A man just for love him – idleness and gender roles

I am for the moment making an article about We Are Resident and residency of Helen Sargeant in Tampere Takahuhti arthouse for Tampere art association magazine Täydellinen ympyrä. I will share the same text here after I have finished it.

We have made the text together with Helen and there was one thing that Helen said that start this thought of mine.

Helen tells: “The work that I am interested in making visible is care work and domestic work. In Britain today it is women who still do the majority of care and domestic work. My work is political in that I am highlighting that this is still an issue, and prevents many women from reaching their potential in the labour market or that they find it difficult to be able to work outside the home. Care work mainly goes on inside the home where it is unseen. Ideally the work that parents do would be more equitable.”

I red this and I was thinking my previous text about My time, his time, our time. Our gender roles in our family seems very different. My partner is home-daddy and I am the one who works outside of the house. Neither of us likes to clean, but Laurent cooks and I do the laudry. We both are not at all work- or money -oriented. We have get used to be poor (in Finnish scale). I did my master of arts graduating work about idleness. I like the books of British writer Tom Hodgkinson as well as Gorz, Lafargue and Illich. Still it is more me, who wants to work and who is more ambitious.

I think in Finland there is no more that kind of expectations of gender roles and domestical work or care work, unleast not same much as in Britain it seems to be. Time to time people ask me when my partner is planning to start work, but for most of the people (unleast in our social bubble) being home–daddy don't wake up any questions.

Finnish writer, politician and feminist Anna Kontula wrote very beautifull text called ”Vapaan naisen rakkaus”, - Love of a free woman. I try to translate one paragraph of it:

”Love is luxury of those, whose bread don't depend on chose of spose. Thanks to my ancestress's work of equality, I can take who I wan't, and there is no bigger freedom. I have my career, my room and my bank account, and I need no man for another thing than just for love him.”

*annakontula.fi/2016/09/vapaan-naisen-rakkaus/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

My time, his time, our time

Date of the actual residency come closer and Nicola have all ready made some plans for us.

Children are in day care the week that is usually autumn holidays in Finland and our trip to UK will be holidays for them. As I am working now, Laurent is taking care of the children daily, the time I am at work and children are no more at day care. My working day continues usually until 6pm.Often I also work in week-ends.

There are so many things I would like to see in my residency. So many places I would like to visit, and I would like to seriously to do work of my own in the way I could concentrate on it. I do have some plans, that I could put in to practise with children, but I also have a lot of ideas that need time of my own.

People keep saying to me ”Couldn’t your companion look after your children, while you are doing your things.” They don’t catch that that’s what he is doing all of the time.

I would like that this residency would be fun for all the family members. It is not fun to travel another country just to be babysitter while I am looking around and creating things. Children are also looking forward time, when I am not working and they are not in day care to do something together. For them being together is much more interesting than all the museums or other amusements. And they are both a bit shy too to meet new people.

We should find a way that pleases everybody. Both of us adults should get time for our own projects, and we should do fun things all together. And at the same time manage to create some art. This will be our challenge now. And I think this is one main question on what the family residency is about.

Place-based art I

I think there is at least three ways to work in a residency.

A way is to continuing the project that already exist. The work that artist is doing at home country. Residency just gives a chance to concentrate on it better in peace.

Second way is to observe and study in the place and then residence influence the future works. It is like collecting ideas and materials for upcoming works.

One way is to make place based art. This is something I have in mind. When we first time spoke about it with Nicola, I said that I might continue with my carnival theme, which I was doing during last year. But I think not. It could be the carnival, if I will see something like that in Salford.

One example of place-based art that I have made is the works I did in autumn 2009 on one lighthouse island called “Kylmäpihlajan majakka". These works I did in course of my school and they have not been exposed anywhere. Though I find them still  quite great. I think my idea was to catch the spirit or the nature of the island.

Lichen of the great rock was unique.

Drawing lines with rowan berries. There was endless wind on the island middle of the sea. Red lines supposed to show the direction of the wind.

 

Brown alga and the mermaid

And finally the lighthouse itself and my copy.

 

And the shadow that looks greater than the lighthouse I built.

I have got also some ideas of the place based projects we could do with boys.

