Category: Doctoral School

On 20 October at 11.00 4th-year Art and Design PhD student Taavet Jansen will present his third doctoral project „Held in Human”.
Reviewers: Dr. Raivo Kelomees and Andrus Laansalu
Supervisor: Dr. Anu Allas

Public peer-review event will take place in the Zoom, please find the link to participate HERE (Meeting ID: 928 1284 1579, Passcode: 964549).
The event is held in Estonian.

“You enter the exhibition hall like a body cave, the actions only express treachery. One searches for a singular and all-determining meaning from within. No one wants to be dead, but one wants to touch the brain from the inside. Beauty no longer counts. Pain is not taken into account; the precision of repetition decides everything.”
Ene Mihkelson “Ahasveeruse uni” pg 110

“Held in Human” was a staged installation / durational performance that premiered during the SAAL Biennial festival on August 21st and lasted until September 13th, 2023, at the EKA Gallery in Tallinn and on the website human.elektron.art.

The artists aimed to create an environment where a person would feel safe and warm, like in a mother’s womb. They explored how to evoke this feeling using the “bare” gallery space and theater technical means. The artists’ desire was to foreground contemporary “intestines” and “vasculature” (web space, cables) that keep and nourish us in life, and connect us to each other. Thus, a “safety bubble” was created in the physical space where sound and lighting design, video installations, objects, and the augmented reality layer allowed spectators to spend time, find connections between different parts of the work, and co-create and perform its dramaturgy.

“Held in Human” allowed the audience to visit the physical space via a website, send messages there, and seek contact with visitors present. A visitor in the physical space could simultaneously be a mediator, an experiencer, or an online viewer. In this way, one could present imaginative images, memories, and thoughts to each other, give a voice to those far away, and be heard yourself. All world languages could be used. All messages entered on the website were saved in an augmented reality layer; everything whispered was recorded. The gallery had a live camera, which every visitor could access freely. At the end of each day, the artists asked the artificial intelligence to summarize all the messages in haiku form, combined with a single shot captured from the live camera – thus creating a collective diary of the time and people who participated and shaped this work. Additionally, the audience could stay updated via a WhatsApp group.

As much as the finished artwork, “Held in Human” embodied a concept, a model to be explored and played out with the audience. The artists spent 21 days in residence, parallelly with the audience and the artwork, observing people’s behavior and reactions and placing themselves in the audience’s role. The process was also followed and interpreted by two young actors. During the exhibition period, four performative special events took place – all to explore the potential future of such hybrid spaces.

Why is this important?

Jeanette Winterson writes in her book “12 Bytes” that we’ve reached a time where, due to digital technology and the web, the meaning of being human has changed. She writes: “… the uniting link between the operations of matter and abstract mental processes is to reimagine – completely – what we call ‘real.’ This reimagined ‘real’ will soon be what we call the world.”

Technological device connected to the digital network acts as an extra limb for humans, helping them to touch and perceive the world. The reality of the modern human is still perceived through the physical body. Yet, one is also constantly online and connected to every other body in the world, whose extension of reality is a screen or smart device.

The authors have devoted the last five years of their creation to reimagining and playing out this new “real”. They believe that art should keep pace with societal progress and be the field that shows the way to incorporate technology into our lives meaningfully. Instead of focusing on what we have lost, Taavet Jansen and Liis Vares are interested in what we have to gain in the future.

Authors, directors: Taavet Jansen, Liis Vares
Light designer: Jari Matsi
Sound and video designer: Taavet Jansen
Dramaturgs, choreographers: Liis Vares and AI
Performers: Germo Toonikus and Liisbeth Kala
Software developer and web designer: Kristjan Jansen
Producer: Kati Saarits
Photos: Alana Proosa, Xenia Kvitko
Co-producers: EKA, e⁻lektron

On Tuesday, 29th of August at 11.00 the peer review event of Jane Remm exhibition titled “Letters to My Neighbours. What Is It Like to Be a Door Snail?” will take place at Vaal Gallery (Telliskivi 60A/5, Tallinn).

Reviewers: Prof. Timo Maran, Prof. Linda Kaljundi
Supervisor: Dr. Urve Sinijärv

Peer review event is in Estonian.

