Estonia

From Monoskop
Revision as of 13:09, 8 September 2011 by Dusan (talk | contribs) (→‎Video art)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Cities

Tallinn, Mooste, Tartu.

Predecessors

  • Group of Estonian Artists (Eesti Kunstnikkude Rühma), a cubist-constructivists group, was established in 1923 in two nuclei: in Tartu-Võru, whose merit lies in the foundation of the group (Jaan Vahtra - the first chairman of the group [1] [2] [3], Eduard Ole, Friedrich Hist, Felix Johannsen-Randel and the sculptor Juhan Raudsepp [4], who moved in 1925 to Tallinn and served as a connecting link between these two nuclei), and in Tallinn, which made of it an organisation of a more or less certain artistic tendency (Juhan Raudsepp, Märt Laarman, Arnold Akberg, Henrik Olvi). Many artists from Estonia and Latvia had already met earlier in the art schools in Pensa and St. Petersburg. In 1928, the group leaves the UUE Kunsti Raamat (The New Art) from, which is strongly influenced by L'Esprit Nouveau and purism. The last exhibition of the group was held in 1932. In 1940 disbanded by the Germans. [5]
Events
  • 'the first Baltic international art exhibition', the joint exhibition of Estonian and Latvian cubists, held in Tartu and Tallinn in 1924.
Literature
  • Mai Levin, "The Group of Estonian Artists", Estonian Art 2/01. [6]

Geometrical abstractionism

  • members of Group of Estonian Artists: Märt Laarmann (1896–1979), Arnold Akberg (1894–1984), Henrik Olvi (1894–1972), Jaan Vahtra (1882–1974), Eduard Ole (1898–1995).
  • 1960s and onwards: Tõnis Vint, Raul Meel, Leonhard Lapin, Sirje Runge (1950), Avo keerend (1920), Jüri Kask (1949), Siim-Tanel Annus (1960), Vilen Künnapu (1948).
  • ANK'64 group. The artists educated at the Estonian State Art Institute in Tallinn founded a group called ANK’64, including Tõnis Vint (1942, [7]), Malle Leis (1940), Jüri Arrak (1936), Kristiina Kaasik (1943), Tiiu Pallo-Vaik (1941), Enno Ootsing (1940), Tõnis Laanemaa (1937), Aili Vint (1941). Their pursuits in art were connected with youth culture, liberal jazz and partly with op art, a small part of which reached Estonia. Looking back now, this work seems extremely romantic, but at the time it must have looked insufferably radical and have been seen as breaking all restrictions — or why else were they so constantly watched by the KGB people. [8]
  • SOUP'69 group. The group realised the decisive turn from ‘warm’ and ‘spiritual’ art towards a ‘cold’ and ‘technical’ mentality. SOUP’69 brought along, if somewhat late, the fascination with pop art. Leonhard Lapin (1947), Andres Tolts (1949), Ando Keskküla (1950), Ülevi Eljand, trained as architects-designers, plus architects Vilen Künnapu and Jüri Okas (1950) and painter and graphic artist Sirje Runge who studied glass art — they all felt that it was impossible to realise themselves in their acquired specialities. There were no state commissions, nor was there the necessary technical basis. The powerful creative energy was channelled into paintings, graphic art, happenings, collages, poetry, cartoons, multimedia performances, etc. The most interesting period of pop art in art history has not been properly researched. The biggest outlet can be considered the publishing of the Estonian- and Russian-language magazine ‘Art and Home’ in the 1970s, headed by Andres Tolts (the number of copies was enormous: about 10,000 in Estonian, and 40,000 in Russian). When American pop artists took mass culture to high art, then Estonian pop artists turned the Soviet ‘low’ mass culture into an elitist and witty ‘union pop’ (Soviet pop), trying simultaneously to inject the all-Soviet mass culture with a dose of elitist culture. [9]

Electroacoustic and experimental music, sound art

Experimental film

  • 8mm film documentations of Jüri Okas's happenings and land-art objects in the early 1970s
  • Mark Soosaar's feature films A Woman of Kihnu, Earthly Desires, Time (1980s) included experimental techniques

Performance art

Literature
  • Raivo Kelomees, "RÜHM T on Toompea Hill", Kultuurileht, 25 October 1996, [10]

Multimedia environments

  • A Multiple Man (1980s), multi-media theatre production, based on the work of Johannes Vares-Barbarus, the first Soviet Estonian statesman, a doctor by profession and a futurist poet. Designed by Leonhard Lapinö the production was set among television screens, radio antennae and other equipment.