 Let's see if they will  like it or not.

First tries with the boys

Hi, I am Laurent the companion of Saara and the dad of the 2 wonderful boys which are Étienne and Aarni.
When Saara talk me about her project with our family, I didn't know really what to do. It was the beginning of Summer... in Finland, it's a very short season. My idea was to enjoy as much as possible the beautiful days.

Finally, after few time, I decided to try to do some "art" with my sons. Always, I have been attracted by video and mainly things made as stop motion or in hyperlapse. So, I started to think than maybe I should try to do something like that with Étienne and Aarni.

So, first thing to do : check software available for Ubuntu to do that.
I found few: Cinelerra, KDenlive, Pitivi and OpenShot Video Editor. I tested them because I have never use this kind of software before with some pictures taken from my hard drive. OpenShot Video Editor is the one which is the most suitable for me.

The second step, I did it with my Jolla phone. It was the first material who comes in my mind. To be honest, mobile phones are not the greatest tools to use for this kind of project. Any way, I success to realize a short video (see below or on the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfnR_quDnq0).

It's very basic but It was also for me my first one ever.

After that, because using a phone is not so easy to realise a series of pictures for goal to realise a film in stop motion, I decided to dust off our old camera to use it with a tripod.
It's a nice camera, a Nikon D40 from the mid 2000's. Very easy to use to do this kind of work. Unfortunately, with this kind of device of 10 years old, the memory card is from the same time. By this fact, I was limited to 1Gb of storage.

I finally success to take 331 pictures to realise my second short. For this one, I also tried to guide the boys as a real director. This last idea was not the best. Spontaneity is better with children like that.

The result.

Available also here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJCbDy4fvcs

Another Shed,

 Here is a shed of Etienne:

Etienne used water colours.

There is a sunset, flying stars and family of mole (or vole,- I am not sure). 

Etienne is a bit excited of flying stars for the moment, as we have been reading the moomin story about flying star: "Comet in Moominland ". And he have been full of questions about comets. Even he was not speaking of it while painting, I think he might had an influence of it.

 

Colours and atmosphere are similar, even in our book what we have been reading the picture is in black and white. (And, of course, there are no moles or voles)

Shed.

I didn't know what it mean, but now I know. I guess closest name for it in Finnish would be "vaja". So our task for our residency was to make together plan for one shed. Today I am not working in my grey cube, and my younger son is not at daycare, so about first thing in the morning was drawing.

Aarni used crayons for his plan

So the theme of drawing is the castle of " Sleeping Beauty", I think that the profile of the shed resemble to him the walls of the castle. He was singing while drawing "Prinsessa ruusu linnassa...! (the song about Sleeping Beauty) and I guess that he was imagining the roses who climb everywhere around the castle and finally hide it. We have been reading the story, and singing the song together but it have been a while. I have notice that Aarni have great memory. So here is Aarnis plan:

With Etienne we will make still another.

Things I know / like about Great Britain.

I have visited Great Britain three times, if I count correctly.

First time I was there send by my parents to learn language for two weeks or something. I was staying in my fathers friend family. If I remember well, family was living in New Castle. Actually I start to think that the place was after all Middlesbrough. They were proud of James Cook there as he was born there. And we did some travelling around. We visited York, which in my memories was a city with old stone buildings and some record shops. Also I remember to have some time of of my own there. I was teenager then and family I visited was worried of me. Then I remember we were going to some seaside city, my guess would be Scarborough. I remember it was place of many casinos.

Second time it was in London, and round trip to Bath and Stonehenge. I was about 20 years old and I did some museums, bars, concerts and shopping. I stayed one week.

Third time it was in Aberdeen, where my father was working. That happened after year 2000. I was there two weeks. We did some travelling around and I was by myself often also in Aberdeen city. City was grey, and paintings in museum was grey also and I liked it. I remember in super market shopping trolleys was giant comparing to my experience, and also packages of food and things like washing powders.

So my first hand knowledge about Great Britain is limited. ( I don't even know how I should call it Great Britain, Britain, UK...?) But I like lot of things from Great Britain!

