exhibition in tampere, finland

here is the piece Lyndon and I are showing: Marjatta

new video: marjatta

Lyndon Barrois Jr and I collaborated to make this video at Arteles, in Haukijärvi,, Finland:

screenshot of   Marjatta by Lyndon Barrois Jr + Addoley Dzegede

This video will be projected at the Hirvitalo Gallery at Center of Contemporary Art Pispala  in Tampere, Finland, at the end of the month as part of the World of Tango festival.

an exhibition in hämeenkyrö

Saturday, July 27, was our exhibition at Heiska. It was a pretty hot day. There was a giant pig roasting, the squawking, tweeting, and chirping of Emilie's birds (from a CD of 100 Finnish birds used for her performance) and the loudspeaker here and here as a soundtrack. We had free soup inside the main Heiska house and ate lots of ice cream. There wasn't much else to do. There was a sahti brewing competition, a tractor parade, a smoke sauna, an exhibit of old bikes by a pretty interesting local sculptor, and more. 

my video, being projected on mosquito netting at Heiska

Here are the links to watch the videos that I projected:

The Restless

and

Failure to Communicate

We drank some leftover competition sahti before leaving. There is some loophole...something like because the sahti legally can't be purchased unless it's sold with food, we got it for free (since we didn't want the food (roasted pig)).

Here are some more photos:

part of Lyndon's installation based on part of the Kalevala

part of Laura's bread installation. It means "road to home"

It felt like a long day. I helped Emilie document her performance. She was untangling fishing line while sitting between two buildings and two windows while 100 birds were taking turns chirping (or squawking). She was wearing a life vest. The idea was to continue until she had untangled it all. Quite an exhausting task requiring lots of endurance.

mosquito test

The forests are so beautiful (and look so peaceful) here in Finland. However, every time I step inside one, I'm surrounded by flies, mosquitoes, spiders... How maddening that the time of year when it's warm and sunny, and one would want to have skin exposed, is also the time when you're most likely to be attacked by little, annoying creatures.

Yesterday, after such an adventure into the forest (to pick bilberries), I came back to my desk and made a big, ugly mosquito using newspaper and a torn up book, along with some black cord I found, feathers my friend Ais gave me, and a few BBQ skewers.

I'm trying to figure out how to move the mosquito in a way that mimics the creepy way that they buzz around with their nasty dangling legs. He's a little test I did today:

on the road

I'm writing from DFW airport as I wait for a connecting flight to New Orleans. Lyndon and I left St Louis today, with nearly everything tucked away in storage, for our summer adventures. It's been an entire week of packing and moving slowly using a WeCar and eventually a UHaul van, and I'm glad to be able to relax and stop looking for nails to remove from random walls and dust bunnies to sweep.

nearly packed to the gills

It's been almost 8 years since I first went to New Orleans, and I didn't get to see much that time as we left the night Hurricane Katrina was landing. I'm excited to see the city, but sad that I didn't have a chance to and will never know it for what it used to be.

On this trip, I get to see my former roommate from a semester I spent in Italy almost 10 years ago (time flies!), as well as spend quality time with plenty of in-laws. :)

On the flight here, I had a fresh wave of excitement about the upcoming residency and all the new things I'll get to see and do and make. Most of my posts about that will be on the Finland blog once I get there.

Thank you friends, family, and supporters for helping to make this upcoming Nordic adventure possible!

almost there!

Thank you for supporting the project!