In the old world I wanted other things as well

Abstract

My MFA thesis is a suggestion for a more empathic approach towards materiality in a world of sculpture and in my own artistic practice. The text walks you from a Stone Shop in Taipei to my cycling training, and to a dinner table with biologists and finally arrives at my home during the Covid-19 pandemic. The text is a combination between fictional text (my personal experiences) and theoretical examples, mostly by two authors, Jane Bennett (Vibrant Matter, Political Ecology of Things, 2010) and Daisy Hildyard (The Second Body, 2017).

The Thesis text is supposingly giving a wider look into my artistic practise by telling a story of stones that travelled with me from Taiwan to Finland. The stones are taking role as an perfect example of material that interest, attract and are shaped by me, the artist – but the relationship is not always that simple. The material itself feels living, and suddenly my role as a creator feels empty.

I want to talk about the physical experience of being embodiment of living material in relation to the surrounding world. I want to review the artist – artwork relation by combining the practise in arts into sports training, where surprisingly everything around the training sessions itself are playing an important role. Unlike in the artistic practise of mine. What could I learn by combining those two worlds that seemingly have nothing to do with each other?

Thesis text also consists of a chapter about the artwork (exhibited in Exhibition Laboratory during 10.10-8.11.2020, as a part of Kuvan Kevät 2020) and explanation of its background and used materials.