Fudge, Jane Austen, Inspector Morse, Endeavour, Shaun the sheep, Joanne Harris, Peter Pan, Buzzcocks, Pink Floyd, Jehtro Tull, Pet Shop Boys, Alice in wonderland, Yes, J. R. R. Tolkien, Tom Hodgkinson, Jeeves and Wooster, Harry Potter, Fish and Chips, Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie, Richard Adams, Rudyard Kipling, Kate Bush, Kate Winslet, Douglas Adams, Robin Hood, Knights of the Round Table, Avalon, Stonehenge, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Full breakfast, Banksy, Iron Maiden, King Crimson, Queen, Monty Python, Tea, Castles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Old graveyards, Druids, James Bond, London, Roger Dean, Beth Gibbons, Kelly Reilly, Martin Clunes, Milk man, gardening, William Morris, John Henry Dearle, Hot water bottles, red haired people, liquorice allsorts, Highland Cattle, Fireman Sam, Downton Abbey, the fact that it is an island, Oxford. Bob the builder.

Thinking about time.

My studio at Pyynikin Trikoo 2014 / oil on canvas

Today I met Nicola, who organize the whole We Are Resident – residence and I got to know a lot of interesting stuff of upcoming residency and co-operation. (I will write other full text about it, I think).

After our official meeting we walked by that gallery, where I am supposed to start working at the end of the summer. I told her about my future work commitment and working time. She thought that 25h/week working time is lot, and said something like that sometimes artist have to make compromises and be flexible. It is funny. I have been thinking that my future work will be liberating to me. It will be possibility for time for myself and working on my own field in a way that I even get some payment with people who are interested with similar things with me.

Corridor to my studio at Pyynikin Trikoo 2014
/oil on canvas

On the other hand my friend, who is a nurse, was impressed how much I will have free time in my work.

One favorite text of mine comes to my mind. It is written by an anonymous artist in one zine called “Tarinoita eksymisestä” in page 7. In English I could be something like this:

“Living with art is horrible love, heavy, but still only thing, that concern everything. If I would do anything else, I wouldn't have time to think, notice, experience and feel enough. Even now I have to hurry at times.”

About one year ago I rented a studio at Pyynikin Trikoo, one concentration of artistic ateljes in Tampere. My Studio was cute an it was lovely to go there. I could detach myself from home weekly for about three hours, and sometimes even that was difficult. During one year I could paint two paintings. After one year I gave up the studio.

Starting work, the fact that my younger sons is starting in daycare and upcoming residence feels to me as a giant jump in my independence, even if it is not exactly the artist life that I have lived before and dreamed of. For the moment my dreams are smaller, like I wish to have a key to my writing desk locker in home so that I could have some things of my own safe from little sticky fingers.

Beginning

 

I am visual artist from Finland. My favourite areas are painting, drawing, graphic art and photo. I am going to participate in We Are Resident - residence in Salford, Greater-Manchester in October - November 2016 with my family.  My partner is graphic designer and he is from France. We have two sons  4 years and 2 years old. We live in Finland.

I got idea to make my research about my crisis of being mother and wife and my big need of being artist. As I have understood We are resident participants are all families and I think my point of view would bring one piece of puzzle to the project.

I would try during the residency find some answers but I am not sure if I will.

I see some artist can take their family as a part of their art or otherwise continue their work like it was before they got children. In my case I have not succeeded and for the moment I have no tools to make it happen.

I hope to as well as create some art and research during this process and residency also to make my future work and family life easier and more enjoyable.

In my everyday life I have gigantic difficulties to find any time for my own projects. Even answering e-mails seems too much to ask most of the time. Before I got children I worked as an art teacher and I felt it answer to my artistic needs. Now I am at home but I feel much more limited to express myself even there is in theory more free time. I don't know if the situation will change when my younger son will start in daycare. I feel also that my unsuccessful need of being artist affects in my being mother also.

I think I would realise my project by keeping some kind of diary  I could also make some co-operation with other families in the project and interview other artist in same situation about how they solve the problem. I would make this diary side by side with my other art project. I would not know yet, what my other art project would be. Maybe something about Greater-Manchester. And I am not sure which media I would like to use. Lately I have done mostly graphic art but I am open to other materials also. Also I am not sure if the diary will be the main work of art or the other.