ALL OK, Thank you Äkkigalleria

Äkkigalleria 20 –  SBK My Racing Car is a Shell
August 1st - 4th, 2013 
Väinönkatu 36, Jyväskylä

Äkkigalleria’s twentieth exhibition presents SBK, a group exhibition including work by six international artists. 
SBK is an experimental, roaming, artistic platform developed by artist Hélène Baril during an artist residency at the Arteles Creative Centre, Finland, in 2011. Since then SBK has driven through a dozen different countries, achieved numerous feats and collaborated with local artists in several main arts centres around Europe. Having made a full circle, SBK is back in Finland for the final sprint. 
SBK is a car, a person and a world where poetry and common sayings come to life mixing with fantasy and adventure. It confuses fiction with reality, rally-cars with art and brings unlikely pairs together. Hélène Baril draws from a diverse array of artistic practices and forms of expression to embody the SBK entity. In this last sprint of 2013 at Äkkigalleria 20, SKB includes the work by 6 artists collected during an intense 6-month tour around Europe. The artists presented in this show are Hélène Baril, Laura Donkers, Alberto Martinez Centerera, Robert Prior Pitt, Matthew Scott Gualco and Lore Smolders 
This exhibition is organized in parallel to the infamous Neste Oil Rally Finland which occurs each year in the city of Jyväskylä. This car rally is one of the most prestigious car races of the world carrying with it thousands of rally fans who change the pace and atmosphere of this small city. The coincidence of SKB and the rally happening simultaneously in Jyväskylä brings two separate, isolated worlds so close they might touch. What will happen if they collide? Can two radically separate cultural events coexist in the same space? 
Äkkigalleria invites you to discover SBK at the opening of Äkkigalleria 20, at Väinönkatu 36 on July 31st from 4-6pm. The event is free of charge, everyone is welcome.

Anna Ruth, Äkkigalleria

SBK feat. Cetusss in "Tu verras en haut on a une super vue", at Duplex, Geneva

Blockhaus, tas de patates, 2013. Installation and performance, result of the collaboration between SBK and Cetusss. 

peeling potatoes

general view of the installation (Cetusss-SBK stickers and chips to take away)

plastic bottles pipe system

throwing away the potatoes

potatoes falling into water

yellow and blue image

view from potatoes eyes

drawings as posters

"Bloco de Campos", performance in Salève mountain, two days before:
http://vimeo.com/69328148

Canon à Patates 3

Potato design by Cetusss

hasta luego

Gracias a EACEC y especialmente a Alberto Martínez Centenera para eso:

http://eac-elcontenedor.blogspot.com.es

El pasado sábado 18 a las 19:00h, SBK realizó una performance en el parque de la Constitución de Azuqueca de Henares titulada "My racing car is a shell". Esta acción estaba dentro del II Encuentro de Artistas de Azuqueca, con motivo de las fiestas de mayo en la localidad.

SBK, el proyecto personal de la artista francesa Hélène Baril, venía rodando desde Escocia, en un coche personalizado por ella misma. El proyecto artístico de SBK es el propio viaje, dividido en 3 etapas en las que realizará diversas acciones y colaboraciones artísticas. 

La primera etapa era la estancia en Escocia, en una isla al norte del norte de Europa, desde la que se inició el viaje y la experiencia. La segunda etapa era el viaje a España. Y la tercera será el viaje a Finlandia, donde Hélène recopilará en una exposición el periplo que le ha llevado a cruzar media Europa yendo del norte al sur y del sur al norte de nuevo.

Un viaje es siempre una búsqueda. El viaje tiene un inicio, un desarrollo y un final. Al acabar, uno ya no es el mismo que al principio. Cada una de estas tres partes del viaje coincide con las tres etapas de las que hablábamos antes: Escocia-España-Finlandia. 

En Azuqueca, la segunda etapa, digamos en pleno ecuador de la ruta, Hélène utilizó el contenedor para deshacerse del lastre. En la performance, la artista escenificó cómo quería desprenderse de sus obras, o más que de sus obras, de la pintura en lienzo, de un concepto de arte que para ella forma parte de su pasado. El objeto como arte, pierde poder en sí mismo como objeto único, y pasa a ser un elemento más de la experiencia, entendida como un arte total.

