And so it has drawn to a close. What an experience. I could not have scripted something as enjoyable and informative if I tried. It’s a long way from the art studio in GTI to the private gallery world of Forsblom and yet all the learning from both experiences informs the other.
I am leaving with a new focus and awareness of possibility for my future work coupled with a realisation that the value of art can exist in a price tag all it wants but where it comes from and how it speaks to the observer and indeed the conversation the artist has with their work is where the value lies. Price tags come in to it because of passion for all these factors and the innate desire we have as a species to wonder and pause and inform ourselves of our own identities through cultural vessels, be it art, music, theatre, literature etc. The people have been truly fantastic and the gallery took great care to provide intriguing situations that have encouraged an internal dialogue I plan to maintain. The journal keeping here and even in GTI during the course have made me wonder where my thinking could be now versus where it is if I had maintained an open and inquiring conversation for the past decade, but in different ways I have. Upon my departure from the gallery Friday it was hugs all around, it was tough receiving love from the beautiful Aino, Heli and Maarit but someone has to be so fortunate. We all bonded well during my time there and I cannot emphasise enough gratitude to Kiira for affording me the experience and Marcus for taking so much of his time to make me welcomed. This trip will be nigh on impossible to top and is truly, truly once in a life time.
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On the last day, today, I took a walk in the Kaisaniemi park with the aim of reflecting on these last three weeks in Helsinki taking advantage of the quiet settings. Overall the whole experience was highly satisfying - in terms of achievement of work placement goals, experiencing a new country and culture, and being part of an excellent students exchange project. My visits to numerous art galleries and museums in Helsinki, making contacts with lots of people from Finnish and other cultures, made the work placement exciting. It was a physically and mentally demanding job. I am thankful and happy that I did what was entrusted to me. Hopefully these contacts will prove to be very useful for placement students in 2018! One thing that I really missed was developing bonds with the local people the way other students did while being stationary at their work places. I met lots of people but only for very brief times, but I will always remember the politeness and respectfulness of Finnish people during those conversations. People would truly 'listen' and their response would indicate that they understood well what I were proposing. This responsive communication was the most important element of my work placement. With time and experience I brought more clarity in my message hence made the most important contacts in the last week. One of the most enjoyable experiences has been reading other classmates' blogs. We all were on our own unique journeys. Sharing those perspectives with the colleagues enriched everyone's experience. To be honest sometimes I found myself envying the colleagues in Raahe and Pori - their experience of snowy silence, stunning landscapes and a chaos free environment. I am sure some will disagree. Though it might be true that the conflict between what we want and what we get keeps us alive and kicking. It feels amazing now when one thinks how this venture happens every year in GTI. It is important to realise the hard work 'behind the scenes' which makes this experience possible for us: the money that goes in, the responsibility undertaken, paperwork, investment in terms of time and energy of each person involved, from start to finish. Being an immigrant, a person of colour, coming from a developing country has taught me lots of things and one of these is to be humbled and grateful when life gives one something precious. Ireland will be my home soon. I cannot thank enough for the opportunities this country has given me including this work placement opportunity through Erasmus+ project and Leargas. I want to thank John McLoughlin for personally taking interest in my case making sure I have all requirements fulfilled for the visa application. Equal thanks to Sarah, Robin, Paul, Ashley, Fiona, Mark, Linda, all my classmates (and anyone I might have missed, apologies) for support, guidance and enjoyment. Kiitos. Samir I firmly believe that life is what you make of it. You get out what you put in and the same goes for this placement. The placement in EMMA has been fantastic. I've been extremely busy due to the fact that in EMMA at present they are building a worlds first immersive media box which I had the skills to help create. By being willing and eager to help I was fully included in the process. Working from 8-5 daily alongside some very friendly and knowledgeable individuals was thoroughly enjoyable and the environment breeds and encourages creativity.