The exhibition will remain open until 2nd of September, Tue–Fri 12–6 pm, Sat 12–4 pm.

More information

On 31 August at 14.00 (EEST) 4th-year Art and Design PhD student Nesli Hazal Oktay will present her third design experiment study titled “Dissolving Distances”. Public peer-review event will take place in the Zoom, please find the link to participate HERE.

Reviewers:
Dr. Oscar Tomico, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
Dr. Verena Fuchsberger, University of Salzburg, Austria

Supervisors:
Dr. Kristi Kuusk, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Prof. Danielle Wilde, Umeå University, Sweden and University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Nesli Hazal Oktay aims to offer embodied intimacy for people who are close by heart but physically apart. Specifically, she explores designing close-to-body experiences at a distance through remote bio-rings, rings made of natural ingredients. Remote bio-rings are highly customizable, can be biodegraded, and start dissolving when exposed to humidity e.g.: water, or sweat. The idea of creating a non-lasting object to be worn on the body—that required care, that was ambiguous and tangible—was a result of her prior user study of cultural probing and embodied design ideation. She further experimented with remote bio-rings by making the ring and wearing it in everyday life together with her father at a distance.

In her third and last peer review event, she showcases a user study with 3 pairs (6 participants) that made remote bio-rings at their homes while self-reported and self-documented their personal experiences. They then further shared their meaning-makings with Nesli through a semi-structured interview. Overall, participants found remote bio-rings to be supporting new understandings about intimacy at a distance. As a result, their perception of “distance” alters slightly or changes completely by i) embarking on a journey, ii) creating time and space to be together, and iii) carrying each other through a tangible object.

On 12 June at 15.00, the peer review of the exhibitions “Dreaming of Babylon” and “A Practice for Surrender” by Tõnis Jürgens, PhD student in Art and Design, will take place at the EKA, room A202.

Peer review event is in Estonian.

The event will be preceded by a screening of the video work “A Practice for Surrender” (2022, 12’49”) at 14.30, also in room A202. The film is in English.

The exhibitions are part of Tõnis Jürgens’ creative doctoral thesis. The thesis is about the digital measurement of sleep and the inevitable emergence of meaning in noise and patterns.

Supervisor of the thesis is Prof. Rolf Hughes (KU Leuven, Belgium).
The reviewers are Dr. Eva Näripea and Andrus Laansalu.

The exhibition “Dreaming of Babylon” was open at the Tartu Art Museum from 18.03.–14.05.2023, “The Exercise in Serenity” was open in the Vent Space project room from 20.–30.09.2022.

The seminar taking place as part of the Transform4Europe Week of the European Universities Alliance will present the research projects carried out at EKA, which reveal the special nature of knowledge creation based on creative practices.
The seminar is open to everyone!
(The seminar is held in English)

10.00-10.15 Opening words, Dr. Anu Allas, Vice-Rector of Research, Head of Doctoral School

10.15-10.35 “Semi-urban communities: a methodology for increasing the biodiversity of cities with landscape architecture solutions” – Karin Bachmann, PhD student of Architecture and Urban Planning programme

10.35-10.55 “The Reconstruction and Artistic Development of the Historical Relief Print Technique” – Dr. Jaana Päeva, Researcher at Design Faculty

10.55-11.15 “Understanding How Artistic Research Helps to Discover Innovative Roles in Hybrid Performances” – Taavet Jansen, PhD student of Art and Design programme

11.15-11.35 “Bedroom Sketches: Sleep Tracking and Surveillance Capitalism” –  Tõnis Jürgens, PhD student of Art and Design programme

11.35-12.00 Q&A

Estonian Academy of Arts Grad Show TASE ’23
tase.artun.ee
01–17.06, open every day 12.00–18.00
Opening: 31.05, 16.00 at the Freedom Square and 19.00 at the Estonian Academy of Arts

Exhibition locations:
Freedom Square 8, Tallinn Art Hall, Artists Union’s studios, shop and bar rooms, Vent Space, Grafodrom and Experimental Printmaking Studio
Freedom Square 6, Tallinn Art Hall Gallery
Põhja pst 7, Estonian Academy of Arts (Architecture faculty’s grad works)
Lai 17, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design yard (Graphic Design MA grad works, open until June 11)

On Freedom Square, we present the deconstructed fashion show You Have Only A Moment by Lab of Figurative Thought, followed by the announcements of the winners of the Young Artist and Young Applied Artist awards. Additionally, for the first time this year, the Young Designer Awards will be given out! Opening event continues at 19.00 at the TASE of Architecture, located in EKA!