Pensemos también que el coche, al fin y al cabo, no es más que un contenedor. El lugar que, a modo de casa rodante, guarda o contiene aquello que la viajera considera necesario en su día a día. Resulta curiosa e inevitable esta comparación al ver los dos contenedores juntos: el coche y el contenedor de basuras.

De una manera un tanto teatral, Hélène fue vaciando el primer contenedor para llenar el segundo. Sacó los cuadros que llevaba guardados en el coche y los colocó junto al contenedor, los desembaló y los fue apoyando a modo de exposición, como mostrándolos al público asistente, aunque actuando a la vez como si estuviera sola, o concentrada en el montaje de su exposición imaginaria. Junto con los cuadros, vació cajas llenas de pequeños coches, que, evidentemente, hacían alusión al viaje y al protagonismo que el coche ha adquirido en este proyecto y esta etapa de su vida. 

Una vez todo estuvo dispuesto, comenzó a arrojarlo al contenedor, desde el suelo, o subiéndose al capó del coche. Todos los cuadros y los coches de juguete acabaron en el fondo del recipiente para basuras, a modo de catarsis liberadora. 

Al finalizar, abrió una botella de champán y repartió la bebida entre los asistentes. Porque del mismo modo que Hélène rechazaba con esta acción el arte tradicional, escenificaba también su rechazo, con cierta ironía, al circuito oficial del arte, con toda su parafernalia, teatralidad y falsedad. De manera que "My racing car is a shell" era también desde el principio hasta el final un fake opening, una falsa inauguración, o una parodia de inauguración, tal como la entendemos normalmente. 

Entre sorbos de champán, la artista, ya más calmada, explicó a algunos de los sorprendidos asistentes por qué había arrojado sus obras al contenedor aun a riesgo de destrozarlas, o más bien, con intención de destrozarlas. 

Una interesante acción y reflexión, dentro de un proyecto más amplio, en el que el EACEC figurará junto a espacios y colectivos de otros países por los que SBK irá pasando y dejando huella en diferentes formas. 

Gracias a Hélène Baril por acceder a incluir en su viaje una parada en nuestro contenedor, y cuidado en la carretera!

Buen viaje SBK.

the beasts are back (Environmental Art Hebrides and SBK)

Here you will find a link to Laura Donker's work at Outlandia residency that SBK has been documenting. Laura is also working on behalf of Environmental Art Hebrides which she created (http://www.earthebrides.co.uk/index.htm). Wilderness and its comprehension through art and science is our common research matter. Our first fruitful collaboration outcome has been Laura's four-legs walk and SBK's ability to sheep-talking. "The beasts are back" is a special anthem that shall not suggest any idea of anthropomorphism. Beasts are beasts ; humans are humans. Culture. 

http://vimeo.com/64709239

Ylioppilaat II

http://vimeo.com/41501202

http://vimeo.com/41607986

http://vimeo.com/42080930

Finnish Vendetta: Life after the graduation

May 1st.

It is on that day that many Finns come out wearing their graduation caps. Unlike American design, the Finnish graduation hats somewhat look like what sailors might wear, with white tops, a thick black band and a small visor. Its appearance is also very similar to the Swedish version, but instead of colored fabric cockade, it has a metallic, gold-colored cockade depicting the lyre of Apollo, the insignia of the University of Helsinki. See how strong the symbol is: Finland was part of Sweden kingdom over 5 centuries and Helsinki is the capital city of a rural country. So Ylioppilaat (Finnish word for graduates) have the appearance of pure and innocent sailors. But they also embody the decadence and corruption of cities in a country where Rural vs Urban deviation is a big historical deal – may be more and more taboo since its technological and educational raise. May 1st is also a time when the country is finally getting out of the long winter. Snow has melt almost entirely. Days are about to be only days.

Vendetta.

