Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Final Bibliography- significant

FINAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:
Ateneum Art Museum., 2008. Ateneum Guide. London: Atenum Art Museum Publications.
This book was not the most significant- though useful in that it gave me the chance to browse through many Finnish artists who worked with the theme of the Kalevala; Once I visited the gallery itself, and bought the book 'Kalevala in Images', this source became relatively unimportant.

Finnish National Gallery., 2009. The Kalevala in Images. Helsinki: Valtion Taidemuseo.
This book was very significant- It included all the significant artists who had studied the Kalevala, and highlighted the importance of the text in Finnish history. It was increadibly inspirational to see how much had already been accomplished (,in Finnish history,) by artists communicating stories or characters in the Kalevala. One interesting idea that this source communicated to me was the idea that specific characters were the focus of artists during different political periods. Whether this is intentional by the group of artists studying the text, or a result of the political situation cannot be traced. From reading this text it also became apparent that the artists, and all cultural figures in Finland, were in a sort of collaborative atmostphere. It is impossible to read about Finlands greatest painter, without reading about finlands greatest writers or musician, as their careers were all tied together with the same concept. Communicating a 'righter' lifestyle in a way became the goal of artists studying the Kalevala, all of who, through letters to each other, claimed that the Kalevala contained all cultural graces that society was begginning to loose. A rather grand statement, but one echoed by nearly all significant cultural figures from Finland (, mostly at the time of 1900-50).

In all, this source, after the Kalevala was most inspiring.



Kouvolan Taidemuseo., 2007. Satuja ja Myyttejä; kertomuksien kultakausi. Helsinki: Otava.
A book looking at diffent ways artists in Finland have dealt with communicating stories and myths.


Museum of Arts and Design., 2009. Slash: Paper Under Knife. New York: Five Continents Editions.
As stated in my PP, and Evaluative statement, paper art as a whole has been an inspiration in this project.

Rauhala, O., 2003. Luonnon aika. Keuruu: Otavan Kirjapainio Oy

I have always been interested in the way this Graphic Designer works- his paintings are very clear and bold, and look like they could be paper-cuts. His book was not the most useful source, as it is mostly concerning his inspiration of nature in his work.

Ryan, R., 2009. You can still do a lot with a small brain; Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Yorkshire: Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
This book showed me a deeper look into the work of Rob Ryan, and aloud me to understand his creative process. His work in paper-cutting and printing, as seen from my result piece, is inspirational to say the least.


Talve, I., 1997. Finnish Folk Culture. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society Press

Specifically, the chapters on the role of music in Finnish folk culture.

(2008) The Kalevala. 4th Oxford Classics edition. Trans lated from Finnish by K.Bosley (1989), Collated by E.Lönnrot (1849). New York: Oxford University Press.
This book is the Kalevala. It is hardly possible to stress that this book is not only the inspiration for my FMP, but possibly all other work i may accomplish. So I'll just say that it quite far from being just a significant source for this project, rather the most significant book as a source of Inspiration that I have yet to read, or even know of. This does sound dramatic, and even though I feel a flush of embarrassment writing it, I still hold by it as I don't doubt my honesty in writing it.


Audio:

Koirankuria, 2010. [CD/audio file] Tuulenkantaja [Blomqvist, O., Hiekkavirta, R., Laukkanen, M., Nättinen, P., Tähtelä, H.]



Shamanviolin. 2009. [CD/audio file] Ruonakaari, T.,
Finland: independent.

A strange collection of old shaman music, collected from north Finland and Siberia by the musician. As most of the characters in the Kalevala are shamans, though this is not directly states, it is most definitely true, it was interesting to further my understanding of individual characters.

Online Sources:
Gallerie Anhava., 2010. Available at:http://www.anhava.com/gallery.html., Helsinki [03.03.2010.]

Vento, U., 1992. The Role of the Kalevala in Finnish Culture and Politics Available at: www.njas.helsinki.fi/pdf-files/vol1num2/vento.pdf [24.03.2010]

This is an article worth reading if anyone is interested in how a single text can shame whole society- as it briefly outlines nearly all of the areas the Kalevala has impacted. It was very inspirational to understand what a historically significant text I was dealing with, though.

Unknown, 2010. Saami Blog [blog] Available at:http://saamiblog.blogspot.com. [04.03.2010].

Film:

Sampo. 1959. [Film] Aleksandr Ptushko Soviet-Finnish: Film studio or maker. (Other relevant details).
A very fascinating Film! Not just from a thematic point of view either, but the filmography was very interesting. The entire 'look' of the film is just like from one of Axel-Gallen Kallelas paintings. The language used is also intriguing, it is not from the written version of the Kalevala, nor is the storyline, but probably from a story which has no longer survived the test of time in a written format.

Visits:

Pick me up- Somerset house, graphic arts fair
Quilts 1700-2010 - Victoria and Albert Museum
London Print Society- Royal Academy of Arts

Helsinki:

Ateneum Valtion Taidemuseo- National Gallery
Kiasma Museum of Modern Art
Kuutti Lavonen – Osmo Rauhala, Tyrvään Pyhän Olavin kirkon luonnokset- Works for the Church of Saint Olav in Tyrvä.

Thursday, May 20, 2010



A week ahead with this^ part of my project, but a week behind with the book that this^ is supposed to support...

BASICALLY now, what I need to do to these teardrops, is finish spray painting them, photocopy, and screenprint! And eventually (hopefully!!) I will have a lovely wallpaper with text in teardrops to go with a book.

The idea with the raindrops comes from not only the story which I have chosen, but the structure of the way the Kalevala is written. As it is written in verse, the text is very 'chopped up', I thought this would be a interesting but discrete way of communicating both the actual text with an element of the story it tells. I like the idea of having a lot of one image repeated, to have a slight obsessive quality. I feel like it makes all discrete variations, as well as anything going against the image which is repeated, stand out. I hope the viewers will see that the same teardrop cut outs here are used in my book, and how the two are supposed to work hand in hand.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

the text and the story

HERE's a translation of the Kalevala online, though I think the translation is not very good, but at least you can get a quick idea of what the text is like.

I have finally come to a decision on what story/character I wish my work to focus on! I truly love so many of the characters and stories in the book that choosing what to work with has probably been the hardest thing to do with this FMP. In the end, I chose the story of Väinämöinen and the Kantele. (a copy of this story is available in my learners file.)

The story is about the epics hero, Väinämöinen, right after his creation of the first musical instrument, the Kalevala. He sits down on a rock to play to play the instrument, and as he does so, all the creatures in the forest and people of Kalevala stop what they are doing and listen. Väinö plays for three days, and by time he finishes playing, everyone has started to cry. However, these are not tears of sorrow, but of a kind of wonder. At the end, Väinö himself starts to cry, the tears rolling down to the bottom of the ocean. At this, he bSecomes embarrassed, and asks a child to collect his tears, who has to decline as he cannot dive as deep. He then asks a raven, who bluntly ignores him. However, a blue scoup happens to overhear, and dives deep into the ocean to search for the tears. The Scoup finds the tears, and they have turned into pearls.

This story solves many of the problems I have had with this project. The central character is Väinö, the 'hero' of the epic, and if what i want is to evoke interest in someone who dosn't know about the Kalevala, it makes only sense to choose a character to spotlight who is central to the text. Also, the story deals with music, which is something that i think is important when dealing with the Kalevala, as the whole text used to be dealt with only in song. As I have chosen not to go with making a piece that dosn't involve music, at least not as a central element, I am happy that I have a chance to reference it. The story itself is one of my faveroits, I love the idea of everyone coming together to experience something beautiful.