WHO IS THE ELITE THAT GETS TO DECIDE WHAT IS "CONTEMPORARY ART"?

One of the few ice photos I have been able to take this year,
as we had very little snow and ice in Wales

I'm very tired of all the resistance to my efforts of creating meaningful art. I think most people have realized that we live in a very Orwellian reality, one in which Talent Shows (especially for singing) are at the very top of people's list of interests, and a self-promoted art elite (many of whom are arbitrary collectors) is telling the world what artists are worth investing in.

The new fad that I have discovered here in Britain is that people who get rejected when seeking a job or trying to take part in group exhibitions, or apply for anything else, no letter of rejection is being sent to them. In other words, you are often left wondering for quite some time whether you got accepted to something or not. This is especially true if you haven't kept count of the exact dates when the results are due (it can be quite hard if you apply for many things at the same time). The consensus seems to be, that people who are rejected mustn't get a chance to argue their case, as the authorities don't want to have to deal with people bickering. I do however find this attitude extremely humiliating. I feel that more than ever before, I'm a beggar, a "mere artist" who has to plead for acceptance and approval from a wistful elite that often consists of self-promoted "authorities".

I have tried to establish myself in this country, but all the rejections are hard to take. I have to say that the only people who sent me a real letter of rejection on the very day were of the national art competition in Chichester. At least they had a look at my work rather than only relying only on photos sent by e-mail. 

I didn't really expect to get in to the exhibition at the Oriel Davies Gallery in Newtown, Powys, because it's commonly held as a very snooty place. I find it quite sad that the trust was set up by these two art loving sisters who may well have wanted it to be a different kind of gallery. I don't have the facts so I don't know what the deal was when they left their money for the purpose of creating an art gallery in the middle of rural Wales, but what I do know is that the woman who runs it is not necessary pleasant to deal with (she has been very rude to Martin although the problem was with her computer and not his system) and apparently hates the idea of representing local artists. So the exhibitions are often either of London based artists or international, as in the case of the recent rather boring exhibition of Danish artists and their view of rural life. We go there often but never do we feel we actually gain anything. Many complain that it's not a very user friendly environment. Apparently neither Martin nor I got in, as we have not received any correspondence from the gallery.

I spent two days trying to make an application for the online directory AXIS, which was recommended to me. Apparently being part of it is status even if you have to pay 30 pounds a year for the membership.They want to make sure you're an established contemporary artist. Well, I took a lot of trouble explaining all about my long career, but what I'm not able to show for because of my disability is a list of commissions, workshops and all that other fancy work that artists are expected to consecrate their time and energy to. I also have no awards as I have never even seen any art competitions before I came to the UK. So - was it a case of discrimination that I didn't get accepted to the "elite"? Am I not "contemporary" because I do symbolic work? Am I using imagery (old copy right free engravings) that they don't find exciting? Am I too old? Do I speak too many languages and make the mistake of mentioning that I have an MA degree in Arts and Humanities rather than a proper degree from an arts college (I have been to art school in France but didn't last long enough for a degree).

The rejection letter goes as follows:

Dear Vivi-Mari Carpelan

AXIS APPLICATION: 15961

Thank you for your recent application to join Axis. Our 
curatorial panel have enjoyed looking at your work.  However 
I am sorry to tell you that your application has been 
unsuccessful this time.

As stated on the website before you applied, owing to the 
amount of applications we receive, we regret that we are 
unable to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants. If 
you would like to, you can reapply in 12 months.

About our selection process

Although we try to reflect a broad range of practice, our
selection process is also guided by the desire to document
and represent how contemporary artistic practice in the UK
is changing. You can read more about the application
criteria here:

> http://www.axisweb.org/artistcriteria

Before you applied you set up a user account, which means
you may receive the monthly user bulletin with news about
Axis, we hope you continue to use Axis and enjoy these
bulletins. You can change your settings and unsubscribe from
the bulletins by logging into your account and selecting
'your preferences'.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you well with
your artistic career. Thank you for your interest in Axis.

Yours sincerely

X

I don't know what exactly they are saying when they are referring to the selection criteria. There are two things that don't make any sense. One is that they only support contemporary art, and make a distinction between "modern" and "contemporary" artists. This is very ambiguous and subject to almost any kind of interpretation. Contemporary art is basically art that is made now, and it tends to deal with social issues rather than only self expression. The other strange criterion is that the artist should demonstrate "awareness of current debates and issues in visual arts practice". What is that, and why should you have to, you're not supposed to be an art critic! I also don't know how you can demonstrate this in the application form.

I have a horrible feeling that having mentioned that my art is symbolic is a terrible "mistake". I was also forced to choose categories for my work, not really finding suitable ones among the predetermined selection (this is true for Saatchi too). I had to choose categories such as "surrealist" and "figurative" for my collages, which I find misleading. And maybe ticking the box "surrealism" gives them the idea that one's work is really passee! In actual fact, when you think about, a whole bunch of the categories sound more like "modern" art than "contemporary" art to me. By modern art I mean the isms that came into fashion after about 1860 and up until about 1950.

