Mechanics of Conformity (MOC Collective)
Rosamaría Bolom, Edwina Goldstone, Sepideh Raha, Arlene Tucker
Video screening and discussion in and around the topic of hair
Hosted by Äkkigalleria, Väinönkatu 32, Jyväskylä
October 5, 2019 from 13:30-16:00

Welcome to participate in an intimate conversation with MOC, where we can listen, share and learn about each other’s experiences related to hair. Your thoughts contribute to a deeper understanding of our collective and individual histories. Only through dialogue can discoveries be made.

How do we look at ourselves?
How do they look at us?
How do others look at each other?

MOC investigates the excess, absence, cutting, covering, growing, coloring and grooming of hair as both the materialization of individuality and of conformity. As an artistic medium and mediator of meaning, hair can communicate a sense of self relating to the internal and the external others. From this perspective, it can either uphold or upset conventional distinctions between divisions of gender, race, region and religion. These issues around hair can epitomize a global yet subjective social and personal significance.

MOC Collective consists of Rosamaría Bolom, Edwina Goldstone, Sepideh Raha, and Arlene Tucker. We explore concepts of identity, relationships, perceptions, liberation and otherness through hair. Ask a person about their hair, and they just might tell you the story of their life. MOC has been working around the subject of hair since 2017.

This event is organised in collaboration with Anna Ruth and Äkkigalleria, also is supported by Taiteen Edistämiskeskus. The discussion and screening is open to everybody and to all ages. The main language of the event will be conducted in English. There is the possibility for Finnish translation and, of course, freedom to express oneself in Finnish is encouraged.

Video lineup:

The Story of Hair Tree & Intertwined
By Arlene Tucker 2019

The Story of Hair Tree & Intertwined shows the process of how these two projects were developed and created. Intertwined looks at how family members relate to each other despite their shared DNA. Here, the concept of family also extends to individuals welcomed by choice. This piece is a continuation of Arlene Tucker’s Hair Tree (2017), which gathered family members scattered over four continents by collecting cuttings of their hair. Moving back in time, she attempts to comb through memories to understand where and how knots are formed. Tucker hopes this will further open dialogue about family and with family.

Watching Me, Watching You, Watching Me
By Edwina Goldstone 2018

Watching Me, Watching You, Watching Me, follows the metamorphosis of an image through many stages as it follows the twists and turns of the artist’s decision-making and memory process as she recalls and connects past & present conversations about ‘Hair’, with all the ambivalent, contradictory ideas and mixed feelings that are attached to it. Added together as an animated sequence the drawings form a peculiar imaginative narrative that never remains constant but grows and morphs with thought and time.

Me recuerdo a mi misma // I remember my self // Muistan itseni
By Rosamaría Bolom 2019

Year 2017, Mechanics of Conformity Collaboration lead me to a deeper reflection about how norms and values are introjected into our behavior since our childhood. A series of images came to me. I could remember three efficient rituals whose normative beliefs affect behavior. Me recuerdo a mi misma // I remember my self // Muistan itseni, is a “mask and a ritual for a society that judges us and teaches us how to behave ourselves from childhood to old age not to be punished, excluded accepted”.

Entangled – ME & HAIR
By Sepideh Rahaa 2018

Entangled – ME & HAIR is an ongoing project where I address my memories and experiences in relation to hair, where hair plays a meaningful role in my daily life interactions with people in society. It brings up questions such as how do we connect and disconnect from each other in relation to our looking, and how one can overcome the mechanism of conformity in everyday life. I used a series of life memories and experiences conveying the core concept through performing art, poetry and video.

https://mechanicsofconformity.weebly.com/

When Vishnu Vardhani invited me to carry out the interviews for Pixelache's 2019 Breaking The Fifth Wall, I was very intrigued by what the concept of the 5th wall is and how we could challenge it through a flat screen.  I wanted to try to get to know the participating artists through conversation.  Letting thoughts flow and investigate what rises.  These conversations lasted one to three months through open discourse on an open google document.

Read the interviews here:
When will patriarchy end? When will there be a day when we don’t need to use a passport to travel?
On smells and the senses
Preconceived notions
Sawing, dimensioning, shaping
Incomplete manual for our living
Pingponging
Circle in a park
Phone out
50 likes

Vishnu and I took some time to reflect on my process of conversing with the artists and through that, we learned a lot about each other and where we are in the moment.  Below are snippets of our dialogue:
 
VV: Arlene, thank you for bringing alive the conversations with the artists. It was a pleasure to read the interviews. Talking about end, For me personally, end is when we take our final breath. Until then the great collective consciousness connects us in numerous ways… Like Knots. Knots :D Amazing.I love Knots myself. I feel so empowered since I started to tie. Breaking norms I have internalised. Having courage to express, and to formulate the boundaries, as well as asking for support and to attend to my needs. It was a huge preparation process.Now I discern conflict without losing my agency. The workings of rope metaphorically and factually, inspire me to work with what need to be changed or developed in order to accommodate norm criticism. You understand ? 

