Performance Tapes

Vaara Roi

Performance Tapes is a compilation of Roi Vaara’s performances from the years 1983-96. The works chosen represent different attempts of translating the language of performance into the language of video art. The raw material has been edited with discretion in order to maintain the characteristics of a performance as they are. The works chosen are: WHITE MAN (10 min, Helsinki, 1983) A man painted in white, holding a briefcase, appears in the streets of Helsinki and surprisingly attends the international conference of art critics. SHIPPING CRATE (15 min. Pori Art Museum, Museum of Central Finland, Jyväskylä and Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki 1991) A touring exhibition as a performance. A man is packed in a cargo box which is presented as an object of art in various museums. 4 PIECES IN LINZ (6 min. Performance – Relikte und Sedimente, Offenes Kulturhaus, Linz, 1993) 1. "Autograph". A textual piece on the significance of an autograph and the act of spraying one's name on the wall of a gallery. 2. "The opposite round one". Greetings and turning of a bald head against the round corner of the room. 3. "Closed." A person rushed to the door that does not open. 4. "Deposit". A spider web covers a person sitting on a chair until he stands up, opens the bird cage and exits the room. THIS IS A BAD PERFORMANCE (8 min. Non-Stop Performance Night, MUU ry, Helsinki 1991) Two men wearing tuxedos are sitting next to each other performing different, synchronized acts. TOWARDS THE SKY (3 min 50 s. Klimata, Foto Galerie, Bern, 1994) A man is in the basement, wedged towards the sky. ALARM (7 min 40 s. ”Festival of Light”, Helsinki 1996) A man is taped upside down on a glass wall. The alarms are on.

Production Year
1997
Duration
00:53:00
Tyyppi
Asiasana
Original Title
Performance Tapes
Finnish Title
Performance Tapes
English Title
Performance Tapes
Production Countries
Finland
Dialogue
Yes
Aspect Ratio
4:3
Sound
Yes
Cast
Roi Vaara (Author), Roi Vaara (Director)
Press Photos

Roi Vaara

Born: 1953

Roi Vaara is a pioneer in performance art and a forerunner in video, installation and collective art in Finland and internationally an acclaimed performance artist. His art is site and situation specific experiments made live. For him art is the way to approach life, nature and reality corresponding to actual existence. Vaara has performed since 1979, by now over 500 performances and his works have been presented in over 50 countries. Since 1988 Vaara has been active in an influential performance collective Black Market International whose mode of operation of its durational performances is based on free and open exchange of ideas. In 2001 Vaara organised the biggest performance art festival in the world, the EXIT festival in Helsinki. Anybody willing to perform was invited and 300 artists from 34 countries did so. Vaara studied at the University of Arts and Design in Helsinki during 1972–75 and at Jyväskylä University 1976–77. Vaara was awarded with Ars Fennica Award in 2005 and with Pro Finlandia honorary medal in 2010. He has lectured and held workshops in art colleges, universities and academies in many countries. Vaara was born in Moss, Norway from Finnish parents and lives in Helsinki and Budapest.