Sarah Maple and other parties

Can I remix you?

Hey you,
It was a heavy Friday night. It started with two exhibition openings, continued with my first ever bowling game, then a house party and finally Sinilind. It took most of the weekend to recover.

My favorite spectators.

The first opening was that of Sarah Maple. Her works were impressive and the exhibition was well organized. I can't remember the last time that there were so many excited spectators at an opening.

There wasn't much of Sarah to see from the last row.

The second exhibition was in an appropriated cellar with wire frame trees and a photo series of people posing on the same graffiti-covered corner in Tartu. However I managed to find Zuks there.

Changing gallery openings.

The exhibition was cool because it wasn't in a gallery and also because the "tree" engulfed most of the space and couldn't even  be circled. Too bad the wine was already gone by then.

The Kalamaja house party.

I then went to bowling for the first time ever. It was harder than I had expected. However I did better than I would have expected and managed to score a couple of strikes.

Sigue Sigue Fabrique.

Next stop was a house Party in Kalamaja. My phone had run out of juice and I only managed to get the house number. As I arrived I also discovered that there were two houses with the same number. I decided on a window by vague party lights on the second floor. After ten minutes of throwing snow at the window I was invited in by the arriving neighbor couple. The window turned out to be the right one and it was a great surprise to find SS Fabrique and Kalvik also at the party.

Sinilind was so crowded that the seated were worshiped.

From there a group of us went on to a party in Sinilind. There we had a couple of drinks too many and saw a lot of friends - old and new. The night ended at around 5 am.

Meeting Sarah after her artist talk, I was extremely hungover.

See you soon!
Barthol

Why didn't I go out this Weekend

We don't need photos of our concert

I hope all of you who wanted the free download of NYorky Bounce got there in time. Have a listen:

Barthol Lo Mejor - NYorky Bounce (free download until 20.01)

It was really cold outside, that's why.

Hey, I admit that I didn't go out this weekend. You might be wondering why, and so am I! Here are some photos that try to answer that question.

I got my hands on an issue of Vice magazine, that's why.

I did go out once and that was the opening of Raoul Kurvits' retrospective's opening in Kumu. I went there by tram being accompanied by two photography students drinking no-label beer and a girl from advertising.

Posing artists, that's why.

Afterwards We got on a taxi with Kiwa and ended up at the exhibition's salad afterparty at Sinilind. I left before the drunk lady fell down and the girls started fighting. Maybe neither happened at all.

Mihkel Maripuu and Akky Glitter, that's why.

There was plenty to do at my studio and people to have over. I've been watching a lot of 90s cartoon recently. The list includes Clerks, Undergrads, Mission Hill and Clone High. I can recommend Undergrads and Mission Hill.

Kiwa was rocking Tallinn, that's why.

I've also managed to get some good books of contemporary English authors. January is usually my reading month. Lets hope February is more about writing and photos.

Colourful screens, that's why.

Inspired by Undergrads I also wanted to try playing Risk. At first I thought that the tales about 8 hour games was a myth, but it took us half an hour to understand the rules. Luckily the game lasted only close to three hours and I controlled North America, Australia and Japan.

Playing Risk, that's why.

I can't wait for this weekend to get out. I haven't actually decided on which event to go to and I might even go to Tartu. I just have to check the weather first. We'll see soon enough.

Recycled newspaper Star Wars stormtrooper snowflake, that's why.

Head over to "Trash can dance's" blog and vote on last years bEstonian release. Any votes towards my double release are also much appreciated.
See you soon

Barthol

Art school christmas party

It's always nice to have the cultural elite notice you

The music is in the player on the right, choose your own sonic background.

Two girls doing "something sensual"

It has been a busy weekend going back and forth between Tallinn and Tartu. Two exhibition openings on Thursday and playing a set on Friday in Tartu.

Conan the Barbarian on steroids had broken Nälg's display window from the inside.

The Christmas party in Nälg on Friday was wicked. It was packed full of art school kids and their friends. I and Zuks ended up rocking it together once again. It was fun as always.

There were four tables in the dancing area making it hard for everyone.

Local super-bum Erkki Hüva was booked to perform a set of Christmas songs. I missed it as I was getting the other room jumpstarted. A middle-aged couple had taken the initiative and connected the gear and found some discs they had already put on. When they tried to give me pointers on what to play, I politely refused.

Zuks with a fist full of cash - "10€ per request or a flash of breast".

As I started I discovered that I lacked headphones. I did what I could and started the set with blindly mixing the tracks for half an hour. By that time Zuks arrived with two pairs of headphones and saved the night.

Some time later it was getting hotter.

