STUDIO KALLEINEN

22. August 2022 In Allgemein, artist talk By tek

BOOK LAUNCH @ PUBLICS, HELSINKI, 30 AUGUST, 2022

CONVERSATION PARK
BOOK PRESENTATION AND LAUNCH

TUE 30 AUGUST 2022
5–7PM

On 30 August 2022, Lönnström Art Museum and Studio Kalleinenwill present and launch the English version of Conversation Park; a book exploring an in depth overview of a unique artistic experiment in transforming an abandoned plot of land into a public park in Rauma, Finland. The book, which is for sale at the event, is written by artist duo Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, and co-edited by artists, curators and researchers Miina Hujala and Arttu Merimaa.

At the book launch in PUBLICS, Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen will introduce Conversation Park project followed by response from prominent Finnish researchers on participation – Kaija Kaitavuori and Robin Lybeck  – providing additional commentary and insights with respect to their expertise on participatory art and participatory urban planning.

In 2019 thirty residents between 6 to 89 years old became players in a two-year-long “Public Space Game”. The mission was to turn thirty individual ideas for a park into a collective urban reality in 6 game moves. The cooperative park was opened in 2020. Conversation Park is a Lönnström Project and made possible by the Lönnström Art Museum in Rauma.

In the book Kalleinen & Kochta-Kalleinen describe their original intentions when designing the game and share their insights gained whilst working on the Conversation Park for four years. The book touches on core questions with regards to engaging citizens in designing urban public spaces. It is an attempt to open-source the Conversation Park project so it can be analysed, modified, and replicated. It is an invitation to learn about the many factors which have to be considered when designing a participatory project – whether it takes place in art, urban planning or politics.

Helsinki-based Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen are an artist duo whose practice merges the languages and approaches of multiple disciplines, such as film, performance, game design, experimental education, facilitation, social architecture and alternative economies.

Robin Lybeck is a researcher at the sociology department of Åbo Akademi  University. He has studied typologies of engagement in urban planning. His PhD looks at how technology is applied in the context of participatory planning and urban development.

Kaija Kaitavuori is an educator and art historian. Her research focuses on audience participation in contemporary art. Her dissertation “Art of Engagement” discusses participatory processes in terms of democracy and the extent to which participation in art can be understood as ‘democratic’.

21. July 2022 In performance By tek

A WALK ON THE EDGE @ WALK AND TALK ART FESTIVAL IN AZORES 23 JULY, 2022

A Walk on The Edge is a performative experience and a collective journey in Fenais da Luz, a village on the North coast of São Miguel Island. The pathway connects Azores’ history, a local tragedy from the 1980s, and the audience members’ personal relationship to owning.

Starting from the overwhelming idea that If you live on the edge, you might lose your belongings overnight, the collective began to raise questions about the meaning of ownership and its relation to property, society and time. Do you own what you have?

A Walk On The Edge is presented as part of Walk & Talk Art Festival. It is a multidisciplinary art piece part of the European project Centriphery, developed by architect duo Mezzo Atelier – Joana Oliveira (PT) and Giacomo Mezzadri (IT) – choreographer and artist Gustavo Ciriaco (PT, BR), theatre director, musician and writer Ovidiu Mihaita (RO) and contemporary artist and songwriter Tellervo Kalleinen (FIN). Local musicians and performers are an integral part of the piece.

Centriphery is a collaborative project between nine partner organizations based throughout Europe, which includes Walk&Talk – Arts Festival, co-funded by the European Commission’s Creative Europe program. 

3. March 2022 In Allgemein By tek

BIASED @ Espoo City Theatre 12 – 19 May, 2022

KARVONEN – KALLEINEN – KOCHTA-KALLEINEN – KEZELE – NEVCHE
A performance @ Espoo City Theatre, Espoo, Finland

People mostly believe their thought processes to be both rational and sensible. And yet, systemic mistakes influence our thinking far more than we realise. These universally shared mental shortcuts are known as cognitive biases. The best-known cognitive bias is the confirmation bias which leads us to select information that supports our existing views. BIASED invites the audience to explore these hidden notions and unconscious factors that drive our actions.

BIASED is born out of collaboration between five artists. Matija Kezele from Croatia, Fred Nevche from France, and Tellervo Kalleinen, Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, and Anna-Mari Karvonen from Finland explored the theme as a part of Espoo City Theatre’s contribution to Centriphery project.