And was I wrong to tick the box for "disabled" when it was a question of the equal opportunities act? Does it make any difference, and if so, in which way. Who knows?!

I seriously ask myself, who is the potentially "power tripping" person behind the directory who gets to decide that you're not a serious artist even when you have been as active as you possibly could for over 20 years? To be honest, I found filling in the CV bit very difficult, as it only allowed seven entries. An intelligent general audience with a heart has enjoyed my work, but no matter how I try and twist my tongue to fit what I think could be the criteria these so-called "authorities" on art have laid out, it seldom seems to work. And of course, I have to remain true to myself and not start to make my work look like something I am trying to second guess that fits in with the art elite and their conception of what art is supposed to be in the modern world.

I think there are also a lot of buzz words that you need to know when you write about your art to judges of contemporary art, but these are words you probably only know about if you recently graduated from art college. This is one of the vast amount of problems you experience as an ageing artist, since youth is always more attractive to those who are in charge of the art market.

I take all this personally because my art is personal. The "art establishment" doesn't seem to like who I am and what I represent. I sincerely want to make a difference, I wish to challenge people's ideas and points of view, I want to show what is truly going on in people and what kind of suffering they are subjected to... I want that my life's work is of some value, that all the things I have gone through is of some use to others. But... it's like fighting the wind, and I feel that I'm losing. I don't know what more I can do to get my art out there so that I get to communicate with an audience. I don't have the stamina and energy for all this competitiveness. 

I shall add one more goal to my list of personal missions, and is to support art with meaning even more arduously and not give in to the wrong authorities, i.e. the heady, arrogant and often self-promoted "art elite". They aren't doing the art scene any good as far as I can see, it's just the same old promotion of cold and vapid conceptual art as well as the supporting of people who are go-getters and competitive enough for this world. It's too harsh, sensitive individuals simply cannot make it. 

These are the pieces I submitted to Axis, they were meant to represent a cross section of what I've been doing since 2008. Perhaps my strategy was not the right one, but who is to know what exactly these people are looking for? What art work would be best to show? How can I choose? 

X – SURVIVING IN THE WORLD OF THE FITTER (handmade collage 2011)

I have thought of possibly changing some things about this picture, which I worked so very hard on before the end of last year. I'm taking on board some of Martin's opinions about the hand drawn figure and will see if there is any way I can make it more attractive.
Chaos reigns as long as men rule the world, and everyone who participate in society is responsible for its state of being, in one way or another. When you suffer chronic illness and become marginalized, you are not very likely to receive appropriate help and attention. Still the tough school of life can help you gain wisdom and detachment.

To read more about the sign "X", see my previous blog entry about this piece.

INSOMNIA (handmade collage 2011)

The depiction of the nightmarish and vulnerable state of being one finds oneself in when afflicted with insomnia. Sometimes it almost feels like a mental illness, as issues related to fear tend to come up at this time - hence the insects, a common theme of psychosis. The text and pattern depict the brainwaves associated with different stages of consciousness. It creeps up from behind the wallpaper, which in my art symbolizes surface and "cover up". 
Perhaps this wasn't the best piece to present to a judge of contemporary art. 
Vintage is in, but only in certain circles.

SOME THINGS SHOULD NEVER BE FORGOTTEN (handmade collage 2008)

This symbolic collage is about emotional development, and specifically about the ambivalence of sexuality. While somewhat threatened, the female figure also expresses excitement and expectancy. It's paradox and part of the dualism of life as well as cycles of existence. Water is a frequent symbol in my work which depicts various emotional states. Here, the volcano in the background expresses suppressed feeling, maybe on the verge of eruption. The camera stands for the ambivalent experience of being observed.
Again, the figures are "vintage" and perhaps that is another problem with the judges of contemporary art.

EPHEMERAL WAYS (handmade collage 2008)

This collage on canvas consists of a collection of real ephemera found in a derelict house in Kansas, USA. There are cheques that evoke stories of various purchases connected to daily life in this rural area, as well as wallpaper, old photographs and a handwritten story by a lady who was a school teacher. In the middle, there is my own photograph of a snowed in churchyard with the names of European immigrants. The red poinsettias are striking and connect with the red lines I have traced onto the images as pathways in this imaginary story of the survival of settlers in the USA.

DANSE MACABRE (digital photograph 2011)

This digital photograph of the outside of a skip is part of a series with the working name of "Beauty in the Rough". I'm interested in alerting the viewer to beauty where one would rarely look for it, especially in a trashy environment. This project is accompanied with some text about a journey (inner and outer), as the images are evocative of landscapes, weather conditions and other phenomena in the real world. Ultimately I aim to make it symbolic of body image, especially in cases of chronic illness. I hope to experiment with printing on other materials than paper, hopefully aluminium or zink as this would be more evocative than paper of the paradoxical origin of the images.

