laura kuusk
loop 2009-.... mobile art center 685 cm2 the blog of Loop
Exhibition view to Géraldine Michel’s show, Grenoble/Tallinn Loop in art center OUI, Grenoble
Loop privat view at Inge Linder-Gaillard’s place, Grenoble
Loop in Corner College, Zürich
Exhibition view at Clôde Coulpier’s and Séverine Gorlier’s show
Loop in Tallinn city center Exhibition view at Wladislav Novak’s show
Loop is a transportable art center that I created in a doll house found from the street. I am inviting artists to make exhibitions, giving them free hands. The space is transforming from exhibition to exhibition, leaving the marks of the previous shows on the house. The exhibitions are travelling internationally. So far, Loop has had shows in Tartu, Tallinn, Grenoble and Zürich.
Exhibition view at Stéphane Deplan’s show
all the paintings of Wladislav Novak 2009-.... oil paintings dimensions variable (5x5 cm - ...)
Wladislav Novak is a painter that I lately met/made. I am making all of his paintings. He does nothing but paintings which’ philosophy is procrastination.
the knife 2008/2010 installation of two light boxes Ă 150 x 202 cm
The work started from playing around with images I shot while being in residency in Montrouge, France in the spring 2008. I analysed the images and tried to reshoot similar scenes, looking at the images in a way that the combinations and closer looking (a kind of blow up) started to create narratives. Trying out things leaded to some images with an obscure ambiance, something seemed to be missing, something was wrong. Accidentally, I had posed the camera in a way that the head of the model was cut off on some images. I started to like these images most. One couldn’t see where she was looking. Having dealed for quite some time in my previous works with the look of the model toward the viewer and the meanings it conveys, I was thrilled by the way the look was cut off. It is very disturbing, as if the main information is cut off from the image. There is just the disquiet pose, the hands, and a knife by the kitchen sink. Something was maybe going on, maybe not... I realized that there has to be two images in order to accent this disquietude- one could say that the most important part of the work is the gap between the images. The two images cut off from their context, the head (and the sight) cut off from the image, the knife, potentially used for cutting, the events of the story cut out. Something might be happening on the images, or in between the two scenes, and inside the head of the model, and the viewer, but we are not given any index for it- it is all cut out. The most important is going on off the frame. By the rules of dramatology of Constantin Stanislavski, everything serves for something on the scene - if the gun is on the scene, it has to be used fro shooting. Similarly, if the knife is there, is it used for cutting? The troubling slight differences between the two images drag the viewer into the game «find 10 differences». An ordinary scene from everyday life, aggrandized on the light boxes leaves the viewer in suspense. “the knife” has been exhibited at the exhibition Insanity, curated by Denes Farkas, in the Museum of Estonian Contemporary Art (EKKM) in Tallinn in June 2008 and at the exhibition TOUT, curated by Stéphane Sauzedde in contemporary art center OUI in Grenoble in January 2010.
mémoires oubliées 2006 installation of photography à 16 x 16 cm
hommage to Mati Unt
The series of photos is shot in a sleeping district of Tallinn- Mustamäein november 2007. The photos are based on a novel «Autumn Ball» by estonian writer and theater director Mati Unt. In the novel, the lifes of different persons living in the same block of houses cross at certain points. The persons don’t know each other and their point of view on life is very different. There are three characters- Eero, Laura and August, who I felt close to me for different reasons. I chose those three to show the possible crossing points of people’s views, who live next to each other without ever meeting. The series of images took the shape of a crossword: the lines of rectangular images cross at some points- these are the views that could be shared by those persons. I was interested in the relations between the characters and the visualisation of their points of view. Eero’s subjective affections, glances-by; Laura’s mirrorings, reflections and projections; August’s distance and sharp, detailed, “objective” view. The shape of a crossword is an allusion of the Eero’s pieces of memory and the missing parts he wants to fill in. He feels that something essential is near by, but he can’t reach it because of the lost or missing memories- “mémoires oubliées”.