I am leaving Finland with new skills and abilities, a greater appreciation for the employees in these cultural establishments, an understanding of the amount of time, effort and money involved in displaying art and a more critical and educated eye. I came to Helsinki with no preconceived notions, an open mind, and a willingness to learn and adapt. I spent my free time in the many galleries dotted around Helsinki and walking the beautiful city streets. I was in awe of the amount and variety of art and I allowed myself be influenced by the experience. I tried to use my new skills to formally analyse the work and found I surprised myself at my depth of knowledge and informed opinion. The experience has had a profound influence on the direction of my work and I now more than ever feel positive about the art I will create in the future. The locals I have had the pleasure of meeting have been genuinely friendly people. I have in previous posts referred to the inclusion of cultural elements in the curriculum from a young age and applauded the forward thinking this displays. If SISU (stoic determination) describes the national identity then Craic might describe the Irish and I feel that both populations would benefit from a blend of the two. I will be back to view the fruits of my labour in EMMA when it is complete and I am already looking forward to it. Paul. I aim to be a practising visual artist one day. The Drawing and Visual Inquiry course I am attending and this placement in Helsinki are all linked to that goal. A major part of this work placement is concerned with learning skills needed for an artist's professional development. These skills can also be labelled as non-artistic skills - skills necessary for visual arts career and not involving the actual creation of artwork. From visual arts practice perspective these can be summarised as: Presentation skills, technology skills, marketing skills, business skills, administrative skills, and communication skills.
My job in Helsinki though wasn't directly linked to professional skills for becoming a visual art practitioner but most of what I did related to the skill sets mentioned above. The core skills included research, planning, mobility, networking (communication) and use of technology. I have written about how these skills were utilised and related challenges in previous blogs. As my work itself was about future student placements in Finland, there was a lot of thinking and researching involved about what are the actual needs of future student visitors to Finland. This question was also asked often by the people I have been visiting: 'what can the visiting students do or what are their needs?' My brief research led me to the idea about the dichotomy between artistic skills and non artistic skills - which doesn't always work. In reality there is always an overlap. The skills needed to become an artist and to be a professional do get interwoven at some point in ones career. But during most trainings 'professionalism' tends to stand alone as some different area which isn't as 'exciting' as making art, or becoming a teacher, or whatever one is passionate about. A recent article I read gives a fresher perspective to this issue and talk about this overlap. For instance artists or art students can translate their 'arts' skills into the business world. These skills include: idea synthesis, focus, visualisation/interpretation, physical mirroring/detailed correcting, and specificity. The writer whom I quote below gives some nice examples of how these skills work same for producing artwork and being a professional. You can read the article here. Shaun M. McCracken, Academic Advisor for First-Year Performing Arts Students of the University College Virginia Commonwealth University says: 'So what do students do in the arts besides learning music, painting pictures, and telling stories? They focus on their work in the most intimate ways possible. They open their minds and (more painfully) their hearts to the creative process. They allow others to judge their work and they judge others (what non-arts people call 'critical thinking'). They spend hours in front of mirrors. They know their strengths and weaknesses better than the individual with an Accounting degree, and, at the end of the day, they can sit down and work with that person.' McCracken, S. (2010, September). Understanding arts training: Beyond 'soft' skills. Academic Advising Today, 33(3) The point I am trying to make is that perhaps a different perspective is needed when we talk about professional skills for visual art students. This could not only improve student learning but also bring in an efficient system for work placements in future. So it is almost time to say goodbye to Helsinki (but that is rather hasty with a few days left) and I feel it’s time to take stock and draw some contrast between some of my experiences here and express what I have uncovered creatively.
Being here under the emphasis of work based learning and cultural exchange has thrust forth the eagerness to be perceptive and aware as much as I can and I feel I have (the three week period of time feels vital to gain these insights). As much as the work experience has informed me of competencies and confidences I feel that without experiencing several exhibitions with a multitude of work being displayed with varying modus operandi I would not be walking away with a much improved sense of what it is that speaks to my creative imagination. Surely as someone aspiring towards creative endeavours this is truly vital. I will take much from my work placement and interactions with all of the welcoming staff at Forsblom, coupled with my adventures (to be continued) to visit galleries and artists I feel I have developed a vocabulary about art that speaks to me more clearly…. If it speaks clearly is this where my creativity will go... Time will tell... Key words from my observations about what resonates with me are...
Over the past two weeks I have obtained practical skills and knowledge regarding the setting up of exhibitions and the day to day running / maintenance of a large gallery. Being around this much art has encouraged me to critically analyse it and to form opinions based on the knowledge I have acquired this year in GTI. I have found my eye drawn not just to a "nice piece" but to form, composition, tone, the artists brush strokes etc. This I have found hugely enjoyable and being able to critically appreciate a work gives me all the more confidence going forward.