“Life after the graduation”, a collaboration series of 3 short movies by Olli Horttana and Pekka Ruuska, is finger pointing the supposed purity of graduates, considering their supposed access to knowledge and civilization. “Life after the graduation”, as in any good epic tale, is playing with the basic concepts of Good and Evil. According to the medias, the good ones would be the Ylioppilaat. The Evil would be the countryside men and their environment. The good ones are those who own the knowledge and therefore, wisdom, power, “culture”; the evil is foolish and underdeveloped. By exacerbating those clichés, Horttana and Ruuska are deconstructing them. The series actually brings up to mind Quentin Tarantino’s filmmaking style, as there is this sense of humor that gets the audience laugh at things that aren’t funny. A mixture of comedy and drama is its recipe. The two graduates’ vengeance greed might actually be Olli Horttana and Pekka Ruuska’s real need of vengeance’s translation.  They indeed have both graduated from rural area high school, the same one actually, being possibly the first generation Ylioppilaat in their families. This video series might also be the expression of their disillusion towards a system that lied to them. Moreover, I see it as a tribute to Finnish rural Culture. And yes, knowledge can be sadism.

Tales.

Those two Ylioppilaat are like sailors chasing for whales. They are without mercy, cold and able to kill any countryman that crosses their path. “Life after the graduation” could be a Finnish contemporary Moby Dick. In Moby Dick, Ismaël, the narrator, is the one who cuts himself from the world. Achab, who aims at killing Moby Dick the solitary whale, is seeking for vengeance. He is a man who’s never been standing on earth, on any land, nothing but the ocean. Just like many Finnish people can feel like they live on a boat that never reaches any other land than their own. Moby Dick takes its inspiration from the Bible. Horttana and Ruuska’s triptych might take its inspiration from the Kalevala (folklore and mythological saga regarded as the national epic of Finland), at least unconsciously. I doubt about it. It would rather claim: “Let’s get rid of the Kalevala, let’s build up a new tale”. So indeed, it is time to start focusing on new tales! The construction of Culture, if that concept shall exists, is based on tradition AND its recycling. Not talking about knowledge here. I guess we talk about Art and what goes with it: its precious undefined aura. 

So here we have a video series rich of stories, commitments, and voices. Finnish topics are renewed, and we might claim that it goes beyond the Finnish borders, in terms of urban vs rural issues at least. It is also very healthy to discover that the Finnish like expected melancholia mood is getting broken. Though we’re still deep in it, and for its best purposes, the nice surprise is that violence is treated through the spectrum of humor, without judgment, without pathos. And that is what allows the audience to be in a both reflexive and entertaining posture. Without tears. 

Hélène Baril/SBK

Thank you to Eero Yli-Vakkuri

Ylioppilaat I

Life After The Graduation, 2012, 3 videos series:

1.     On the shortness of life (3’44’’)

2.     So let us rejoice (1’33’’)

3.     I came, I saw, I conquered (2’41’’)

Directors: Olli Horttana and Pekka Ruuska

Editor: Olli Horttana

Featuring. Pekka Ruuska, Olli Horttana, Eero Yli-Vakkuri.

Special Guest: Ulrich Haas-Pursiainen

Watch the videos here:

http://vimeo.com/41501202

http://vimeo.com/41607986

http://vimeo.com/42080930

Trio

Eiliyas: 

"Thought and impulse are the two intertwined entities that create action. The action is the byproduct of the thought and impulse directly and/or indirectly. Thus the study of thought and impulse is necessary for absolute analysis of the action which is imperative in correcting any conflict that exists in the human experience (social, physical, psychological, political, metaphysical)."

Orlandus: 

"Are thought and impulse the two intertwined entities that create car crashes?"

An Iceberg: 

"I would rather have some wine and get wasted."

©short meaningful nonsense by SBK

© Eiliyas: www.eiliyas.com

SBK in Make8elieve # 3

Make8elieve issue # 3 is out: 

http://issuu.com/make8elieve/docs/m8-03

pages 68, 74-75, 78-89

http://make8elieve.com/