POETRY IN ICE I (digital photograph 2008)

During a stay in Kansas, USA I visited a man made lake over 20 times. It was an unusually harsh winter and the changing weather conditions created interesting patterns in the ice. Some are so abstract it's hard to tell what exactly the image depicts. This is part of a series and exhibition I called "The Petrified Trees" as trees from the time before the valley was flooded were still sticking up, creating an amazingly surreal and lonely atmosphere.

And finally... I am very upset because years and years of frustration with the so-called authorities in art (often prestigious galleries for that matter) came up... and it's all so soul destroying. I feel as if my soul is being trashed, bit by bit. I must find a way of healing this wound and a way of existing, even if it means  falling into the category of outsider artists, or leaving the art scene altogether.

REVIEWS OF ART FILMS

At the moment I don't have a lot to report so I thought I'd post a few film reviews that I've written on Lovefilm.com. These are all fairly new movies (2005-2011), and ones that I either really liked or really disliked. These are movies that are either "arty" or "spiritual". Here we go...

SHAOLIN
 (Benny Chan)

Shaolin philosophy for real!

... or at least as real as it gets. I'm not a fan of people flying in the air and other 'Kung Fu tricks' that have become popular. The action scenes in this movie feel quite real, even to the point where the protagonists make mistakes, and it becomes part of the story. Perhaps with the exception of Jackie Chan's intervention, which is not very realistic but spices things up a little. He has definitely improved with age... he used to irritate me a great deal.

It's not a particulary happy film but it has a sturdy moral storyline that makes you feel you are watching something meaningful and memorable rather than just mindless entertainment. People have revelations and are able to rethink their mindless behaviour. One has to remember this is within the framework of a Buddhist belief system, which could explain why the changes of heart happen suddenly. Behind it all, is after all, the potent philosophy of karma, sustaining life and how to attain a real peace of mind. The actors are likeable and you get a sense of the community behind Shaolin. There is a scene at the end which is memorable, even a bit tear jerking. It's a visual film, and the palm of Buddha's hands at the end is a great conclusion.

THE FALL 

(Tarsem Singh)

(Official site)

Stunning visuals, original story...

An almost perfect film in my mind, as the narratives interwine with the most breath taking visuals and two wonderful actors, one of which is the most unlikely 'favourite actress' I could ever have imagined (a child with the most adorable way and spontaneous way of talking). I want more!! A nice take on silent movies too, original yet almost a bit humorous due to the contrast between the silent allure and the real person behind the 'mask'.

The plot is effortlessly told, and there is great panache and accuracy in the digitally produced imagery. It could be contrived, but it just isn't. It's such a neat little package, just the way you expect a film to be!

It's a while since I saw this film, but unlike my normal ways I actually saw it three times in order to show it to some people I care about. That's how much I liked it. I'm still rating it one of my favourite films.

BLACK SWAN 

(Darren Aronofsky)

Life isn't black and white - that's the problem

This film plays with the idea of a dual self, the good and the bad, the white and the black. I have to say I expected more... more complexity, more subtlety, more intricacy. I thought it quite contrived and simplistic. It's no doubt worth watching (especially if you're a woman, as I would think this appeals to women more than men) but leaves you feeling as if something was greatly missing.

I didn't feel much for the characters, and this is of course a major problem. You are an onlooker and observer, not an empathic viewer. There was a lot of ado about the cost of perfection but not that much substance. In other words, I feel sorry for anyone like the protagonist who pretends to be an artist but appears to have such limited imagination and depth of spirit. The emotional issues and the consequences thereof could have been explored in a more cunning way. Come on, life is NOT that black and white! it's the grey tones that make life interesting and films should be a mirror of this. Simplistic symbolism doesn't make anyone happy.

Read someone else's thoughts on the occult symbolism of this movie here. This person believes this is a great film. Aronofsky made a movie called The Fountain which is a reasonably interesting exploration of reincarnation or at least something to that effect.

THE SKIN I LIVE IN

(Pedro Almadovar)

(Official site)

This only goes skin deep - and the skin is thin!

From reviews around the internet I get the impression people are taken in by this film. I really cannot see why. It's just old Almadovar farting about as usual, with a lot of fussy relationships, family ties and leads that don't really make much sense and certainly don't take you anywhere really interesting. All I can see is just intellectual snobbism, where all the paintings and books are supposed to be representative of a great intellectual mind and deep thought but really - don't be fooled, it's just for show. With the possible exception of the appearance of Louise Bourgeois's work, but you have to know a lot about her art to get the references.

Apparently Almadovar changed his mind about the story in the original book a hundred times if not even more... yes yes let's just add this... and this... and this... and some more of this... and voila, we will have a great and meaningful movie, tadam! There is allegedly a lot going on inside of the main characters, it's just sooo symbolic... well I'm not sure I saw much evidence of that. There are just a lot of 'meaningful glances' (i.e. an easy way out of expressing real emotion). The acting is wooden and the story is stifled and contrived to say the least. I just don't believe in any of it, and worse still - I don't care.