The fact that there are so many varied pieces here in EMMA, and that within a stones throw of the train station in Helsinki I can view a huge amount of important work including portraiture and landscapes, sculpture, symbolism, prints, romanticism and impressionism by such Artists as Edelfelt, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne allows me a huge scope to use my acquired skills. It is an excellent placement and affords the student a large range of opportunity. I can see why Finland remains the location of choice for the Erasmus + art program. Due also to the exposure to the wide range of works I feel my preferences changing slightly and my appreciation of differing styles growing as I get to view them up close and in the flesh. This will inform my future work and I am excited to include the elements I have picked up here. I am out today in a local primary school to change art which EMMA has there on long term loan. I can't help but feel that regarding art in the Irish primary education system we are sorely lacking. Paul Two weeks have passed now and in quiet moments of reflection I realise how much I will take with me from my time in Helsinki. In the gallery doing what seems like a simple task in organising and alphabetising the art catalogs is a pleasure, one, coming up with an efficient system to do the job as best possible, two, because I might never handle so many books of art again. The efficiency of my system meant ample time to peruse my way through many pages.
I have in the course of my two weeks been superbly privileged to meet some practicing and successful artists, Otto Boll, Hannu Väisänen, Reima Nevalainen and Stig Baumgartner. In all instances I was more than confident enough to pose questions and even on occasion make statements relating to the work, to be able to do this in the presence of art historians and the artists who produced the work made me realise my confidence and ability to intelligently engage in a subject I grow ever more intrigued by. What lies ahead for this week I am not sure but there will be a visit to another studio to see an artist…it’s already a great week ahead knowing that a gem of an experience that money can’t buy lies ahead. It’s the final countdown... Friday was a very productive day. I visited 7 places: 5 galleries and 2 museums. Some of these organisations were contacted via email and a few responded. As one progresses in a task, the 'nature' of the job starts to reveal issues particular to that job. For instance I realised that there was an element of 'unpredictability' in this work in terms of time constraints, communication barriers, availability of suitable person and physical movement (distance, navigation, time, etc.). A typical visit comprises of some background research on the organisation being visited, communication via email and depending on response/no response making decision to physically visit the place to meet the desired person, discuss future networking possibilities and give them the information pack. In bigger, popular places like museums one often encountered reception/information desk personnel while in smaller galleries one could get lucky to meet the director! It is great to get a positive response. Meeting the right person would lead to interesting conversations and also open up other possibilities. Finding directions is an important element of this job. I have been using GPS with Google maps to find addresses. While it is an efficient way to find addresses sometimes it can get very annoying and one wishes to simply have a good old compass and a map or find the way by looking at the stars! Again one's phone must be fully charged for this task, preferably with unlimited data to use, maps application, a good pair of healthy legs and a little risk-taking behaviour! By risk taking behaviour I mean use some intuitive sense and do the opposite of what the GPS tells you - could lead to some pleasant shortcuts! Also thanks to Paul who informed of this setting on Google maps which lets you keep the map north up. I want to introduce two very interesting galleries I visited: Galleria Huuto: This is an independent artists collective and maintains two galleries in Helsinki - one on Uudenmaankatu and other on Jätkäsaari. I visited the former first and the gallery assistant was kind enough to give the director's phone number. The director was extremely responsive on the phone and very interested in the proposal. She invited me to the other branch of the gallery in the evening where I could meet her and also attend the opening of 4 exhibitions simultaneously! It was a busy time for the director but I was given ample time to explain briefly the Erasmus+ programme, GTI, the art courses and needs of the students with regards to their work experience in galleries. Her interest indicated that she would be happy to accommodate GTI students next year provided there are tasks which can be assigned to the students. One of the artists exhibiting that evening was Ulla-Mari Lindstrom. Her work comprised of a study created with the help of natural science and visual arts - a fictional hybrid herbarium. It depicted possible structures of new potential species randomly generated using parts of plants and animals collected in nature. Some photos are posted at the end of this blog post. Also you can find out more about her work by clicking on her name above. MUU Gallery: This is a gallery space and office of the MUU Artists Association. I met Ville the gallery coordinator who linked me with the director. I am meeting the director on Tuesday and looking forward to it. From MUU's website:......is an uncommercial multiform stage for installations, video art, audio pieces and performance exhibitions. The gallery presents artists whose works have yet to be seen in mainstream galleries, but also acclaimed representatives of experimental art. The artistic course is determined by the choices made by the board of exhibition and the curators. Artists-run spaces and collectives are heaven for practising and emerging artists. Unlike big museums and galleries these places are run democratically in a very supportive and collaborative environment. These are spaces where one could be heard. On Saturday I visited the Taidehalli, HAM Museum, Amos Anderson Museum and Gallery Anhava. During my time in Finland I have begun to question the role of art within education and what it's role is. Below is a TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson. Take the time to watch it and it may change your perspective. I've watched it many times and find it inspiring each time.
