TURKU 365
SERIE OF 32 ARTWORKS COMMISSIONDE BY EUROPEAN CULTURAL CAPITAL, 2011.
ARWORKS SPREAD ALL AROUND IN AND OUTSIDE OF THE CITY, INCLUDING AN EXERCISE BOOK AND AN YEAR LONG RADIOSHOW AT NATIONAL BROADCAST COMPANY YLE.
SERIE I
Site-spesific
MAKING PATHS TO POLITICAL, MIND AND URBAN HISTORY
Red Carpet Over A Wasteland
The centre of Turku has a mountain hidden from citizens ofer 100 years. At 2011 420,81 metres of red carpet were placed to guide the inhabitants of Turku to view hidden urban sceneries from the Kakola Hill. The red carpet was woven by 1059 weavers of the Varsinais-Suomi Arts and Crafts Association and the Taito centres operated by Åbolands Hantverks. On July 21st the carpet parade invited the weavers and fellow inhabitants to rest their eyes on a completely new view of our city on one of the seven hills of Turku.
Over 4000 guests walked the red carpet during June and July 2011. The guests were asked to think on how they would like to use the wasteland in the future. The thoughts were delivered to the decision makers of Turku. Also a shout choir piece was conducted from this material by Petri Sirviö and Meiju Niskala.
Return of the Tramlines
In Finland the tram history begins from Turku, which built the first horse drawn tram rails in 1890. At the end of 1972, all tram lines were removed from use and replaced by buses, which were called the Yellow Dangers.
Why was the tram traffic abolished? What memories do people still have of it? And what kind of disputes took place at the city council prior to the final decision on abolition? On Thursday night, 19.5.2011, the rails appeared back on the streets and memories, dreams and conversations resounded in the streets.
Meditative walking piece lasted 7 hours 42 mins and was 15,7 kilometres long.
The Lace Veil of Pallivaha
One hundred years ago this was common knowledge everywhere: huge Pallivaha-stone was the best spot for a Sunday picnic in the entire city of Turku. As the years passed, the forest had grown and the only people who knew the place were students from nearby school and people in neighbourhoods.
To illuminate this place out for common knowledge again, a 400 kg lace veil was built on top of the 22 feet big boulder and invited people to come with free picnic bags and maps. Over one thousand names and memories were written in the guestbook by the boulder.
The opening picnic was held on July 14th with a harpist playing on the boulder.
SERIE II
Participation
ENCOUNTERS AND INTERACTIONS
Bus Trip Art
Part of the community and site-spesific exercises was A Bus Trip Art -piece.
In this experiment people made random art in the local buses with these instructions: Put your pen on the paper and let the bus twitches and stops create an image. Sign your piece, name it, and write greetings to the back side of the card to an unknown recipient. As well known fact: Turku-citizens are not interested in neighbours or not exited about unknown other citizens, this piece was built in order to people experiencing the possibility of try method-based creation and connection to others.
All the cards were delivered on Valentine's Day to people living in different parts of Turku, mainly in the areas where most of the people live alone. This was done with the help of volunteers, who delivered nearly 1000 Bus Trip Art -cards to different addresses.
Night Train Lullabies
In the spring of 2011 voluntary choir singers were sought by an announcement in the newspaper. Later three-voice choir groups jumped in trains from Turku and lulled all the sleeping cabins in the night train to sleep one by one.
Singer Aliina Mäkitalo arranged three songs for the groups she coached. The choirs hopped in the night trains between Turku and Loimaa from May to December.
Riverside Nap Pillows.
For one week in June 2011, everyone could allow themselves to sit down on the riverside benches, rest their head on a pillow, marvel at cumulus clouds that formed shapes resembling cabbages and dragons – or simply close their eyes and listen to the sounds of the early summer.
Members of the handicraft workshop of the association of the unemployed in Salo collaborated with the Art Clinic to produce a week-long performance that could be experienced on a stretch of two kilometres and almost one hundred benches alongside the Aura river. At the end of the week the patchwork pillows were given to inhabitants of Turku who wanted to welcome some leisurely peace and quiet into their homes.
The artwork was a production of Art Clinic, where groups and private individuals created public urban artworks tailored for their personal skills and interests.