The ending must be the worst ending in the history of cinema. 'It is me, Vincente'. Horror turned into parody as the man turned woman will eventually be the best thing that ever happened to his best friend. It's supposed to be a horror film, if you didn't know... I didn't know until afterwards. I think the horror must be that of men feeling attracted to a lovely lady who had her penis cut off! I'm sorry it's really all I can think of. Fear of castration and all that Freudian gaga... I'm sure Pedro is no stranger to such horrific thoughts. It's pseudo-intellectual "Euro-trash' if you ask me. Sorry to be so blunt. I know this probably offends a lot of fans.I just had to finally express what I always felt about a certain kind of European cult directors.

EAT PRAY LOVE

 (Ryan Murphy)

Unconvincing spiritual quest...

It's a shame... this is quite a sweet movie. But really, it's just too sweet. It has everything 'modern' in it; the desire amongst middle class white women to seek their inner self, the traumas and taboos in regards to food and the rebellion against the imposed need for 24/7 dieting, and of course, prince charming who has all those qualities women want i.e. he's a superhuman being who can be both woman and man at the same time. While women are still just women, of course. It is so much a sign of the time, a script written for a very typical modern female audience. Sure it has some charm but that lies mostly in the beautiful (yet oh so stereotyped) views of foreign land. Well, to be honest I liked the pretty scenery and the dream of the perfect life where everything is quaint and lovely and sorrows are temporary hickups that go away in the blink of an eye.

Having said all that, I found Julia Roberts quite sweet (again...) but totally disconnected from the spiritual quest she was supposed to be on. My impression is that she only did it because someone had told her to... that makes it all very unconvincing.

This film is based on  the bestselling memoirs by Elizabeth Gilbert, which is quite hard to believe given the rather "chickflick" feel and content of this film. If it's all true, then I guess the lady was a very lucky person indeed.

LITTLE ASHES

(Paul Morrison)

A gem that is easy to miss

It's been a while but I still recall this movie as one with believable characters and an interesting insight into the lives of these remarkable artists; Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel and Garcia Lorca. I would welcome more movies like this - what can be better than real life stories, eh. It's easy to miss this film, as it's not a block buster and was hard to find among the film rentals. I personally try and see films about artists, but often feel that the portrayals are unsatisfactory. This film could possibly have been even better, but it's certainly as interesting and somewhat heart wrenching as films like Modigliani, Pollock or Sylvia Plath.

NEVER LET ME GO

 (Mark Romanek)

Save your money by watching the trailer!

Save money - watch the trailer! I'm serious, the film offers nothing more than what you already see in the trailer. In fact, the trailer was quite promising - the movie on the other hand is a very disappointing movie about nothing. A social commentary? I found it hard to see how the fact that these people were so resigned to their fate could be a reflection of the way we behave within our society. At least that's what I think the movie is about, but does anyone know for sure..? Surely, when it's a matter of life and death, people have more reactions regarding their fate. The acting is quite wooden too, the main character has two facial expressions.

This film is based on a book by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's a science fiction with all the typical references to the Orwellian reality, but there is no suspense, no panache, no interesting twist or ground breaking plot. It's just so boring!

HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER

(Aleksei Popogrebsky)

Barren landscapes are interesting settings for personal drama

 

This is a competent film about an incompetent person and his counterpart, set in a very barren landscape that in a sense reveals or highlights the processes these protagonists go through. It's as if the simple and bare environment helps make the inner processes more graphic. Still it's a bit annoying to watch the clumsy urban brat make a mess of things - and it's a long time to watch his entanglements. The end doesn't make much sense. What's a isotope beacon anyway?? The social commentary remained a bit vague. The good bit is that it's an anti-Hollywood film in as much as it attempts to stay realistic. I do enjoy this rather thoughtful way of looking at the world but while the actors are doing a good job, I was left somewhat indifferent to their escapades.

THE TREE OF LIFE

(Terrence Malick)

If only this was about the Void, but it's just empty

This film has been hailed by some as being very spiritual in a deeper and non-denominational way. Unfortunately I thought it was more akin to some form of spiritual propaganda, probably ecumenical Christian ideas. You do ask yourself if Brad Pitt or Sean Penn, who are starring in it, had something to do with the attempt at getting a message across. The film is set in the 1950s. People are walking around looking lost. This goes on forever There are flashes of the big bang (a lot of colourful clouds filmed for quite some time) and dinosaurs with empathy (sic!). People are angry and upset with each other. People come to some conclusion that life is worth living in spite of grudge and emotional confusion. Was there anything more to it? I'm not even quite sure where the tree of life comes in, maybe here it's just a metaphor for evolution. If there was more to it, then I am greatly mistaken. But maybe that's really what the film is trying to say. Don't expect more from life than this. Shut up and be grateful...

And finally, some Finnish films (from my home country) thrown in for good measure!

RARE EXPORTS - A CHRISTMAS TALE

 (Jalmari Helander

Dreadful translation ruins authentic speech!