AT: Yes! I completely understand.  It’s also a way to hold on and have grounding, but at the same time let one arm go, let one arm free and let the head dangle.

Do you think it makes a huge difference whether you initially meet somebody online or face to face?

VV: Does it make a difference ? For me, YES. I have a tendency to walk straight into the narrative that is carefully spun. Some people have exceptional online personas. I still don’t have tools to decipher these personas. In person I remark If the two individuals have the capacity and orientation to hear and see each other. Stay open to understand one another. 

I am split on the question of difference. 

I am inspired by an artist, who does comic books and  who does a lot of political work. I followed him for years on Instagram, he always responded to my messages on insta, when I met him in person, my fantasy burst, I wish I didn’t meet him. As his ‘art’ wasn’t reflecting his ‘art-work’. That said, I am working at this year’s festival with the millennials. I am impressed, with simple online interactions. Yesterday, this person, was looking for our office, when I proposed to go find him, he counter-proposed to ‘just the share location- easy for all’. As I had walked a few times to fetch people that morning, I took note of this person’s exceptional screen interaction. That exceptionality also reflected in the hands on tasks. Also I thank the world wide web to have caught me this incredible being ‘Alaa Satir’. I follow her ‘art-work’. Recently I had the opportunity to talk to Alaa on Skype. This was a turning point for me in my life. 

I have taken a lot of space with this response. Do you still follow me ? I can elaborate on the talk with Alaa, before, I want to ask you a question. You mentioned earlier about ‘bubble’ , do you feel the bubble can exists across realms ? Mediums ? Do you think it’s possible to build communities where people meet maybe only annually ? 

AT: In my mind, bubbles are boundaries and borders that we create as individuals and as a society.  So, yes, they exist in any possible dimension, but it’s dependant on perspective and context. I look at borders also as comfort and uncomfortable zones.  Getting to know ourselves and stretching that boundary or breaking it, or just knowing we really cannot cross it. Awareness of our relationship to it.

Us talking about boundary, life and death triggered writings from one of my most inspirational figures, the Estonian Russian leader of semiotics and literature studies, Juri Lotman (1922–1993).  Wilma Clark, the translator of Lotman’s book Culture and Explosion comments on his chapter ‘The end! How sonorous is this word!‘ by saying, “the notion of the ‘end’ and the principles of continuity and discontinuity are reflected in the stark boundary between life and death. Death is marked out as both the beginning and the end. Lotman speaks of the ‘special semantic role of death in the life of man’. It is the boundary which frames all meaningful activity and which, simultaneously, marks the contradiction between life in the general sense and the ‘finite life of human existence’. And yet, what is finite, is continued in the memory of the ‘son’ so that even the boundary of ‘death’, as it were, is permeable and filtered” (Lotman 1992, xiv).

One thing I noticed when I was having these conversations with the artists and something I was trying to develop these past few months was feeling their borders, being sensitive to their boundaries and timing through the computer.  With all of them except the conversations with Laura, Vidha, and Samir, I did exclusively online through a Google Doc, like the one we are having now.  With some people it clicked immediately and we were off talking about very deep and personal topics whilst with others, I could sense that they needed more time understanding my proposed process of opening dialogue, the point of meandering, and the importance of setting a pace in which we can safely and naturally delve into different topics.  I could not have done this without everybody’s full participation.  Most of the conversations lasted a good two months.  Sometimes it stretched longer than that from the first initial contact as “life happens”.  

With every artist, we would write to each other every few days or with some every day.  It largely depended on their personality and what was happening in their life at that moment, but I tried to be sensitive to their response and how they responded.  I really got to know every artist in an intimate way, which was very unexpected.  I could see which times of day they were most active and how the changing of the seasons had or didn’t have an affect on them.  From this, I also got to get to know myself in a different way too.  Very grateful for that!

Oli mahtava kudontapäivä Bokvillanissa!

"Bokvillanissa on myyjäis- sekä tapahtumapäivänä 13 eri alan kädentaitajaa myymässä sekä esittelemään upeita kädentöitään. Materiaaleina takorautaa, huopaa, lasia, kangasta, keramiikkaa, hopeaa, puuta jne..

On käyttötavaraa, vaatteita, kodinsisustustuotteita, koruja, taidetta. Myyvät kädentaitajat ovat isossa salissa Bokvillanin Kaffilan ja kirjasto- sekä Tikkitilan välissä.

Kirjastotilassa talotaiteilija Arlene Tucker luo kanssanne taidetta ja Tikki tilassa kudonnan ja ryijyn saloihin teidät ohjaa kudontaryhmän jäsenet toisen talotaiteilijan eli Sanni Weckmanin kanssa.