TASE is the annual graduation show of the Estonian Academy of Arts. The exhibition presents graduation works of the Architecture, Art and Culture, Design, and Fine Arts faculties. Most works are exhibited in the Freedom Square buildings 8 and 6. The Architecture faculty’s graduation works are located at the Estonian Academy of Arts. The Graphic Design master’s works are exhibited in the yard of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design (open until June 11).

tase.artun.ee opens with the exhibition on May 31!
Along with the works at the main exhibition, written theses are presented digitally on tase.artun.ee together with the PhD and Art and Culture works.

PROGRAMME

Grad Show TASE ‘23 grand opening
Fashion-performance You Have Only A Moment by Lab of Figurative Thought
Linda Mai Kari, Anita Kremm, Kristel Zimmer, Liisamari Viik
Supervisor: Ene-Liis Semper
31.05 at 16.00
Freedom Square

TASE of Architecture exhibition opening
31.05 at 19.00
EKA, Põhja pst 7

Theses defences
29.05–14.06
artun.ee/kaitsmised

TASE FILM
14.06 at 18.30
EKA, A101, Põhja pst 7

Guided tour by Anna-Liisa Villmann
15.06 at 15.00 in English
Starts at Tallinn Art Hall, Freedom Square 8
Guided tour by Gregor Taul (Faculty of Architecture’s graduation works)
16.06 at 12.00 in English
Starts at EKA lobby, Põhja pst 7

SATELLITE PROGRAMME

Fragment_21:12, Jewellery and Blacksmithing course works
Aleš Rezler, Elis Liivo, Lara Herrmann, Maarja Hallika, Madlen Hirtentreu, Madli Pajos, Helen Tiits, Paul Aadam Mikson
Supervisors: Eve Margus and Nils Hint
19.05–04.06, every day at 14.00–20.00
Tower of Old Town, Pikk Jalg 2

Unbounded Nature, Glass and Ceramics course works
Annali Kruusamägi, Annika Luhaäär, Erko Lill, Helen Tiits, Kätriin Reinart, Laura Stina Parri, Marta Vikentjeva, Sara Kyllönen, Valeria Poljakova, Õnne Paulus
19.05–18.06, every day at 9.00–19.00, opening 18.05 at 17.00
Tallinn Zoo, Paldiski mnt 146, entrance with the zoo ticket

Contemporary Drawing: Worlding in Layers, Contemporary Art course works
Triin Anijalg, Maria Hindreko, Sander Karjus, Kassandra Laur, Rebecca Norman, Helena Pass, Mia Rulli, Nana Schilf, Sirel Tammisto
Supervisor and curator: Britta Benno
23.05–17.06, Tue-Sat at 12.00–18.00, opening 22.05 at 17.00
EKA Gallery, Põhja pst 7

A pool with moderate temperature, Painting course works
Karola Ainsar, Luis Bruder, Maria Hindreko, Sander Karjus, Rebecca Norman, Daria Morozova, Elisa Margot Winters
Supervisors and curators: Mihkel Ilus, Tõnis Saadoja, Anna Škodenko
25.05–09.06.23, Mon-Fri at 12.00–18.00, opening 24.05 at 17.00
ARS project space, Pärnu mnt 154

Cherries once grew in my garden, Curatorial Studies and Contemporary art group exhibition
Gerda Hansen, Iryna Tanasiichuk, Siew Ching Ang, Mirjam Varik, Sarah Noonan
Curator: Ketlin Käpp
27–28.05 and 01–04.06 at 12.00–19.00 or by appointment 26.05–07.06
Uus Rada gallery, Raja 11a

In the shadow of tree being, Contemporary Art course works
Triin Anijalg, Maria Hindreko, Sander Karjus, Kassandra Laur, Rebecca Norman, Helena Pass, Mia Rulli, Nana Schilf, Sirel Tammisto
27.05–18.06, every day at 9.00–18.00, opening 26.05 at 17.00
Gallery of Tampere House, Jaani 4, Tartu