I speak Finnish and was absolutely horrified to see the translation. This is a film that attempts to defy all the other Disney stories about Santa, but the translation tries its very best to disneyfy it nonetheless. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when expressions such as 'fiddlesticks' and 'stars above' came up. I can tell you they use swear words in every second sentence, this is very much part of the culture and while they are powerful expressions, they just underline a certain attitude about survival in the wild and being a real man, and no one takes these words too seriously as such. It's an energy, and if you can't pick up on that because you're distracted by the silly childproof phrases, then you have lost a great deal of the impact of the movie. There is something about the authenticity of the way these guys speak that makes the story even funnier, I guess it's the realism opposed to the rather unrealistic story.

This is also not a 'child proof' movie (I'm talking toddlers here...), the whole point is to turn things upside down. To be honest one of the weaknesses of this film is probably that it's not very clear who it's directed to, which is the market? On the other hand I have to commend the Finns for just going for their vision and not worrying too much about how well it's going to sell in Disneyland.

THE JADE WARRIOR

(Antti-Jussi Annila)

A well constructed mythic atmosphere

The atmosphere in this movie is very pleasant and definitely has a mythical feel to it. I like the attention to detail and how at the same time it all looked comfortably ordinary rather than blown up to 'American proportions'. By the end of the day it also made some sense from a mythological/spiritual point of view, but you have to pay close attention and maybe go back to get the details. For me, it took a while to piece the bits together. The movie includes reincarnation in a way that feels unforced and natural, this was a positive thing.

I ALSO RECOMMEND...

I want to mention a few films that I haven't reviewed but feel that I would recommend. One is the atmospheric and seemingly simple story of a monk's self-retribution in the Russian film "THE ISLAND" - here the baren landscape is yet again set against the inner turmoil of the protagonist. Another somewhat similar film is the dark and sometimes quite humorous Finnish film "FROZEN LAND" (based on Leo Tolstoy). I often find films too short and would almost say I prefer TV-series. They are rare and far between though. There are two that I saw recently which I would recommend. I greatly enjoyed the stylish British two-part TV film "WOMEN IN LOVE", based on a couple of D.H. Lawrence books.

 

And finally, a British miniseries in three parts made for TV called "BLACK MIRROR". 

This is an excellent, poignant, chilling satirical description of modern society - I can't see how it could leave anyone cold, hah! I would give it almost full points... the only objection is they are not a feel good stories and you may have to watch a comedy afterwards to shrug of the unease!

From the Russian film "The Island"

DISCOURAGED AND FRUSTRATED... WADING THROUGH LOW TIDE... WAITING FOR THE TRAIN TO ARRIVE

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Waiting for the Russian Cargo Train I", 2010

I woke up early from a dream that seemed incredibly sad to me. I recall chasing a Shaolin monk somewhere in a rocky area, he kept disappearing behind the rocks. I wanted his attention and wisdom. It was such a telling dream about the frustrations I feel in regards to trying to promote my art. My art should have a life of its own, like it used to. It should speak to people because it has something that people want. Yet this set up isn't working any more. Not only do I have to work on staying motivated in the face of so much indifference, I also have to justify my practice and try and get my art noticed by people who matter. I'm sure it's something that appears perfectly normal to a lot of people. But deep inside my spiritual self is rebelling against something that seems to push me into a very egocentric mode. In other words, I find it very hard to retain an empowered and confident state of mind without slipping into ways of enhancing the ego. I see it as the the conflict between being driven and being ambitious.

A Shaolin monk - read this excellent article on practicing Shaolin qigong

I have slept an enormous lot since Christmas, first in response to extreme exhaustion and then in response to the surgery under general anaesthetics that left me in pretty deep recovery mode. I still had to take my medication at night but in the mornings I just slept and slept and had such a hard time getting up as my body felt incredibly heavy. One could really call it hibernation! And don't even get me started on how I am trying to pursue my exercise, as the lack of it really gives me pain and depresses the body. But now I'm woken up... the difficulties to sleep have kicked in and it's hardly surprising that my body had enough of all that rest and is now preparing for action. But this is where the trouble begin, because I have to re-motivate myself, find that strength of mind and focus that allows me to pursue my calling. Before Christmas it was high tide, now is low tide. It too will pass... but the trick is not to let it take over but allow for subconscious processing (see my blog post on this).

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Waiting for the Russian Cargo Train II", 2010

