18/09/2012

Festival fever #5 - art in Tartu

Your tracks are interesting to drum to

Before flying off to Venice and Croatia I have just enough time to give you a quick overview of this year's Art Ist Kuku Nu Ut festival. I went to get a glimpse. It passed by fast and those days were intense. There was shit, art and a boat party. The nights ended with a communal dinner shared between the artists in the atrium of the Y gallery.

Having a cig.

There were three exhibitions opened and my favorite was the soft red light in Y gallery which turned the whole room into an installation of sorts. Also I enjoyed the video piece about three dogs ripping apart a chair at Noorus gallery. The three days flew by as the openings started at 5 pm already and you know how those openings usually go. It's mostly about talking with people who are blocking the artworks.

In the red glow of art.

I have stronger feelings towards the last years festival. Possibly because I was more involved and there were more artists from abroad. But the organisation was once again well done. Especially the gathering/recreation of three iconic works of Estonian art history. One of which is literally shit. I won't get into that.

The listeners at the first artist talk.

Another cool part of the festival was the boat party. we got to spend about two hours riding up and down the Emajõgi with wine and catering. There the artist talked about their artworks and the inspiration. It was followed by a big party in Kink Konk.

Party in the atrium of Y gallery.

The festival has a great tradition of having an hangover brunch and it helped me survive the ensuing discussion about the state of the current art world in Estonia (state funding etc.).

At the boat party on Emajõgi.

See you in October!
Barthol

06/09/2012

Black nights of Tartu

This post is dedicated to Peeter, a good friend who is moving to Berlin

I was challenged to do a black and white post. It's a new one for me, but I thought it would go well with the photos of dark streets of Tartu with everything and everyone there. It's September again, so the streets are filled with 1st year students who know no boundaries.

A girl kissing a passed out girlfriend
Listen to Deluxe to get that "driving to Berlin" feel going.


I'm taking part in the Art Ist Kuku Nu Ut festival so one of the next posts will probably be about that. It was one of the highlights of last year. You can read about it here. Sadly I'm not that sure about attending the Eclectica festival this year as I might have to be in Tallinn instead.

Enjoying a cigarette in one of many Tartu's hidden spots

I happened to visit the simultaneous Drama festival yesterday as well. The funnest part was using the director's badge to get into his play. Otherwise I still prefer contemporary dance to theatre, like the Burroughs dance act I wrote about.

Passing by Zavood can be hard if you are recognized.

The so called summer has ended and I'm working on my next release which probably will be on a CD(!). It will be a conceptual one and it should be lots of fun with all the extra's that are included.

Sudden enlightenment in front of Möku.

Let me know what you think of this black and white post in the comments. Do you want to see more of this or should I switch back to colors? Also enjoy the summer's tail and the back-to-school vibe. See you really soon!
Barthol

02/09/2012

Polymer festival psy rave and dance act

I heard it was a crazy set with a dead guy by the stage

This week I went back to the Polymer festival to see Henri Hütt's dance act. Henri is a good friend and a talented dancer and we did a project together back in 2010. During the evening there was a psy trance night Manatarq there.

The psychedelic rave visuals were cool.
Listen to Speed Courrier as you read on, it's downloadable.


The dance performance was very visual. It had Daft Punkish helmets, remote control cars, a gun and bear traps. It combined text, music and video with simple movements and continuous flow. All the people barely fitted into the black box to see all of this. There was another play on Sunday, but that was it. I recommend to see Henri's techno-minimalist dance performances if you have a chance.

A photo from Burroughs, the contemporary dance show.

The Polymer festival is an exciting event and I will analyze it's artsy side in another web publication, but the night I spent there was no less inspiring. I had just helped a friend move from his nouveau rich neighborhood to an established squat. We had wine, beer and meatballs and a slight urge to do something with our Friday night. So we went to Vabaduse väljak, skipped some bars and came across some giggling friends. They told us that there was a party in the house, but they couldn't get in the door. We managed to finally get in after calling about ten different people who might have been attending (none answered). But there was no party. Not a person came to the door and the windows were dark.

Psy trance enthusiasts going to the rave

That's when we found out about the free psy trance rave at Polymer. We set course for that and got another two guys to join us on the way. I haven't been to that many psy trance events before. Maybe only the stage at Robotaanika Park a few years ago. One of the enthusiasts explained psy to us as: "diggidi diggidi diggidi viiiiiiiuuuuuuüüüüt." It was fun though. The scene is an interesting and a multicultural one. There were also different substances present in the blood flow of the goers.


Lounging with psy.

We soon found Henri and the others from where the dance act had taken place and we joined them. People were having shots of tequila, mixing rum and playing with the remote cars from the play. We set up an obstacle course for the cars and raced against each other. Several uninvited guests wanted to join us. It might have been the tracks I was presenting to our little group.

The rascals with spray cans

There were crazy things happening all around the factory. Someone was carrying a passed out girl. Rascals had stolen two spray paints from Soho Fonds lounge and were writing smut on the walls. What happened in the neon lights of the dim main room you can only imagine, but there were people making out elsewhere.

Put your leg in the air like you just don't care

A great end to my experience with the Polymer festival. It's a shame they didn't let me play, but hopefully it will change next year.

Cheers!
Barthol