photos than work related stuff, but I don’t do that simply because I’m working. And I’m not sorry about it because I can honestly say that I’m super happy to be right here, right now working with these people.

Peace & Love, Peki

PS. More information about this project here on YLE’s webpage: http://yle.fi/uutiset/kunpa_omat_siivet_kantaisivat_pitkaan__suomalainen_ikamies_ikuistetaan_yhteisotaiteessa/8101706
The only thing that I should probably correct in the article is that there will be plenty of more photos than ten. There can’t be just ten. This is the new Iijoki-sarja, goddamit 😀

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SINIKOSKI x YLE TV NEWS

I have made some, what we in Finnish would call, K-65 workshops here in Ii; that means they are not allowed for people under the age of 65. I never ever believed that one of those workshops would end up in YLE’s (Finnish broadcasting company) TV news. But here we go! …And to be honest, I never imagined to laugh like that on the news 😉

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II

studio

Around 650 kilometers up north from Helsinki is a town called Ii. The place is not only blessed with the shortest place name in Finland but also with a amazingly active cultural life with for example an environmental art biennale. At the moment I’m working here as a guest artist together with another artist in residence from Japan and a bunch of local artists. It’s going to be an extremely busy month up here but I can already now say that I’m super happy to work here with all these people.

BTW, today I met a lady who told me that the origin of the name Ii comes from the North Sami word “idja” that means night… Hmmm… If you describe night as the time between sunset and sunrise then at this time of the year here in Ii there so much light that the idja lasts only for 1 hour and 31 minutes. –Sounds like the Sami people had a good sense of irony wink emoticon

I will try to be active here during this month so you will have a chance to follow my adventures here. Next time I will tell you more about my forthcoming project here.
Take care!

XXX, Peki

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THE MEGAPHONIC THRIFT

The Norwegian indie mammoth, The Megaphonic Thrift has just released their new album Sun Stare Sound. The cover art is from my forthcoming art series Ghosts Watching Over Me. Graphic Design is done by my favourite graphic designer in Berlin, Mr. Petri “Blank Blank” Henriksson.

XOX, Peki

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