I admit that I got very discouraged yesterday for a variety of reasons. Martin is writing grant applications, and among other important concerns he's trying to emphasise a desire to get away from the glitzy world of digital art and only use it as a tool for making "proper" artwork in traditional media (mostly tempera and coloured pencils at this point in time). I saw some beautiful art online - Wangechi Mutu I already talked about. On Glossom I found a couple of collections with tantalizing images, Liz Huston and Audrey Smith. If you click on the names you will see the collections, hover over the parts and that way you'll see the whole images. I'm not sure whether the latter is altogether digitally produced, she says it's mixed media but really photomontages. The point is, these are rather simple yet strong compositions with vivid colours. That's what people will vote for if you ask them... they are very easy to like and the symbolism may be part of it but in a way that doesn't necessarily demand anything from the viewer. Again I'm thinking that it's a bit like what I was doing in the 1990s, only on paper - in my case my messages were definitely very strong but people didn't feel obliged to understand them literally. But now - not only are we are flooded with images, but we also don't have the attention span to spend on a single piece on the internet. It's in the nature of the media and I see it as a threat to real, physical art. I can only hope that people increasingly start wanting something that is less like fast food, as a call from the their souls and because glamorous art leaves you rather empty. Ok. well it's not entirely true because when I look around in my studio there are images on my walls that are present for aesthetic reasons more than anything else. It's my taste in colours and compositions. But I guess one thing does stand out and it's "history" and "life". These images convey something along these lines that stimulate me. And of course, if I had money I'd purchase real art that pleased my sense of the aesthetics. 

The point is however, that I feel I can't compete with all these people who are so talented with the digital media, or who are just damn good at creating intricate and amazing mixed media work. I don't want to make my condition into an excuse... yet the truth is that I have a lot of trouble making things by hand. Because it requires such physical and mental efforts I also get more attached to the pieces, yet there is always a sense of dissatisfaction because I feel I'm not able to push myself to the limits. By that I mean, that I know I could probably do even better if I had the stamina to work even harder. 

I know artists often feel their work isn't good enough. And to be honest, it's not that often that I am impressed by other people's work. Many people find a formula that sells, and stick with it - I'm afraid I can't really respect people who don't continue to evolve. Or their standards are too low for my liking. So my challenge is to try and continue to evolve, push myself to experiment a bit more, yet stick to my calling regarding the message I want to get across. Will anyone care? Will I ever be able to create a body of work that will really attract people to come and say "wow" but also contemplate the subject matter? Will they see something truly valuable in the real thing out there in real life that they aren't able to pick up on the internet? Right now I just don't know.

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Train Arriving", 2008

THE ONLINE ART COMPETITION AT SAATCHI, WANGECHI MUTU, FINNISH CONTEMPORARY ART...

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Primordial Chaos II", from experiments with ink at art college, 1994

There is a fine line between getting discouraged and wanting to give up, and deciding to try even harder. The art sector is a tough world and I am constantly aware of this tension within myself. Luckily I have reached an inner decision that helps me feel determined to keep going until I get proper acknowledgement for my artistic efforts.

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "X - Surviving in the World of the Fitter"

I entered the Saatchi online showdown competition for collages and assemblages, with my collage "X - Surviving in the World of the Fitter". For those who do not know, Charles Saatchi is a rich patron of the arts who has set up a classy museum and gallery in the centre of London. He is known for having bought seminal pieces by Tracey Emin that got destroyed in a warehouse fire. The gallery space you get online is free and many use it as their website. In this online competition, only the top 300 advance to the juried voting round, and sadly my piece wasn't among them. Chances are not great as there are close to 2000 entries, but I'm trying to participate in as many things as possible, especially when they don't cost any money or require any great immediate efforts. I didn't quite realize though, that my efforts to advertise my artwork was mentally strenuous and so not making it to the second round left me feeling quite empty and distressed - today anyway. 

I'm not going to tear down the whole Saatchi emporium just because I didn't make it through the first voting round, but I will talk a bit about it because participating in it made me think about what it really is about and whether it works as a "phenomenon". Okay, well I will probably have to admit to some driving force behind the failure... yet I will try and be objective about it all nonetheless. The first thing to realize is that getting further into the competition is the result of pure chance. This is also my main objection! What is the point with a competition which is really in the hands of a fickle and totally random audience who sees your artwork on the screen on a minimal scale of about 3x5 cm? And of course, it's all set up so people won't be viewing the pieces for more than a couple of seconds if even that. It's like Martin put it, people are almost like subjects of some research where they are put in a dark room only to press a yes or no button as quickly as images pass them by, ten per second or so...

What I found on closer inspection was that I had many more views and likes than most of the pieces that ended up amongst the 300 that made it through the preliminary voting round! I was also trying to be nice and interactive by voting for others, but in reality the votes cast probably ended up counting against myself. I wonder who actually participates in the voting if it's not the participants themselves? I know I had quite a few votes but apparently not enough. What also worries me is that unassuming people see the paired up artworks which are being put up against each other, and click on the more complex one in order to see it better. This would take them away from the voting site altogether, unable to return to the piece they liked! At least when I did this, I was not able to vote for the artwork I was looking at because some other random pair came up instead. This hypothetical behaviour amongst the audience might very well have been the case with my piece, which was intricate and probably made people want to see it on a bigger scale.

On the other hand people who are voting are hardly looking for meaning, only whatever is instantly attractive to them. These are usually rather simple compositions with striking colours. This would be especially true for the collages. And who wants meaning anyway? All it does is it creates more brain work!