You can buy tickets here

19. September 2021 In festival, performance By tek

Dr Untitled – an online performance @Untitled Festival, 24 September 2021

In the performance we share our struggles of living up to our values and ideals. This session is intended for professional “re-imagineers” who work day in and out on the transformation of society. In our experiment we want to understand how individuals manage to translate the goals and ideals of their daily work into their private life. Do you advocate a basic universal income but don’t know how to deal with your kids’ pocket money? Do you implement national citizens assemblies but cannot decide on the family vacation?  Are you a vegan eating meat in your dreams? Do you have occasionally brief moments of feeling like a hypocrite? Then this is the right session for you. In full anonymity we share cases about such dissonances. The presented cases – your cases – will be discussed by our peer-to-peer support network. At the same time each case will be fed into an immature human AI system called “Åsa and Max” that is particularly responsive to so called intention-behavior discrepancies. Our system – while still in its infancy – will unapologetically try to produce recommendations for each case. It nevertheless needs to be trained by providing feedback on the presented recommendations. 

Join us in trying to apply big picture ideas on a very small scale.

Disclaimer: This session requires no imagination.

Time: 24 September 2.30pm EEST

Concept and facilitation by  Ceyda Berk-Söderblom, Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen

Production by MiklagardArts 

With actors Max Bremer and Åsa Nybo

9. July 2021 In exhibition By tek

THE BALLOT – EXHIBITION @ FELLESHUS, BERLIN, OPENING 3 SEPTEMBER, 2021

Oliver joins forces with Swedish Think Tank Fabel in organising an exhibition about the evolution of the ballot in the Nordic and Baltic region. The show looks at the ballot – a simple piece of paper and a tool of power  at the same time – mainly from a design perspective. Why are the ballots looking like they do? Who actually designs them? What are the ballots telling about the state of democracy and what are they hiding?  The exhibition opens September 3rd at Felleshus at the Joint Nordic Embassies in Berlin at 16:00. 

‘If you cannot visit the exhibtion in person you can get an glimpse of it by downloading the exhibition app. Search for “The Ballot” in the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store. alternatively you can follow the links below. The app was coded and designed by Oliver.

Android version
iOS version

9. July 2021 In festival, performance By tek

PLAYING ADULTS @ TROUBLE FESTIVAL, BRUSSELS, 11 JULY, 2021

Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen are currently taking part in the Trouble festival in Belgium, 11 July 2021 2pm and 6pm with their piece Playing Adults. In the piece four adult actors perform adults based on the observations and views of children, who have been interviewed for the piece. The performance turns the local Parc Liedekerke -playground into an absurd stage of adulthood. While sliding down from a castle performers shout descriptions of adults the interviewed children don’t want to become like. While standing on a seesaw the performers tell children’s reflections about dilemmas related to adulthood. The piece highlights the critical views and hopeful thoughts of children about their future in a changing world. Playing Adults creates an awkward tension and a dialogue between generations.

Because of the pandemia, the duo directs the performance from a distance. The performers of the piece are Maxime Bodson, Jean Fürst, Julia Ghysels and Emilienne Tempels and the assistant director is Francoise Berlanger. Trouble festival is curated by Antoine Pickels. 

Free entry!

 

7. July 2021 In performance, presentation By tek

WINDOW CLEANER ORGANISED A COMPLAINTS CHOIR @ THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART. READ HERE THE ARTICLE ABOUT IT, BY JOSE GARCIA OLIVIA

“In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, many complaints rose against universities, especially art universities where studios and workshops are fundamental for most of the students. Imagine international students who pay up to £29.000 a year, and what they are receiving is a Zoom link. They are fighting for fair adjustment of the fees in accordance with what they are receiving 14 . It’s also important to mention that art university strikes began even before the Covid-19 outbreak when staff complained for 14 days all around the UK for zero-hours contracts, pay devaluation, rising workloads and the gender and ethnicity pay gap 15 . In parallel, students demonstrated by the lack of tutorials, crowded workshops, and the number of students per course.

All these discontents built up energy of collective action against the institution. From that place, a complaint choir was the perfect tool to use. Due to the lockdown, video call was the only channel where we can attempt to sing together. For the aim of this project, it didn’t matter how harmonious singing was performed; it was more about the action of singing collectively as a political performative tool. ”

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND SEE THE CHOIR VIDEO @ https://www.cleanyourwindow.co.uk/articles/complaintchoir/

8. June 2021 In Allgemein By tek

KESKUSTELUPUISTO HAS NOW AN OWN APP!

It is now possible to get to know Keskustelupuisto (Conversation Park) through a mobile phone app! It is currently only partly in English, but please have a look and get a sense of the project, where 21 inhabitants of Rauma negotiated and realised a new park together from the scratch. In the app the participants introduce the park, and you can hear in depth interviews with them before and after the 2 year park making process. Some of the features work only at the park, such as the park disco. You can download it for free from play stores: the name of the app is Keskustelupuisto. Any feedback welcome!