The Chekhov Machine is a collective that comprises of artists from various disciplines. I work in the group as set designer. Each performance is a poetic improvisation on space and time – a site-specific live installation that deals with themes such as anxiety, ambivalence, sadness, longing, imprisonment and the feelings of being an outsider.

Chekhov Machine goes Beckett is a surrealist – avantgardist  dance theater piece, that draws inspiration from the worlds of Anton Chekhov´s and Samuel Beckett´s plays. The premiere is at Stoa theater in Helsinki on September 15th. Other performances on Fri 16th – 7pm, Sat 17th – 7pm & Sun 18th – 3pm. Welcome!

Chekhov Machine info in Facebook

TEOS 2016
It is time for the annual sale event of Associations of Finnish Sculptors and Finnish Printmakers: TEOS 2016 exhibition is open every day 25.2. – 6.3.2016 at Cable Factory, Helsinki. I will have there three small masking tape works that I made during my residency period in New York, after finding strong colored masking tape. These pieces will be hung on the wall, here below is one of them.

Some people knit IX, 2015, masking tape, size 38 x 21 x 17 cm

Finnish Academy of Fine Arts´ exhibition
Last Sunday ended the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts´ exhibition at the Exhibition Laboratory gallery. It had an interesting concept: everyone from the Academy, students, alumni and all of the staff could bring any work they wanted to be shown. You were not really able to tell, without reading the texts, who was a professional artist with long career, and who worked at the Academy´s office. The exhibition raised very fundamental discussions about what is art, what is good art, and how you can experience art in general.
In this exhibition I had a painting from a series I made in New York after working with a great professional dancer. This piece is named after her.

Myrrhia, 2015, acrylic and ink on canvas, size 76 x 101 cm.

Occupy space!
The Association of Finnish Sculptors had a vast exhibition, Occupy Space!, in Rovaniemi Art Museum Korundi in Lapland. Occupy Space! brought forward contemporary Finnish sculptors, from established to up-and-coming artists.
The exhibition opened during my residency period in New York, but I was able to visit Rovaniemi in the end of January during the last day of the exhibition, and finally see my  two works at the museum. I also joined the guided tour and got a lot of interesting comments from the visitors. Thank you everyone who were there!

Korundi visitors examining Some people knit from 2014. In the background is a glimpse of my photo work Tenses (Rovaniemi), 2015

Building Bodies: Pia Männikkö & Lior Tamim

Thursday December 3 from 6–9 pm

Triangle Arts Association, 20 Jay Street, Suite 318, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

Triangle artists-in-residence Pia Männikkö and Lior Tamim invite you into their studios to see works-in-progress that explore the limits of the human form. Männikkö constructs installations and photo collages that document and abstract the body as organic entity. Her practice explores the presence of the physical form as well as its interaction with the surrounding environment. Tamim transforms his studio into a vibrant red cube which serves as backdrop for an ongoing performance of the artist as body-builder. His collaborative and site-specific installation negotiates complex questions about masculinity and power. Realized during their residencies at Triangle, the works on view by these two artists ask us to ultimately consider the body as malleable material.

Pia Männikkö graduated from the Glasgow School of Art’s Sculpture and Environmental Art Department in 2010 and earned an MFA in Sculpture from the Finnish Art Academy in 2014. Her materials and methods are diverse—from everyday objects, textiles and clay to photography and video. Männikkö´s installations and sculptures have been presented in various exhibitions and art happenings, among others Mänttä Art Festival and Rovaniemi Art Museum in Finland, OpenART biennale in Örebro, Sweden, Armory Gallery in Sydney, Australia, Kraftwerk der Rathenau-Hallen, Berlin, Germany and The Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Männikkö is an artist-in-residence at Triangle Arts Association through the support of the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York. www.piamannikko.com

Lior Tamim is a visual artist living and working in New York City whose projects are installation-based and site specific, as each dictate unique rules and methodologies. He incorporates a wide variety of media including photography, video, performance, painting, and sculpture. He studied art and photography at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem and at Parsons, The New School, New York. Tamim is currently training to be a body-builder while he is in residence at Triangle from November—December 2015. www.liortamim.com

Triangle Arts Association is a NYC based non-profit arts organization founded in 1982 to support international and U.S. artists. Triangle’s core initiatives: Residencies, Workshops and Public Programs are centered on dialogue, experimentation and the creation of community around art. www.triangle-arts-association.org

Image: Pia Männikkö and Lior Tamim, Building Bodies, 2015.

My bag is packed ready for traveling to New York! The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York operates in the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture, creating dialogue between Finnish and American professionals and audiences. Organized by FCINY, I will be participating in the Triangle Residency located in Dumbo, Brooklyn, spending my 3-month residency period in New York in October–December 2015 as a part of Triangle’s international network of professional artists.

“For Pia Männikkö’s artistic practice the concepts of body and space are not only mere starting points, something from which something else may be found, experimented, and contested. They are the primary concepts that establish the ontology of her art, and through which all the decisions and details can be grounded and understood…”  Read the full artist introduction at FCINY´s site.

One of my plans for the recidency is to continue working with photograph series Tenses.

The Chekhov Machine is a collective that comprises of artists from various disciplines who have committed themselves to the play Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov. The collective creates new events and performances depending on the available space, time and possibilities. Each performance is a poetic improvisation on space and time – a site-specific live installation that deals with themes such as anxiety, ambivalence, sadness, longing, imprisonment and the feelings of being an outsider.

I have been a member of the group since January 2015. I plan visuality for our performances, and I also perform as a live set designer during our shows. Next performances are at Mad House Helsinki, October 1st, 2nd and 3rd 2015 at 7pm. Welcome! More info: https://www.facebook.com/chekhovmachine

I spent beautiful summer days last week in Harviala Mansion, an hour drive north from Helsinki. There was an international artist symposium Spirited Mansion. We worked for six days making installations, land art, photographs, paintings etc. in the mansion´s gallery and other buildings. Artists: Aya Imamura, Salla Laurinolli, Andris Makarockovskis, Pia Männikkö, Patricia Pisani, Agita Steinberga, Katri Stenberg and Anssi Taulu. The exhibition in open during happenings and by appointment till the end of September.

Pia Männikkö: Searchers, 2015. Found objects, motors, lights and sound.