In Praise of Office Employees
of Art Clinic, where groups and private individuals created public urban artworks tailored for their personal skills and interests.
Is there somebody in your place of work who always washes everyone else’s coffee cups without a word of thanks, or seems to spend his or her every vacation ill? Someone whose computer always tends to crash at the critical moment?
In February 2011 the citizens of Turku were asked to report their colleagues in need of some cheering up. Reports were given to our Turku365 hotline by phone or using our online tip-off form. Aurajoki Official Singers’ Group composed personalised songs of praise to seven individuals exposed by their co-workers. The songs were performed during working hours with the entire office surprised with polyphonic singing and cakes.
Six of the songs were performed in April and one in October 2011. A few hard workers also received a letter and a cd with a song made for them as a surprise.
Place: several offices and institutions
Choir: Aurajoki Official Singers’ Group
Composition, adaption and directing of the songs Kari Mäkiranta, lyrics Timo Väntsi.
Turku Poem Tour
This big site-specific poem tour took place in June 2011, in Turku, about Turku, for Turku. For dead citizens at the cemetery, for the people in their homes under balconies. For 1000-year-old Church and it empty benches.
Marginalized Object Service Patrol
Marginalized Object Service Patrol fought back shabbiness on Wednesday 23 March in 2011 within a radius of 365 metres from the centre of the Turku market square. Plants were dusted in the shopping mall, worn crosswalk stripes were repainted using chalk, and pavement grilles of the pedestrian street were vacuumed. The patrol of volunteers also thoroughly cleaned the ears of the Erik Julin statue using cotton sticks and wrote a number of cheery letters that were put into the lonely mailbox of a dilapidated house nearby.
SERIE III
Art as an object
NEED FOR ALL KINDS OF ART
Art For The People
Art is a better mirror than metal-coated glass mirrors. It doesn't matter if the person has blueberry soup around their mouth or their hair is pointing in every direction, because art can make us see if we have the right attitude every day. (Female, 26)
This artpiece started with the search, in which anyone, who wanted to have art in their life, could participate. The application form asked to explain the need for the art, things that the participant did not get tired of discussing, and reflect on what could be a work of art, if they were to be the artwork themselves.
Applications were received from the man in the street, the sick, people on welfare, students, art monsters, as well as people who just wanted to have a keepsake of the Capital of Culture year 2011. At the same time, there was a search for artists who would like to donate an artwork for the 72 people, that were selected from the applications.
On Saturday, 19.11. 2011 there was a tent on the Turku Market Square, that had 72 packages inside in it. Those packages had a piece of art each. Every person receiving the package got five minutes to choose their own package, intuitively.
Candidates for the pieces of art arrived in advance but in random order, and before entering the tent discussed the importance of art in life of ordinary people.
What people think art is needed for? And what occurs when prior wishes and intuition on self-selected work encounter? And finally: did life change when the piece of art arrived home? Selma Vilhunen, oscar-nominated director, directed a document based on the Art for the People -work.
SERIE iV
Participatory over borders
JOY OF EXPRESSING AND BEING HEARD
Exercise book for everyday exprorers
The Calendar for the Everyday Explorer was carried out as an activity book and calendar under a single cover. The book was dedicated to all dwellers of the city; to children who crochet spider webs onto the holes in stone walls, to lovers who leave romantic messages in pants pockets hanging on clotheslines, and for dads who are wild about doodling flowers, dogs, and fixed gear bikes with chalk here and there. But in particular, the book and its 52 groups associated with the city and their everyday tasks were dedicated to all those who have not yet tried holding a picnic in the parking lot gutters or experiencing the treasures of the city as their own.
The book was published as part of the Turku365 - The Year of Exploration of Everyday Life, which took place in Turku, the European Capital of Culture in 2011. A weekly program based on the book was made for the Nationa roadcast COmpany Yle Turku radio channel by reporter Kalle Talonen.
The tasks in the book were also published on the website where anyone could report on the implementation of the tasks. 52 Finnish artists and thinkers, as well as 52 school and day care groups were invited into the exploration of everyday life. You can be inspired by their task implementations even after the calendar year at www.arjenlöytöretkeilijät.fi