Textile Design from Fibre to Tech Solutions, Open Academy course works
Carolin Freiberg, Madde Jerbach, Piret Kuhlbars, Monika Lepik, Marit Lillenberg, Mari-Liis Lõppe, Tiia Nõmm, Heidi Renzer, Aleksander Väär
28.05–19.06, every day at 9.00–23.00
EKA, first floor glass corridor, Põhja pst 7

Creative Realities, Contemporary Art course works
Gerda Hansen, Mirjam Varik, Syed Sachal Rizvi, Eri Rääsk, Mari Steinberg, Anna-Liisa Kree, Mia Felić, Lara Žagar, Mohammadmojtaba Habibidavijani
Curator: Siim Raie
28.05–28.08, Fri-Sat at 12.00–18.00, opening 28.05 at 15.00
Villa Dombrovka, Karepa, Lääne-Virumaa

Three Drops of Blood, student exhibition
Agnes Milla Bereczki, Anu Kadri Uustalu, Lumimari, Kaur Joonas Karu, Kirke Mari Päll, Piret Potter, Ringo Roots, Triinu Väikmeri, Wing Kiu Mak, Denise Damaso, Camille Laurelli
31.05–14.06, Wed–Thu at 13.00–20.00, Fri-Sun at 11.00–18.00
Kalamaja Museum, Kotzebue 16, entrance with the museum ticket

Catarsis, Interior Architecture course works
Marleen Armulik, Katarina Ild, Hanna Kruusma, Laura Movits, Getter Pihlak, Elle Marie Randoja, Jaan Repnikov, Sven Samyn, Mirjam Vaht
Supervisor: Nele Tiidelepp
01–04.06, 24/7, performance on 31.05 at 19.00
Abandoned hut across from EKA main entrance, Põhja pst 2

Sense of Measure, Interior Architecture course works
Simon Baguette, Piret-Liis Carson, Päär-Joonap Keedus, Ann-Katriin Kelder, Anni Truu, Krete Tarkmees, Laura Maria Tõru, Viktoria Ugur, Mari Uibo, Eliisabet Valmas-Romanov
Supervisors: Roland Reemaa, Hannah Sergerkrantz
01–17.06, every day at 09.00-23.00, opening 31.05 at 18.00
EKA cafeteria, Põhja pst 7

Pretty Gimmicks, Charming Trinkets and All the Other Things, Curatorial Studies and Contemporary Art course works
Sandra Ernits, Mara Kirchenberg, Rose Magee, Sarah Nõmm, Siim Preiman, Leonor Talefe
Curator: Anita Kodanik
3–11.06, Mon-Fri at 14.00–20.00, Sat-Sun at 12.00–18.00, opening 2.06 at 18.00
Last stop with the Kopli tram, at the kiosk next to Kopli 99b

Head organiser: Pire Sova
Assistant: Dana Lorên Vares
Exhibition design: Kaisa Maasik, Johannes Luik
Architecture exhibition design: Diana Drobot, Karl Erik Miller
Communication: Solveig Jahnke, Andres Lõo, Maarja Pabut
Graphic design: Birgita Siim, Agnes Isabelle Veevo, Aaro Veiderpass
Web coordinator: Kert Väljak
Web developer: Patrick Zavadskis
Install manager: Johannes Luik
TASE FILM: Maya Chaudhary, Terje Losvik
TASE shop: Sigrit Lõhmus

Supported by: Estonian Artists’ Association, Tallinn Art Hall, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, Akzonobel, Punch

The annual Conference of EKA Doctoral School will take place on April 13th, 2023

EKA hall A501

Please register by April 10th at the latest.

TIMETABLE

9.45 Registration
10.00 Opening words, Dr. Anu Allas, Vice-Rector for Research, Head of Doctoral School

10.10 Key Talk: Prof. Esa Kirkkopelto (University of Helsinki), visiting professor of EKA Doctoral School 2022/23, „On the Possibility of Artistic Research“.