TED talk discussion: (Do schools kill creativity:HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=IG9CE55WBTY ) My hope once I have completed my studies is to become an educator and teach art to second or perhaps third level students. I do however find that I have strong opinions on how the art curriculum should be improved in primary school. I believe very strongly in the importance of art. Without art the world would be a very beige place indeed. Buildings would be square and grey. We'd all wear the same clothes, shoes, hair style. All products would come in the same packaging. Art is everywhere, its in the architecture, the fashion, the packaging, the advertising and anywhere you care to look. So why is it that art is somehow not seen as being as important as math, the sciences or languages? During my work in EMMA I have seen many groups of school children as young as 8 being brought through the exhibits. The children are brought by the schools as part of their formal education and sit quietly on cushions in front of each artwork as it is explained to them. Details of the work, the artist and the process is explained and children are invited to ask questions and interact where possible. This is invaluable to children who are inherently creative and instills in them a belief in the importance of that creativity. So many of us return to study art later in life. This is because of the lack of emphasis on creative subjects in our education system during our school years and in fact we are actively encouraged to pursue other subjects. We should encourage our young people to continue their creative pursuits and show them the options open to them in relation to further education and job opportunities. It is happening here in Finland. The education serves all people equally and does not stigmatise the arts. Surely it is something relatively easy to achieve at home if those in power see the importance of encouraging our creatives. Albert Einstein wrote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Paul 'An active line on a walk, moving freely, without goal' - Beginning of Paul Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook My work in Helsinki aims to identifying possible contacts and future placement opportunities for GTI art and animation students to help them gain professional experience. The work on this project started about two weeks before we took off from Dublin to Helsinki. During this time I had several discussions with Sarah to be clear on what this workplacement was about and the best ways to do it. In light of our discussions following aims were chalked out: To conduct an online search to identify possible organisations, galleries, museums, etc. where future GTI Art and Animation students can gain professional experience. To identify contacts and/or email addresses within these organisations to communicate To physically visit potential organisations to disseminate relevant information with regards to GTI, Drawing and Visual Inquiry, and Animation courses and Erasmus+ programme. To develop a resource comprising of a database of potential organisations, contacts, etc. in a report form (and in a blog which can be updated regularly, if time permits - this could be a workplacement every year itself!) As mentioned earlier the work on identifying possible organisations and writing up the background (something about visual arts in Finland, Erasmus+ project and students workplacements) started weeks before arrival in Finland and currently is in the shape of a rough draft. This workplacement is different from working in one place and requires lot of communication and networking, time management, etc. On the third day in Finland, after meeting Veera, a draft email was developed to send to various organisations and sent to Sarah for comments. Till date 31 organisations have been contacted via email. These include the organisations identified through 'snowballing' whilst meeting contacts (like Veera, a Finnish friend's mom whom I met, etc.) and asking them if they know anyone or other potential resources I could contact. Achievements I met the Director of photography gallery who is very interested in communicating with Sarah in future for student workplacements. The gallery is linked to the Photographer's association of Finland and I suggested that a letter/email can be sent to its members (professional photographers) informing them of the availability of students in February. Possible workplacements could include first hand experience of assisting a professional photographer/s in a studio, setting up an exhibition, admin work in the gallery, etc. The Director suggested that I could communicate similarly with the Painters', Sculptors' and Graphic Designers' associations who would be glad to offer work experience to students.Our meeting concluded with the Directors' promise to write to Sarah soon for possible future collaboration. A forthcoming meeting is set with a staff member in Kiasma museum for the 22nd February to discuss future workplacements for the GTI students and I look forward to it. Challenges Online searching is a tedious and time consuming process. Each organisation's website is unique in how it presents the information, and options available to contact them. All major museums' and popular galleries' websites are in Finnish language and most have an option to browse the site in English but not all. It might be hard for organisations to commit for something which is a year away. Some of the email responses suggest that there might be some confusion between understanding what a work-placement or internship is. For example an organisation responded by saying that they only offer internships for longer periods like 3 months and that 15 days is a very short time. An organisation commented that they are unable to pay the students. The email was edited to add the sentence that all expenses are paid for the students and that they do not require any 'salary'. Finding addresses. Next steps Each visit to a gallery or museum, meeting a contact or receiving a response on the email helps to improve various aspects of my work. The next phase of the work mainly involves physical visits to rest of the organisations and a schedule to do that will be developed the first thing in the morning. Samir |
Art + Animation 2016/17Paul Cluskey Map of Vantaa |