«mémoires oubliées» has been exposed in Tallinn Art Hall at the exhibition New Wave, curated by Anders Härm and Hanno Soans in April 2007.
on my ďŹ lm 2010 video (work on process)
My film is about people who are making films. The video «on my film» is a portrait of Pierre Olivier Riviere and Pierre Hermann who are both making films. Their practice is in between an amateur and professional ones. They share a spontaneous attitude towards the process but keep their idea focused. The ideas for their films are different in stories (Riviere is going to make a film about a maffia story and Hermann is making a film about a masked character ) but in a way their attitude is similar. They have an idée fix and their films get wrapped in a discourse. Finally, we don’t know if the films are made or not, the subject of the discourse remains unknown. In my video we see people talking about their films. There will be scenes where they also show the places where the planned films take place and explain the action plan. Following the two parallel stories, we start to realise that the films are already made in this act of showing the potential stories they provoke . We see two films without seeing them. And every viewer sees two different ones.... The video is planned to be finished by july 2010.
objectives 2008 1 channel video 9’00’’ here
“objectives” is a video about a detective who is looking through the materials (a photo archive and a video diary) that are left behind of a missing person- Kalev Leiga. By the story, Kalev Leiga was announced to be missing 2 weeks ago. The detective is looking through the materials and taking notes. The more he tries to get closer to Kalev Leiga, the more he drowns into the noise of the street and the images. Is Kalev Leiga the detective himself? Who is looking at who- is the image looking at the viewer or vice versa, is the detective (who is the story teller) looking at Kalev Leiga or is Kalev Leiga looking the viewer? The video is composed of a staged video diary and personal photo archives of many people. I was interested in the bluring borders between fiction and documentary. The curious genre of video diary is current on virtual communication/publishing/sharing platvorms such as youtube. Does publishing an intimate diary make it public? Who is supposed to watch? Is the image looking at us or are we looking at the image? As in my previous works, the questions of the different points of view and their meeting points, clashes between private and public, communication with and through the camera also interest me in this work. The point of view of the viewer depends of which are his/her objectives for looking. The video is composed in a way that it is impossible to tell who’s point of view is the “objective” one.
”objectives” was my master thesis (video together with a written paper) in Estonian Academy of Arts photography departement. It was exposed at the exhibition of master students in Estonian Art Museum KUMU in June 2008.
7 beloved christmas songs 2006/2007 1 channel video 6’36’’ here
The video was made before christmas in 2006 and re-edited in 2007. In the video, we see a girl having christmas dinner. All the traditional estonian christmas dishes are there, there is too much food, the table is soaked. She proposes somebody to eat hot potatoes (before they get cold) before the potato salad. She starts to speak about the apartment rent, but then stops, because it is not an appropriate subject for the christmas eve. On the musical level, the same thing repeats- there is too much songs playing at the same time. They have been juxtaposed on each other, just as the same food repeating itself in different forms. There are some subjects that are «discussed» in these songs, everybody is supposed to want the same things and these things are supposed to make them happy. This is the sweet voice of ideology singing to us in these songs that are everywhere in public spaceon the supermarkets, on the radio etc. during the christmas time. These songs tell us about the happy time passed with the dear ones. At the same time, not everybody fits in this model of christmas time, either because there is no dear ones, or no food, or no belief in christmas or for various other reasons. The expectations for how a christmas should be are high. Slavoj Žižek says that ideology is not something we perceive as something we think we are obliged to do, it is something we think we desire.
