The Turbulence

May one day my whimsical mind be mitigated,
When my anxious weakened thoughts are obliterated
Then giving way to the magic wonders of every day,
When with the life of others I shall never play

But then again, what is the mouth to say?

Outwards

Thinking tranquility cannot stop me from attempting to step out;
and novelty constantly drags me into untried territories:
its taste is truthfully fascinating,
albeit exhaustive

Pictures by Eeva Karhu

Tribulations

We have made our mistakes
We have gone up and down

Once again I have crossed

OVER

Mining

I have always been a keen defender of artistic collaboration.

Why do something individually when there is so much strength in combining?

I only recently had the chance to see this short film by Jason Bradbury for Norwegian designer Harold Lunde Helgesen (HLH), but it is stunning:

The aesthetic fluidity of this short film is just breath-taking.

And just to dive into one’s mindset (always a great exercise), here’s the ghostly beautiful We Once Were Tide, also by Bradbury:

Collaboration disseminates talent.

Please don’t fail me now

I’ll open up if you make an incision

I’ll do right by you

All I ask is for your caring precision

And maybe I could pull through

Words by Beth Ditto, images from selected sources

Sunny

I love the winter in Belo Horizonte as much as Scandinavians love their summer.

The sun is always shining, the sky is always blue and temperatures are most agreeable. Do you see why I get so happy this time of year?

So to share my love of our winter with the lovers of summer, here’s a song that reminds me of happy moods under nice weather, Happy House, by the Belgian trio Shindu.

Dream away.

Dans og syng

I had heard several good things on Danish singer/producer Nanna Øland Fabricius‘ project Oh Land, but never really checked it out until now.

It’s worth it:

Hav en god weekend.

Stories to be told

If you read this blog or know my personal history, you are aware of the obvious fact that I love Nordic artistic expression.

There is something about the combination of wealth, social justice, harsh climate with a bit of loneliness which always lends such poetry to the arts coming from the North.

Having acquired such a taste, I must say I am always on the lookout for northern expressivity.

That’s how I came across the incredible work of Finnish photographer Riitta Päiväläinen:

Through pictures of old garments, she explores a subject that is very dear to me, that of untold stories.

In her own words:

The main theme and primary driving force of my work is my interest in old clothing. In my photographs, I use discarded clothes from second-hand shops and flea markets. I am interested in old garments, because they carry silent, unknown stories and histories. The unavoidable fact that I will never know the actual stories and personal histories connected with the clothes arouses my curiosity. The clothes remain silent withholding their secrets. Little by little, personal histories are absorbed into the collective history.

It is so mind-catching and stimulating to wonder about not only the origins of our possessions but also the history they carry with them.

Being an avid secondhand enthusiast, I dare say her Vestige series has forever changed the way I look at my belongings.

Being made to think always excites me.

Backwards

Back on the train back to the 90’s, a band that deserves the best recollections or “wish-I-had-lived-back-then” feelings is the Icelandic indie electropop heroes, Gus Gus

To be enjoyed to the fullest.

Request

Major hang over here (it is a holiday in Brazil, mind you).

Easy everything today.

I found this new act from Sweden via Fone Dourado (great musical tips, in Brazilian Portuguese):

Niki & The Dove shall be my aspirin for today.

Remembrance

Should I be enjoying this as much as I am?

Trentemøller is the name of this electronic act developed by Danish producer Anders Trentemøller.

It just reminds me of when electronica, most DJs and raves were still pretty much underground and fun.

Well, times change.

Underneath

As Icelandic artist Hrafnkell Sigurðsson knows very well, surfaces can be deceiving.

But it is astonishing to go beyond them.

No comments

Here’s Lykke Li‘s final version of her fabulous new song, Get Some:

Day after blues.

Enjoy

A weekend of intense, focused work awaits me.

The good thing about doing what you like is that that doesn’t feel as bad as it sounds. It takes just a bit of drive to get through these two days into another busy week.

Since I am human, I know for sure my breaks will be filled with music, so I thought I could share my latest discovery with you – a tip by a friend:

Sweden’s Familjen

Along with fellow Nordic acts Sigur Rós and Casiokids, these guys sing in their native language.

I love the idea that music is somehow above and beyond nations and tongues, so that there would be no need to make it necessarily understandable via English.

Ha en trevlig helg!

Volatile

Changeable moods require fluid forms of expression.

Do you know when you sometimes see an image or hear something that doesn’t strike you as that unusual, only for minutes or days later to make the utmost sense?

I had seen some images of an exhibition by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, (currently at Astrup Firnley Museum of Modern Art, in Oslo) and at that moment my only thought was: his works are impressive and expressive as always.

Feeling so fickle as I am at the moment, his art pieces have gained yet another meaning for me.

A subtle combination of heaviness and softness with bits of transparency seems to give the tone to much of his artistic production and thus work as a translation of my mindsets.

And much like my moods, elasticity plays a role in the conception of his artistic vision. Though they might be rooted in something hopefully more stable, ideas must be as flexible and as they should be clear, so as to allow us to fold swiftly while keeping our feet on the ground.

A lesson I must desperately need to learn.