During the night I got an astonishing  amount of different style and song requests - ragga, DnB and "something to dance to". And apparently 212 is a bad track to play at a party.

Dancing at the speed of light.

People were promised karaoke, but at 3 am it still wasn't a possibility. Don't ask me why. I heard that finally only two songs were sung before the party got shut down.

Paul Lepasson of Mimicry and Eliise who just had to be on Fluon.

At the end of the night the place was full of utterly wasted people. A short goon came up to me an threw his arm around my neck and started telling me a cool story. Before that he had managed to hit on half the girls in the room and stumble on the other half. He then stayed at our table to bore everyone.

Former cleaner of the Y-gallery getting serious.

We had another drink in Kivi before we headed home. Some of us made it and others not so much as it was cold as hell outside.

Two girls one cup, a pair of glasses and a room full of art.

On Thursday I was at the opening for Art Academies second year photographers first exhibition. Among others Keiu Maasik and Hanna Parman were also showing their works. The exhibition is better than I had feared so I suggest you swing by Katarsis at Müürivahe 30 and check it out because it's worth it.

Brother and sister amazed by the exhibition.

On Saturday we went to Manatargaq carneval and it was surreal. I have over a hundred photos for you. I'll post them next time so be sure to check back in couple of days.

The queue for the Manatargaq psy trance carneval.

Read about what happened on Saturday at Manatargaq psy trance rave.

See you soon
B

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

Andy Warhol in Estonia project by Kiwa and Martin Saar

Some people spend their whole lives thinking about one particular famous person

Hey you!
This wednesday we went to a special art event which was the presentation of "Andy Warhol in Estonia's" trailer. It took place at the studio of Martin Saar on Tatari street. Kiwa was starring as Andy Warhol.

Kiwa as Andy Warhol with security chicks

There were three parts to the event. First there was the screening which took some time because it was too light outside. The movie is planned to be finished in 2017 and to be shot in different locations around the word.

The show started already outside of the gallery

The event was semi-closed, but someone told me that the last event had been packed with local celebrities. Loads of Champagne, beer, wine and vodka were served.

Andres Lõo taking a smoke break

Secondly there was a piano concert by Martin Saar, which sadly was only/mostly covers and no original works. I didn't know what to make of it.

Posing with paintings is almost as good as posing for paintings.

The paintings combined whatever you come across on the internet "before you diagnose yourself with depression, make sure you are not in fact surrounded by assholes" type of stuff. It's hard to predict if such memes will stand until next year or the one after that. The paintings were pretty to look at no doubt.

A fresh Warhol fan inspecting the show

The third part was the auction where Martin Saar was supposed to sell his works off the walls. He only sold about half of them and after that it was cancelled because the prices weren't high enough. So sadly my little sister didn't get to buy her first piece of art.

The audience waiting to see the trailer for Andy Warhol in Estonia

By the end of the night the coffee machine shut in as someone had poured champagne into the extension cord. Also one visiting artist had gotten super drunk, asked all the girls to pose for him and basically got kicked out in the end.

Martin Saar using on of his paintings to cover the window

This was supposed to be the last exhibition by Martin Saar before he leaves for the states to study art there. I'm excited to see what direction he'll take in the future. It was an exciting Wednesday evening and it continued for us in the center until 5 a.m.

Kiwa being used as a mirror

See you soon!
Barthol

My first tattoo

Looks like one of my designs. - It probably is your design.

Welcome back!

The quote is about the tattoo down here. I used to draw that girl face here and there and as it turns out the girl on the picture found it and like it so much, that she had it tattooed on her arm. That was one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me.

Girl on girl action.

On Tuesday night I was playing around with CDjs at Kink Konk. One of the players was a CDj200 and the other one a CDj1000 it was a world of difference. Some of you came by (thx) and Zuks stayed there for all of the set. On the way back we found a poster advertising a party at the new diner - Kiirsöökla. The poster was full of design and spelling mistakes. We were slightly intrigued by it.

The Dj is playing on the right.

On Wednesday we went to the new Kiirsöökla's club night. There was bad club music and the design was reminiscent of soviet time diners. Dishes were glued to the walls and the toilet ceiling. The floor was still covered with the former casino's logo carpet. There was no room to dance because of the tables and the place has full wall windows facing the street. There was a smoke machine, lights and a strobe. The hostesses kept telling the DJs to turn down the music. I enjoyed myself, as it was a totally out of this world experience. No room for dancing and we were almost the only ones eating their expensive food, everyone else just sat at tables and went out for an occasional smoke. I'm not sure I'll go back, but it was fit for the night.

