Wilderness Art Conference: Wind As Context :: May 24-26, 2012 :: Marjaniemi Luotsihotelli & Cafe Bar Haiku, Hailuoto, Finland. Program here.

Wilderness Art Conference is an international research conference for organizations and artists working in remote and rural areas of the EU and furthermore. The conference will explore the question of how contemporary art can be relevant within remote areas and can be beneficial for local communities, visitors and artists alike.

Participants:

Dr. Leandro Pisano (Italy):
Exploring rural territory as (new) medium

Leandro Pisano (b. 1973) is a curator, writer and new media producer for projects and events focused on new media, sound and technological arts. He is also specialized in ICT development strategies for rural areas. He is the founder and director of Interferenze new arts festival, an event taking place in South of Italy since 2003. He conducted lectures and presentations for new media art and design events worldwide (IST 2010, Tokyo; Doors of Perception 9, New Delhi; ISEA2011 Istanbul; ISEA2010 Ruhr, Dortmund; Dott07, Newcastle; Offload festival, Bristol). Leandro Pisano received his Master degree with honors in Ancient Greek, Latin and Italian Literature from University of Naples, focusing studies on digital philology, electronic teaching methodology and relationship between new media and classic disciplines.

Glenn Boulter (UK):
Remote Possibilities – Sound Works in Cumbria 2009-2012

Glenn Boulter is an artist and curator based in Cumbria (UK). Graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2005, his work incorporates print media, sound and performance.As a founder of sound art collective Octopus, Glenn co-curates the bi-annual Full of Noises festival since 2009. The festival occupies under-used spaces across the post-industrial town of Barrow-in-Furness ranging from the canteen building of a nuclear submarine plant to a Victorian public park. Octopus were recently awarded Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status in recognition of their approach to developing artists and commissioning new work, resulting in an ongoing program of residencies, public realm works, radio and education projects during 2012-15.

Rael Artel (Estonia):
“centre” and “periphery” from the point of view of contemporary art and cultural production and how these terms affect my lifestyle in the forest.


Rael Artel is an independent curator based in the forests of Estonia. She graduated from the Institute of Art History at the Estonian Academy of Arts in 2003, and participated in the Curatorial Training Program in De Appel, Amsterdam (2004/05). Since 2000, she has contributed to a number of magazines in Estonia and elsewhere, and curated shows in Estonia as well as in Amsterdam, Budapest, Lisbon, New York, and Warsaw. In 2007 she initiated Public Preparation, a platform for knowledge-production and network-based communication, which since the beginning of 2008 has focused on issues of nationalism and contemporary art in Europe in the format of international meetings, exhibitions and publications.

Carsten Stabenow (Germany):

Artist In Residence for the Sound Room in Marjaniemi. Carsten Stabenow – Curator and artist, born 1972, studied Communication Design and postgraduate Interdisciplinary Studies in Berlin and has worked freelance as a communication designer and cultural producer. He is also a member of the Staalplaat Soundsystem and has realised several installations and performed worldwide at festivals and in museums. Carsten Stabenow is the founder of the German Media Art festival garage, initiator and artistic director of Tuned City and co-founder of the Berlin art and media production platform DOCK.

Leena Valkeapää (Finland):

Leena Valkeapää (1964) is a Finnish artist most known for her environmental art works. Recently she moved to a very remote location in Lapland off road only to be reached by boat or walking to write her doctoral study on “Wind, Reindeer and Humans”. She recently published “In Nature”, a dialogue with the works of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää.

Erich Berger (Austria/Finland):

Austrian-born Erich Berger is an artist and cultural worker based in Helsinki, Finland. His interests lie in information processes and feedback structures, which he investigates through installations, situations, performances and interfaces. His work has been shown and produced internationally, and received a number of awards. Currently he is a lecturer at the Fine Art Academy in Vienna/ Austria and the coordinator of the Ars Bioarctica initiative of the Finnish Bioart Society in Helsinki.

Laura Beloff (Finland):

With acclaimed international reputation as an artist, Laura Beloff’s works can be described as peculiar wearable objects, programmed structures and participatory, networked installations. In her pieces she combines technology fluently with various mediums ranging from video to textile, from sound to sculptural and organic materials. Beloff has exhibited widely in various museums, galleries and major media-art events in Europe and worldwide, recently f.e. in Vienna (2011), in Russia and Brazil (2008) and in the Venice Biennale (2007). She has received various grants, residencies and awards.

Kyd Campbell (Canada):

Kyd Campbell is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer. In 2004, she founded Frontierlab, an informal and nomadic research and production platform for art and design. She first studied textile and fashion design and later sculpture and experimental film. She has worked in different contexts across Europe, Africa and North America. She is currently a researcher in the Faculty of Media Art & Design at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. Her creative practice is heavily influence by a critical view on media practices and an intuitive view on history, environmental problems and politics. She is currently involved in open ecological design research, is producing a short experimental film and works as a food designer, in Berlin.

Kyd Campbell will be the food artist during the conference. She will do selected food presentations.

Marjatta Hanhijoki (Finland):

Marjatta Hanhijoki is a renowned painter and fine artist from Finland. She alongside with artists Reijo Hukkanen, Markku Keränen, Pirkko Nukari and Tapio Junno headed and supervised the famous fine art school in Ojakylä, Hailuoto from 1971 to 1979. She will come and tell us about that time.

Antye Greie (Germany/Finland) Hai Art – Artistic director
Nella Nikkilä (Finland) Hai Art – Project assistant