The Contortionist

Well, this young woman blew me away. I noticed what looked like a whale skeleton in the middle of the Sveavägen street during the street food festival, so I walked over for a closer look. And then I saw her. Standing there. Silent. Looking right at me. After what felt like a long time, weird music started playing, and that's when I realized that she was a contortionist. Her fifteen-minute-long performance was world-class. It was the best balancing act I have ever seen. And as you can probably guess, I took way too many photos of her. I googled a bit and found out that the sculpture is called VAL. Made by Tom Brand. And the contortionist is most likely Marina Cherry from the US, but based here in Stockholm. More photos of Marina in my flickr album.

The Curators

The experimental art project at the cultural centre in Handen closed on Saturday.The final installation was the opening of a new mobile art centre, named Konsthall 323. The artists and curators are Frida Krohn and Ylva Trapp. Their showroom is a Mazda 323 from 1983. After the official opening ceremony, where the artists cut the blue tape, there was refreshments and a lot of photography. And then the first four visitors (plus a baby),entered the mobile art centre for the five minute experience. I was in the second group and sat in the back-seat where I listened to a taped conversation between the two artists, as they made their way to the cultural centre discussing the road ahead and commenting on what they saw during those five minutes. It was a different art experience, filled with humour. In the next few months the mobile showroom will travel across the country, but no one knows where it will turn up next. But to keep track on what might happen in the future you check out the projects website.

Translations for higher resolutions

How do you get to the centre of art? That's a good question, and one that Jennifer Rainsford is trying to get an answer for. She is one of three artists working on the newest art project in Haninge. It is called Konsten i Centrum. Which is a bit of a word play. Art in the (Shopping) Centre might be a possible English translation. The first part of the project is called Translations for higher resolutions. It is choreographed by Rainsford who received the Haninge Art Stipendiary last year. She is currently a student at The Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm. A few people had gathered at the mall on Sunday to see the art project get under way, but I'm guessing that most of the onlookers where a bit surprised when all of a sudden a number of people began to sing, (or at least to hum), near the Taco Bar. To (perhaps), better understand what was going on I have translated a description of the choirs performance:

Using a pattern of rubber tiles on the floor, a sound is created when the choir moves over the floor to the different tiles. Pictures and sound created by people is connected with social status according to the artist, who asks what might happen if old pictures and sounds are created in a new context.

If you want to see a few more photos from this happening check out the slideshow below.

Zirkus Loko-Motiv

The performance group Zirkus Loko-Motiv was in Handen on Friday for an unusual happening. During one hour The Hanging Gardens of Haninge were set up in front of the cultural centre on Poseidon's square. Anyone who wanted could contribute with any type of item to be used in the short-lived artwork. In return they got a diploma. I gave them a kitschy figure that I bought at a yard sale earlier this year. My flickr friend Jim handed over a keyboard and an old meat grinder! Two musicians played some interesting music while the hanging gardens took form in the strong wind. The performance is part of a project called The Seven Wonders of Stockholm. This was the second wonder. On the first photo you can see one of the founders of the performance group, the actress Ylva Törnlund striking a pose for the photographer. I was also welcomed to the happening by Roland Haeberlein. He is an artist and a sculptor and really knows how to dress sharply. On the third and last photo you can see two happy young girls holding up their diplomas. Guess who got the first diploma of the day? More photos from the happening tomorrow.