Tervetuloa myyjäisiin sekä kädentaitotapahtumaan."

​Lue lisää tässä.

*Текст на русском языке ниже*
>English version below<

Tulkitaan vapaita käännöksiä

Tervetuloa meidän taiteen tekemisen sarja. Katsomme ja keskustelemme taiteellisista töistä, jotka ovat saapuneet eri puolilta maailmaa vastauksena vapaiden käännösten (Free Translation) avoimeen kutsuun. Teoksia ovat luoneet ihmiset, joihin on vaikuttanut vankeus, ja ne ovat olleet esillä MAA-tilassa marraskuussa 2018. Kaksituntisen tapaamisen aikana tutustumme teoksiin ja kuulemme tarinoita niitä luoneilta ihmisiltä, joista monet ovat tälläkin hetkellä vankilassa. Tämän jälkeen teemme käännöksiä, vastauksia taideteoksille, ja lataamme ne verkkonäyttelyyn, jossa myös taiteilijat ja suurempi yleisö voivat osallistua dialogiin. 

Käännökset voivat olla visuaalisia, kirjallisia, kuunnelmia, valokuvia tai muita ilmaisumuotoja. Olet tervetullut tuomaan valitsemiasi materiaaleja – tai vain tuomaan itsesi.

Paikka: Bokvillan Kirjasto, Hämeentie 125, 00560, Helsinki
Milloin: 5. marraskuuta, 2. huhtikuuta, 7. toukokuuta
Aika: klo. 15.30-18.30
Kielet: Suomi, englanti, venäjä
Kenelle: kaikkien ikäisille

Lisätietoa tapahtumasta meihin voit ottaa yhteyttä Anastasia Artemeva ja Arlene Tucker sähköpostilla osoitteeseen info(at)prisonspace.org.

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Interpreting Free Translations

Welcome to our art-making sessions. We will view and discuss artworks received from all over the world in response to the Free Translation open call. These artworks are created by people affected by incarceration, and exhibited in MAA-tila in November 2018. During the two hour session we will view the works and hear the stories of people who created them, many of whom are currently in prison. We will then create translations - responses to the artworks and upload them on the online exhibition, for the artists and for the general public to see and continue the dialogue. 

The translations can be visual, written, audible, photographic, or in any other form. You are welcome to bring materials of your choice - or simply bring yourself. 

Place: Bokvillan Library, Hämeentie 125, 00560, Helsinki
Date: March 5th, April 2nd, May 7th
Time: 15:30-18.30
Languages: English, Russian, Finnish
All ages are welcome

For more information please contact Anastasia Artemeva and Arlene Tucker at info(at)prisonspace.org

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Интерепретируя Свободный перевод
Добро пожаловать на встречу по теме выставки Свободный перевод. Мы будем изучать произведения искусства, полученные из разных стран мира, и созданные людьми, на судьбу которых повлияло ограничение свободы. Эти работы были показаны на выставке в пространстве MAA-tila в Хельсинки в ноябре 2018 года.
В течение трехчасовой встречи мы рассмотрим рисунки, услышим стихи, и узнаем личные истории авторов работ, многие из которых в настоящее время находятся в тюрьме. Мы создадим свои собственные творческие работы, интерпретируя, “переводя” услышанное и увиденное, и загрузим из на сайт онлайн выставки, где их увидят авторы и публика.
Мы будем писать письма, рисовать, фотографировать, и использовать разные другие формы художественного самовыражения. Приносите любимые материалы, или просто приходите.
Место: Библиотека Kafilla Bokvillan, 00560, Hämeentie 125, Helsinki
Дата 7 мая 2019 года
Время 15.30-18.30

К участию приглашаются взрослые и дети любого возраста.
Bokvilla: http://arabianasukastalot.fi/
freetranslation.prisonspace.org/
prisonspace.org/

*****************************English below*********************************

Puhutaan hiuksista!
la 2.3. klo 12-16, Kulttuurikeskus Vuotalo

Vuotalon kevään prosessinäyttely ”Mitä me tolle sun tukalle tehdään?” käsittelee hiuksia ja siihen liittyviä identiteettikysymyksiä. Osana kevään näyttelyä järjestetään myös Puhutaan hiuksista! -tapahtuma, jossa puhutaan tietysti hiuksista. Päivän päättää Chris Rockin tähdittämä Good Hair –dokumenttielokuva.