I was hoping that my collage would attract attention for its contents, especially as the main member of the jury, Wangechi Mutu, seemed like someone who might take an interest in social and political statements. "Her paintings and collages often feature writhing female forms, their skin an eruption of buboes, mutant appendices like gun shafts or machine gears sprouting from the sockets of joints, their bodies half human, half hyena. They offer a glimpse at the perversions of the body and the mind wrought by forces active in the oppression of women." (from the artist's statement at the Victoria Miro Gallery website). The images are very beautiful, so I will divert a bit from the subject here by presenting a couple of her pieces:

Wangechi Mutu: "Intertwined", 2003 (collage and watercolour)

Wangechi Mutu: untitled
The Artist says (on the Saatchi Gallery website):
“Females carry the marks, language and nuances of their culture more than the male.
Anything that is desired or despised is always placed on the female body.” 

Wangechi Mutu: "Blacklash Blues" 2004 (mixed media collage)
I recommend looking at pictures and reading more here! 

My only possible critique might be that there sometimes seems to be more in her words about the oppression of women than I am able to perceive in her art. There is always a problem with the tension between representation and interpretation, especially when it's subjective. If anything, often times the beauty of her expression suggests things far less socially corruptive than her feminist view seems to imply!

In fact I did similar experiments with ink and plastic film at art college but never took it further, yet it's something that has been on my mind ever since... now I have regrets! Well once I have a new scanner and ink jet printer things should take a turn... it has been hard to experiment with anything due to a lack of space, well my studio is not big but at least it's a studio and not just the corner of a bedroom! On the other hand I have to admit that I want to avoid using a lot of plastic and this would probably be another "criticism" of Wangechi's work.

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Primordial Chaos I", from experiments with ink at art college 1994

Back to the Saatchi showdown; of course I never got as far as being seen by a proper judge and art critic...  instead my piece was in the hands of a very random selection of disinterested voters... I don't know if I have misread the instructions but it sounded to me as if I cannot enter any other competitions on Saatchi once I have submitted one piece to one showdown. What's that all about?!

Another objection I have is that this particular competition but probably many others too, don't make a distinction between digital and handmade collages. Digital collages are created on a small computer screen and the colours tend to be quite vivid. Very often people borrow other people's photographs in doing this, which of course is especially objectionable. It's easy enough to create a flashy digital image, but how often do we see anything with any meaning attached to it? The digital image will obviously seem very attractive to people who are viewing it on their own computer screen. I really don't think this is a fair game.

Handmade collages often have a lot of other things going for them, for instance texture and meaning, but very often this is not that easily conveyed on a computer screen (which is backlit). It gets even worse when the collage is too big to be scanned (unless you pay a lot of money for that of course). I did see some appalling examples of badly photographed collages. I did my best with my Nikon D90 but in the winter the light is bad. I did two attempts, the second caption was incredibly poor. I had in fact forgotten that we do have a floodlight, when we bought it for our wedding I said I would use it for photography and so it was a good investment. Martin has taken it to the workshop for storage where he works sometimes, and I forgot all about it! It will surely help matters a great deal.

By the end of the day, I believe that the art work that receives attention in exhibitions are not the digitally constructed ones (it's not very easy or cheap to make decent print outs that have the same vividness about them), but the intricate and complex ones that people can get lost in. I am personally starting to see more reasons for doing real exhibitions and also for visiting them rather than restricting my perception by looking at a lot of art on the internet.

Before the Saatchi competition for collages, there was one for drawings. I did follow that a bit and there were certainly many attractive drawings on show. I was very disappointed with the winning pieces though. They were boring and minimalist, totally devoid of any meaning whatsoever. I was complaining to Martin, suggesting that "only empty, minimalist and boring artwork seems to be appreciated" His answer was, "... or only empty, minimalist and boring work seems to be understood ...!". 

This is indeed a very depressing prospect. Martin thinks that minimalism is on its way out. I can understand that the British are still entranced by functionalism and the minimalism that tends to go with it, since modernism has never really been a very strong style in a very conventional country where most people grew up in claustrophobic Victorian terrassed houses. One would think people would be good at creating the exact opposite to the complex language of forms that they are used to, but I don't see much evidence of this ever really working out here in the UK. I was thinking that maybe this was the secret to my success in the 1990s - I made opulent work that was something a lot of people in minimalist Finland were really craving for deep inside.

I remember the artists that were sought after in Finland in those days, they were very often rather badly drawn and painted figures of animals or stones surrounded by messy brush strokes in really dismal and depressing colours... Here is a collection of Finnish artists who have been popular between 1980 and 2006. When will the muddy colours give way for something a little less dismal and simplistic? I have seen the same preference for such colour schemes here in Wales and Martin who has seen more Welsh art than I says it really looks very similar. Muddy colours don't equal depth and meaning! And what's up with the repetitive compulsion for such static compositions, where there is often just one element, drawn as a side elevations? This suggests a rather conventional perspective. Anything to do with the climate...? Haha (the climate is what people always blame everything for but you would think people longed for colour in a grey climate!).

