Practicing with a pine in Hailuoto, already for a week, during my residency in Kulttuuritalo Päiväkoti (see here), where I am planning to stay for the whole month of April. Hailuoto, a large island outside Oulu in the Bothnian Bay (see here) is rather far north in Finland, which means that the winter is lingering on. While I am writing this there is a soft snowfall, and the piles of snow along the roads are melting very, very slowly. Nevertheless, spring is approaching. Besides my daily practice with the pine next door, I hope to meet other pines introduced to me by local artists that I have met here. One such pine I have already recorded, Eija’s Pine, which awaits her approval to be uploaded online. See still image here:
I went to see a local celebrity, the Askelin pine, a few days ago, and wrote a small note about my visit on my personal blog (see here), but did not feel any urge to pose or perform with that tree. I would like to find a tree to perform with, or write a letter to, or perhaps even try to interview, in order to use in a “provocation” that I have promised to create for the Pluriversity project (see here). I forgot that the interview with a pine in Örö last autumn, which I thought I could use as an example, was made in Swedish. And to use a language that most people would not understand in Arizona would be a rather useless provocation, I guess. In any case I will be performing as part of the fourth Be-Coming Tree event on 24 April here, see press info:
That performance will take place with my first pine friend, the pine I practice with daily. For the performance I will try to attach a small swing to one of its branches, in order to be able to perform for an hour. Hanging from the branch – as I do in the press photo – for that duration would be too much of challenge, or rather completely impossible for me right now.
Meetings with Remarkable and Unremarkable Trees 