Dialogiin on kutsuttu taiteilijoita, jotka ovat käsitelleet tavalla tai toisella hiuksia ja identiteettiä töissään Suomessa ja Suomen ulkopuolella. Mukana ovat Mechanics of Conformity -kollektiivin taiteilijat: Rosamaria Bolom, Edwina Goldstone, Sepideh Rahaa ja Arlene Tucker sekä afrobrasilialainen tutkija ja toimittaja Silvana Bahia. Osana tapahtumaa on myös kevään prosessinäyttelyn taiteilijan Caroline Suinnerin taiteilijatapaaminen.

Tapahtuma järjestetään yhteistyössä Mechanics of Conformityn ja Koneen säätiön rahoittaman ARMA (Anti-Racism Media Activist Alliance) – hankkeen kanssa.

Tapahtuman kielet: englanti, portugali, suomi.

Vapaa pääsy!

OHJELMA
12.00-12.45 Silvana Bahian alustus ja KBELA –elokuva (Vuosali)
12.45-14.00 Mechanics of Conformity -kollektiivin videoteokset (Vuosali)
14.00-15.00 Keskustelu (Vuosali)
15.00-15.45 Caroline Suinnerin taiteilijatapaaminen (Galleria)
16.00-17.30 Good Hair –elokuva (Vuosali)

12.00-12.45 Silvana Bahia & KBELA –elokuva (Vuosali)
Silvana Bahia on afrobrasilialainen tutkija, toimittaja, elokuvantekijä ja aktivisti. Hän on keväällä 2019 Koneen säätiön residenssivieraana osana säätiön rahoittamaa ARMA-hanketta. Olabin tavoitteena on demokratisoida teknologiaa ja lisätä teknologia-alan sukupuolista ja etnistä monimuotoisuutta. Puhutaan hiuksista! -tapahtumassa hän alustaa Yasmin Thaynán lyhytelokuvan KBELA, joka on visuaalisesti vaikuttava elokuva ja oodi afrobrasilialaisten naisten hiuksille. Kieli: englanti ja portugali.

13.00-14.45 Mechanics of Conformity -kollektiivin alustus ja videoteokset (Vuosali)
MOC –taiteilijakollektiivin taiteilijat Rosamaria Bolom, Edwina Goldstone, Sepideh Rahaa ja Arlene Tucker ovat teoksissaan tutkineet hiuksia - niiden runsautta, puuttumista, leikkaamista, kasvattamista, värjäämistä ja hoitamista niin yksilöllisyyden kuin yhdenmukaisuuden ilmentymänä. Puhutaan hiuksista -tapahtumassa katsotaan kollektiivin videoteokset, jonka jälkeen keskustellaan keskustelu. Kieli: englanti.

15.00-15.45 Caroline Suinnerin taiteilijatapaaminen (Galleria)
Caroline Suinner on Vuotalon kevään prosessinäyttelyn “Mitä me tälle sun tukalle tehdään“ -taiteilija. Näyttelyssä Suinner kokoaa yhteen ulkonäköön ja hiuksiin liittyviä kokemuksia Itä-Helsingissä. Puhutaan hiuksista –tapahtumassa on mahdollista tavata tutustua kevään aikana rakentuvaan näyttelyyn ja tavata taiteilija Caroline Suinner. Kieli englanti ja suomi.

Näyttely Vuotalon galleriassa: 26.1.-25.5.2019, vapaa pääsy.

16.00-17.30 Good Hair –elokuva (Vuosali)
Dokumenttielokuvassa näyttelijä Chris Rock tutkii afroamerikkalaisia kauneusihanteita ja käsitettä Good hair, jolla afro-amerikkalaisessa kulttuurissa viitataan pehmeisiin, helppohoitoisiin ja tavoiteltuihin afrohiuksiin. Kesto. 96 min. Kieli: englanti.

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LET'S TALK ABOUT HAIR
2nd of March from 12-16:00, Cultural Center Vuotalo

The spring process exhibition of the Vuosaari House, “Mitä me tolle sun tukalle tehdään” (‘What are we going to do with your hair’) discusses hair and the identity questions linked to hair.

A Let’s talk about hair! afternoon will also be held as a part of the spring exhibition, featuring films and discussion about hair. Both Finnish and international artists that have incorporated hair and identity in their works in one way or another have been invited to take part in this dialogue. The artists of Mechanics of Conformity will take part in the event: Rosamaria Bolom, Edwina Goldstone, Sepideh Rahaa and Arlene Tucker as well as Afro-Brazilian researcher and journalist Silvana Bahia. An artist meeting with Caroline Suinner will also be held earlier during the day.

Language English, Portuguese, Finnish

PROGRAM
12.00-12.45 Silvana Bahia’s introduction & movie KBELA (Vuosali)
12.45-14.00 Mechanics of Conformity collective’s video art
14.00-15.00 Discussion (Vuosali)
15.00-15.45 Meet and greet Caroline Suinner (Galleria)
16.00-17.30 Movie: Good Hair (Vuosali)

www.vuotalo.fi/