11.10 Coffee break

Art and Design, moderator Dr. Liina Unt

11.20 Taavet Jansen, supervisor Dr. Anu Allas
„Memento – Directing a Hybrid Event as Practice-based Research“. Discussant Nesli Hazal Oktay

12.00 Mia Čopíková, supervisors Prof. Karol Weisslechner, Dr. Nadia Kančevová
„Transformation of the Stones in Jewelry“. Discussant Varje Õunapuu

12.40 Nesli Hazal Oktay, supervisors Prof. Danielle Wilde, Dr. Kristi Kuusk
„Intimacy with Far-away Bodies“. Discussant Mia Čopíková

13.20 Lunch break

Architecture and Urban Planning, moderator Dr. Jüri Soolep

14.10 Johan Tali, supervisors Prof. Andres Kurg, Prof. Maroš Krivy
„Curious Cases of Exhibiting Architects: Shaping the Mindset Through Displays of Environments and Spatial Interventions“. Discussant Martin Melioranski

14.50 Martin Melioranski, supervisor Dr. Jüri Soolep
“Re-writing the Rules – Architecture by Iterative Ideas”. Discussant Johan Tali

15.30 Coffee break

Cultural Heritage and Conservation, and Art History and Visual Culture,
moderators Dr. Anneli Randla, Prof. Andres Kurg

15.40 Varje Õunapuu, supervisors Dr. Hilkka Hiiop, Ms. Karol Bayer
„How Is it Done? Technical Aspects of the Estonian Medieval Wall-paintings and the Underneath Plaster“. Discussant Mariann Raisma

16.20 Mariann Raisma, supervisors Prof. Linda Kaljundi, Dr. Anneli Randla
„Discontinuance or Continuity? Changes in the Role of Museums as Mediators of Cultural Memory During the Major Changes of the 20th Century“. Discussant Mariliis Elizabeth Holzmann

17.00 Mariliis Elizabeth Holzmann, supervisors Dr. Regina-Nino Mion, Dr. Barbi Pilvre
„A Diffractive Approach to Analyzing Horror Films Directed by Women“. Discussant Taavet Jansen

17.40 Coffee break

17.50 Roundtable (Dr. Anu Allas, Dr. Liina Unt, Dr. Anneli Randla, Dr. Jüri Soolep, Prof. Andres Kurg)

For more information:
Henry Kuningas Henry.kuningas@artun.ee

Tõnis Jürgens „Dreaming of Babylon“ / „Paabeli ulmad“

Tartu Kunstimuuseum / Tartu Art Museum

18.03.2023–14.05.2023

The main focus of the exhibition is the digital measurement of sleep, which has gained popularity in recent years. Tracking the habits of one’s everyday life is offered to individual users by an increasing number of devices: smartwatches, -bands, -rings, -speakers, -mats, apps etc. These devices track users even when they are sleeping, collecting a steady stream of data about their habits and cycles of sleep.

The measuring of sleep turns a welcome spotlight on the importance of healthy sleep habits. However, the data collected through these measurements are resources and commodities which end up in the data centres of the smart device manufacturers and which can then be resold as data or market information. Therefore, by tracking your sleep habits and interpreting the collected data, you are also working while you are sleeping.

It seems that sleep, which previously seemed to be the last mysterious safe haven where capitalism couldn’t reach, has quietly started becoming part of the machinations of the surveillance society. Through measuring sleep, dreams have turned into side-products in the production process, like the noise surrounding a radio signal or the sediment in a bottle of juice.

At the exhibition Dreaming of Babylon, Tõnis Jürgens follows the afterlives of the data collected by the surveillance society, as well as dreams that have been written down by dreamers. At the centre of the display is a staged bedroom filled with traces of somebody’s life. In the room, a film is projected – scenes of server racks towering over uninhabited landscapes – which is accompanied by a shifting narrative of the descriptions of dreams.

The exhibition is part of the Tartu Art Museum exhibition series Young Tartu.

Tõnis Jürgens (b 1989) is a film projectionist, a writer and an emptiness aficionado. He has a bachelor’s degree in culture studies from Tallinn University and a master’s degree from the Department of New Media at the Estonian Academy of Arts, including an additional year as an exchange student at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM). The exhibition is a continuation of Jürgens’s creative research at the Doctoral School of the Estonian Academy of Arts.