The video has been exhibited at the exhibition Club of Marinists, young artists at Tallinn Triennale of Graphic Arts in Tallinn Recycling Center, curated by M. Rünk and J. Samma (2007) and in Videokitchen in Zurich, Switzerland, curated by The Kaukasische Ping Pong Fabrik (2008)
credo video installation, 3 channels 3’46’’ loop 2006 idea and direction: laura kuusk actress: riina maidre montage: priit pääsuke, luxfilm
The videowork “Credo” deals with the belief as basis of Homo Socialis. I am interested in channeling belief into ideologies, horoscope, commercials, religions etc. Which are the essential principles of belief in both individual and collective level? Relating three TV-screens to each other, the video installation «credo» plays with the repetition, adapting to roles, believability and the situation of viewing. Similarly to the cave engravings which were supposed to cause a successful hunt, the image and belief are still related through ritual, theater, repetition, rhytm. Belief in certain codes is the precondition of documentary genre and reality TV. Through audiovisual “magic” I study the links between belief and image. On three screens one can see the same person, but three slightly different characters. The trhee screens communicate to each other, pronouncing a speech in letter «a» in case of the left screen, letter «o» in case of the right screen and mixture of the two (sounding like «oaaoao») in the middle. The sounds coming from two sides of the vewer also cause some synesthetic affect and audio-joy.The letters connote greec «Alfa and omega» which are the «beginning and end» of the knowledge. What is taken into consideration as a fact and what is left outside the encyclopedia of the human knowledge? Through the process of observation and communication the viewer is dragged into some relations between the characters reminding doctor, dictor and a girl participating in the realitity show. Both sound and image influence the viewer from three sides causing personal and collectvive allusions. Such as links to theories of Freud, Sclovsky, Barthes, Baudrillard, Eco, videoworks of Bruce Neuman, soundexperiments of Animal Collective etc. The readings depend on the personal memory of the viewer. Important is the experience that one gaines from communication or miscommunication with the screens. Something is being sayed... With this work I want to blur the boundaries between reality and fiction, communication and empty letters, viewer and performer, video and theater, personal and public.
«credo»has been shown in New Wave, Estonian art on the 21st century Tallinn Art Hall, curated by H. Soans and A.Härm and in Backwards Blues, Estonian contemporary art, Moscow Center of Contemporary Arts, Russia, curated by Johannes Saar
cv Laura Kuusk born 19/04/1982 in Tartu mail: laurakuusk@gmail.com skype: mutabor_7 phone: +33(0)6 46 27 86 64 / +372 55 584 609
2010 Les Montagnes, group exhibition in 10m2, Sarajevo, curated by P. Riou and S. Deplan Tout, group exhibition in OUI art center, Grenoble, curated by Stéphane Sauzedde artist in residency with Camille Laurelli in Veranda, Grenoble 2009 Dimanche, online group exhibition of gifs, curated by C. Laurelli and S. Comte Filling the emptiness, video and photo for dance spectacle by Maria Goltsman, KUMU art museum, Tallinn founder and curator of art space Loop assistant for Triin Tamm’s solo exhibition Retrospective in OUI art center, Grenoble, France Leonardo da Vinci scolarship, resident in OUI art center, Grenoble, France co-founder of artist residency Residence du Coup (with Camille Laurelli) artist in residency in Marine de Manichino, Corsica, France When ätituuds become norms, Pärnu Art Hall, curated by M. Laimre and N. Külm Soon with Anna-Stina Treumund in Tallinn City Gallery 2008 MIR festival, voluntary photographer, Athens artist in residency and exhibition Objectives in Montrouge, France Videokitchen in Zurich, Switzerland, curated by Riikka Tauriainen video experiment Encountering Eden with Liina Siib, Su Grierson and Kyra Glegg Hansa Harmonics, experimental film by Pavlov MediaLab, Netherlands I See YouYou look at me, Evald Okas Museum, Haapsalu, Estonia, curated by Marge Monko Insanity, Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Tallinn, curated by Denes Farkas co-founder of artist network Doings or Not with Margit Säde and others
2007 Jeune Création Européenne, Montrouge, France Backwards Blues, Estonian contemporary art, Moscow Center of Contemporary Arts, Russia, curated by Johannes Saar Club of Marinists, young artists at Tallinn Triennale of Graphic Arts, Tallinn Recycling Center, curated by M. Rünk and J. Samma TASE07, Master show of Estonian Art Academy in Estonian Museum of Arts KUMU New Wave, Estonian art on the 21st century Tallinn Art Hall, curated by H. Soans and A.Härm 2006 Displaced, Vaal gallery, Tallinn Displaced, Tartu Art Hall, Tartu Sincerely yours, TAZ Tallinn – temporary exhibition space of Rael Artel Gallery, curated by Rael Artel
Formation: 2005-2008 Estonian Academy of Arts (MA, Photography) 2003 Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle (Socrates Erasmus programme) 2000-2005 Tartu University (BA, Semiotics and Culture Theory) 1994-2000 Hugo Treffner Grammar School, Tartu