Leena Luostarinen "Tiger", 1980

Kimmo Kaivanto - unfortunately I don't have a date

Ulla Rantanen,  "Brief Life" 2006

Ulla Rantanen "Rock in the Water", 1980

Susanne Gottberg - I don't have a date, as far as I remember she came into fashion in about 2000

Nina Roos, "Positions and Reversals", "Not Yet Said Not Yet Done" 2007-2008

The artist was rewarded with the Carnegie Art Reward in 2004

Kuutti Lavonen, "Rafael" 2004

HOW I CAME TO BE WHERE I AM AS AN ARTIST

Martin and Vivi-Mari at the Hanko Art Society Summer Exhibition 2010

My latest thoughts on how I'd like to develop my art is that I want to merge my photography with my collages. I will increase the use of the technology at hand and print images on the laser printer I got last spring. In order to pursue my ideas to the fullest I do however need a new scanner (the cheaper ones are nowadays absolute crap because they try and make them thin) as well as a large format ink jet printer. 


I will continue to pursue social possibly criticism and commentary. Art wise, it seems to me that collages have a tendency of being the medium for social and political commentaries, perhaps because artists often find material in newspapers and magazines, and the allusions to existing or historical political personalities can be made obvious. Recently, vintage collaging and scrap booking has become a popular craft not to be mistaken for art, as imagery is often stereotyped and lacking in any deeper meaning or purpose beyond being "pretty". See political and social collages here.

I was in surgery for the removal of a umbilical hernia last week and am not feeling to good. I'm having to postpone starting the collages I have in mind. I'm in a hurry to get going. One of them is aimed at the MOMA Wales open exhibition next summer, the theme being "movement". It's inspired by the (dreaded!) olympics but doesn't have to conform to the subject of sports. I have an idea which is meant to illustrate dysfunctional childhood... another idea I have is to illustrate what is really wrong with me in a very direct way, in the form of a piece of art. I decided that I could do that if I make sure only the right kind of audience will see it. The point is, it's not always easy for me to quickly sum up the health problems and other social challenges I've always struggled with, and it might be a good thing to just point at the artwork. 

I'm excited to be interacting with the Arts Council, as I found out through networking that there is a programme for artists who are in some way disadvantaged. It's quite ironic that I've spent my whole life trying to cover up the fact that I have so many health issues and can't function on the level of "normal" people, and now I have to unravel it all! For instance, I've heard people say that looking at my CV and the quality of my work, I seem very prolific and professional in my approach. I've had lots of exhibitions and so forth. 

What is not so obvious at first glance, is that I have been doing this for a long time (undisturbed by working life or children for the most part), and that the exhibitions started to be further apart as I got older. I pushed myself a lot when I was younger, had to literally carry my own artwork a lot of the time (as I didn't have a car nor knew anybody who had one), and only occasionally I had some help (which was usually by my mother). It just got too difficult as time went by and I was less able to whip myself into action. I've only had two grants, both of which came to me fairly easily and really due to family connections. I never had the energy to seek bigger grants, and when I did try for smaller ones a couple of times it became obvious that I didn't know quite what to ask for and how to state my case. I also felt that what I had to say was not very interesting to the authorities, who were often incredibly snotty people. Thanks to the first grant I had an exhibition in a commercial art gallery in central Helsinki, but after that I've shown in all sorts of places (libraries, cafes, culture centres) that didn't cost anything or asked for some art in return. 

I did quite well in the 1990s, as my world was appreciated by the audiences in Southern Finland. But after the turn of this Century things got more and more difficult. The reasons were that I was very preoccupied by relationship issues, that I didn't have a clear direction (I felt I had said it all, already), that I had trouble drawing and painting by hand, and that I didn't have the energy or the help to set up many meaningful exhibitions. On top of that the art market was going down. In fact I was about to give it all up when I met Martin. He has the motivation, ability to focus, and physical strength to help me. Yet I cannot rely on him alone, as he has to develop his own art and try and market it. 

Arriving in Wales was very daunting, as I was suddenly anonymous. How was I going to reinstate a career in the arts when I really don't have a lot of extra energy to spend? Luckily, I do have a track record, and hopefully things will sort themselves out gradually. In spite of feeling quite bewildered, I try and flip the coin as often as possible and see all the opportunities rather than all the competition. As a result of my relocation I've had to do lots of inner work and reinvent myself a little. You get so shaken up that elements of your inner self start floating around like debris in water, only to settle in new places. Decisions about sticking with the arts and focusing my vision have been made - now all I need to do is put it all in practice at my own pace, and hope the money and mentors comes to support my endeavours. I also have some more creative freedom thanks to digital aid (I have a colour laser printer for instance, purchased when we had a bit of money). Similar processes are going on with Martin, who seems to finally be getting somewhere. He's now having a much sharper approach to his own artistic expression, and is in the process of communicating with funders about it. It's looking up!


Some more photos from my studio:

"Archangel Michael", artwork by Finnish-Swedish artist Ester Helenius (1875-1955) in the background.

"Russian Revolutionary Art", a little booklet from way back in time in the background

This costume drawing for my grandmother by the famous Platonov is casually stuck behind this frame,
it will be properly framed one day...