Drunk girls clubbing at Nälg.

This Friday me and Zuks will surprise you at Nälg. It wasn't too long ago when we last played there. This time it will be a bit different and be sure to wear your dancing shoes. We will wear our's and take turns dancing and playing tunes. It's also an opportunity to get on Fluon, I'll bring my camera with me, so think of some wild stuff to do on the dance floor. Also if you want a temporary tattoo, I'll be more than happy to sketch something on your arm.

Marco the stripper, Margus the artist and a girl.

There was a cool exhibition opening on Friday that I haven't written about (been working on the tracks for my coming Ep). It was Bach's airbrush exhibition. He's one of  Tartu's first graffiti writers and has now moved on to painting nudes with airbrush. The opening was a real party with a fish tank full of punch and Mowka spinning records. There were artists, students, celebrities and models attending. Like at every opening over here the mother son duo of eaters, named the "Food club" were present. Party lasted for several hours before everyone headed to different clubs.

See you tomorrow at Nälg!
Barthol

Glitter and Scars are nothing.

"The art of Kiwa is a labyrinth, or rather a labyrinth in a labyrinth."
Hey you!
I was just at the opening of Kiwa's exhibition "Ameerika Protsess Loss" in Y gallery. The crowd waiting for half an hour, but then Kiwa entered, and how. He chopped through a white wood door with an axe. Woodchips were flying all over the room with people jumping out the way. Referring to the scene in Shining. As usual Kiwa mostly dealt with nothingness in his artworks.

Artsy girl posing in front of the frames of nothing from movies.

My favorite artwork was "Castle" - big glittering letters on the wall saying glitter text. A very simple and clear work, real eyecandy. The other works were more conceptual including typographical works which reprinted the same classical quote over and over again in different formations. I liked that Kiwa had used a real typewriter for that.

Kiwa in front of glitter text. Photo by Terje Toomistu from avantyristid.

 I usually prefer Kiwa's visual artworks to the more conceptual ones (his landscape paintings for example). I find his sense of pop aesthetics pleasing and inspiring. His book "the way of the robot is displacement" influenced me when writing "Popdada".

Crowd waiting for the opening.

I'm still working on my tracks and experimenting with combination of different styles and genres, but most of them have "beach" in them. Last track I worked on was a techno track called "Beauty in pain". I aim to get a 5-6 song Ep together and I'm looking for an electro net label to release it. It will be lighter than For Play Ep and it will have a summer feel to it. If you know any net labels I should try then contact me or write them in the comments. Music Alliance Pact with my track should be out on 15th of June so get ready for a free mp3 download of my Pick Up Track.

People discussing Kiwa's scarring body art.

Enjoy the summer sun, beach and maybe an occasional mojito (the recipe). I will can the summer into a thousand tracks of beach electro/house/techno. 

See you soon.

B

Opening for you

"Why the hell did we have to wait outside for half an hour"

Hey you,

On tuesday we had  the opening for our exhibition. I was glad to see a lot of you there. The people were waiting in line outside of the gallery door for the opening as we still had to mount the sound gear and some of the works. My altar with the golden icon of K8 Mosh was up already 4 hours before so I just had to light the candles, but other artists struggled more with their works. 

Me and the Y gallerist in BLO ME shirts

At the exhibition you can see my digital paintings originally made for KUMU in 2010, but only two of them were then exhibited. So now for the first time you can see all five of them. They are beautiful although beautiful isn't really appreciated.

Exhibition opening speech by Edvin Aedma and my performance

There were performances planned for you at the art opening. Most of them went well. Including the speech about the semiotic context of neurolinguistic cerebral polar processes, the showcase of special children's clothes and my live show. One of the artists wanted to make a performance playing a synth. He has never learned to play the synth and so it was a problem for him but that was the essence of the performance. I was happy to showcase my music as my american friends hadn't heard it before. There could be a future collaboration with one of them. We'll see soon enough.

Popop blogger with two girls. 

Some of the guests stayed for hours as we played music, talked and hung around the gallery. Thanks again to all of you who already came and everyone else still has until the 8th of May to come and see it in Y-gallery.

The crowd looking at my paintings at the opening

"Man, your sound talks big talk"

Two of my tracks were used in a short video in Switzerland. I have no idea what it's about because I can't understand the word they are saying. I guess it's okay because one of the tracks has lyrics in Estonian so they don't have any idea what the music is saying. I will post it as soon as it's public.

I like girls who like beautiful art, especially if they wear my shirt.

Thanks for waiting for this post and for coming. As the spring keeps getting worse, download my songs from the player up there on the right and listen to them from your iPod.

See you soon

B