Video art

Artists
Works
  • AIDA (1986), video happening in the framework of Tartu's University art studio happenings. Recorded by equipment which was falling apart. The description, which has survived, gives a clue to the title, a play on words in Estonian: AIDA as a title of an opera by Verdi and as a commonplace utility building in the countryside - a storehouse.
  • video documentation of performance art by Group T (second half of 80s)
  • Ando Keskküla, Opus Petra (1993). Video installation. Consisted of video screens, natural limestone and a number of constructions intended to explore the mythological potential of the layers of limestone on which people walk or build every day. * Tiina Tiitus, a fashion designer, displayed a stylish and nostalgic video (1993) in the Art Hall Gallery.
  • In Jüri Okas' retrospective show at the Luum Gallery called 'Untitled' (1993), an installation was set up consisting of four screens placed on different levels and a rusty iron plate in front of them, the slots in the iron plate cut the picture imaginarily into pieces.
  • Jaanus Nôgisto, Fotovision I and II (1993), based on the work of the photographers of the Destudio group, including Peeter Laurits and Herkki-Erich Merila.
  • YESNO (1994), a television broadcast by the four students (Marko Laimre, Mari Sobolev, Mare Tralla) who were studying at the College of Arts and Communications in Tampere in collaboration with the Estonian Television.
  • Raoul Kurvitz, Lifestyles, project series in collaboration with the Estonian Television.
Events
  • 'I Have Never Been to New York' exhibition featured video art by a Finnish group MUUry, 1989.
  • French-Baltic Video Festival in Tallinn/Riga/Vilnius, 1992-2000.
  • In May 1995 Margus Tônnov and Raivo Kelomees participated in a media art festival in Wroclaw. Tônnov presented a video titled On Earth As It Is in Heaven made in collaboration with a Commercial Television channel.
  • Jaan Toomik presented video installation A Road Leading to Sao Paulo at Sao Paulo biennale in 1994. The work showed an imaginary itinerary drawn in a straight line from Tartu via Prague to Sao Paulo.
  • Manipulations exhibition, by Ando Keskküla, Rotermann Salt Storage, Tallinn, 1997.
Education
  • In 1994, video art became an approved subject at the state-run academic Art University. The students could take an optional course in video art history illustrated by videos shown at the above-mentioned French-Baltic video art festivals. However it was too early to discuss the possibility of independent work within the course.
Literature
  • Raivo Kelomees, text on video art in Estonian, Kunst, 1988.
  • Raivo Kelomees, "Estonian Video Art", June 1995, [11]
  • Raivo Kelomees, "L'art vidéo vieillissant. L'académie de l'art électronique", [12]
  • Raivo Kelomees, "Jaan Toomik - Beyond Classification", 1997, [13]

New media art, Media culture

Artists
Events
  • Substance-Unsubstance, the First Annual Exhibition of the Soros Tallinn Center for Contemporary Arts, 1993. Curator: Ando Keskküla. Demonstration of the 'long-awaited' new media. The event which provoked discussions and shook the artistic scene created a situation in which it was impossible to continue in an old way and too expensive to take up anything new. Jaak Saks, Rainer Kurm and Martin Vällik set up an impressive meditative installation Early Spring.
  • Nonexistent Art, the Second Annual Exhibition of the Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, 1994. Curator: Urmas Muru.
  • Interstanding conferences (1995-2001)
Articles
  • Estonica encyclopedia, "Contemporary technologies and art". [14]

Art theory, art history

Tõnis Vint, Sirje Helme, Raivo Kelomees

Literature

  • Estonica encyclopedia, "Time of re-independence — the 1990s in art". [15]
  • Raivo Kelomees, "The State of Estonian Media Art AD 1998", in: Estonian Art, nr 1, 1998. [16]
  • Katrin Kivimaa, "Eine Identität or Keine Identität: Zeitgenössische Kunst und Neue Medien in Estland", Springerin 1999 (German), 5 pages.
  • Katrin Kivimaa, "Changing spaces: new media/art in Estonian Culture", Mare Articum 2 (7), 2000. 30 pages. [17]
  • Hanno Soans and Anders Härm, "We Are Glad it's All Over", 2002. [18] [19]
  • Katrin Kivimaa (ed.), Avalöök: uus meedia ja kunst Eestis [Opening acts: new media and art in Estonia], Estonian Academy of Arts, 2004. (Estonian), 108 pages, ISBN 998594657X


Countries
avant-garde, modernism, experimental art, media culture, social practice

Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Central and Eastern Europe, Chile, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kosova, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States