Laura Kuusk

From 5 to 1

collection of Tallinn and Tartu tram/bus tickets

8,5 x 78,5 cmca. 2005 - 2011

Proposal for Happiness 1-2 Laura Kuusk and Camille Laurelli

1 channel HD videos loop

2011

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Loop

since 2009

mobile art center 685 cm2

view the blog of Loop

Loop is a transportable art center that I created in a doll house found from the street. I am inviting artists to make exhibitions, giving them free hands. The space is transforming from exhi-bition to exhibition, leaving the marks of the previous shows on the house. The exhibitions are travelling internationally. So far, Loop has had shows in Tartu, Tallinn, Grenoble and Zürich.

Pop-up cardssince 2010

ink jet print on paperdimensions variable

Special Dedicationexhibition views

Annecy Higher Art School, Summer Lake Residency, 2011

exhibition view, from Special Dedication, 2011 1% for Annecy, 1 channel video, loop

The Knife2008/2010

installation of two light boxes à 150 x 202 cm

The work started from playing around with images I shot while being in residency in Montrou-ge, France in the spring 2008. I analysed the images and tried to reshoot similar scenes, looking at the images in a way that the combinations and closer looking (a kind of blow up) started to create narratives. Trying out things leaded to some images with an obscure ambiance, some-thing seemed to be missing, something was wrong. Accidentally, I had posed the camera in a way that the head of the model was cut off on some images. I started to like these images most. One couldn’t see where she was looking. Having dealed for quite some time in my previous works with the look of the model toward the viewer and the meanings it conveys, I was thrilled by the way the look was cut off. It is very dis-turbing, as if the main information is cut off from the image. There is just the disquiet pose, the hands, and a knife by the kitchen sink. Something was maybe going on, maybe not... I realized that there has to be two images in order to accent this disquietude- one could say that the most important part of the work is the gap between the images. The two images cut off from their context, the head (and the sight) cut off from the image, the knife, potentially used for cutting, the events of the story cut out. Something might be happening on the images, or in between the two scenes, and inside the head of the model, and the viewer, but we are not given any in-dex for it- it is all cut out. The most important is going on off the frame. By the rules of dramatology of Constantin Stanislavski, everything serves for something on the scene - if the gun is on the scene, it has to be used fro shooting. Similarly, if the knife is there, is it used for cutting? The troubling slight differences between the two images drag the viewer into the game «find 10 differences». An ordinary scene from everyday life, aggrandized on the light boxes leaves the viewer in suspense.

Mémoires Oubliées2006

installation of photographyà 16 x 16 cm

hommage to Mati Unt

The series of photos is shot in a sleeping district of Tallinn- Mustamäe-

in november 2007. The photos are based on a novel «Autumn Ball» by

estonian writer and theater director Mati Unt. In the novel, the lifes of dif-

ferent persons living in the same block of houses cross at certain points.

The persons don’t know each other and their point of view on life is very

different. There are three characters- Eero, Laura and August, who I felt

close to me for different reasons. I chose those three to show the possible

crossing points of people’s views, who live next to each other without ever

meeting. The series of images took the shape of a crossword: the lines of

rectangular images cross at some points- these are the views that could

be shared by those persons. I was interested in the relations between the

characters and the visualisation of their points of view. Eero’s subjective

affections, glances-by; Laura’s mirrorings, reflections and projections;

August’s distance and sharp, detailed, “objective” view. The shape of a cros-

sword is an allusion of the Eero’s pieces of memory and the missing parts

he wants to fill in. He feels that something essential is near by, but he can’t

reach it because of the lost or missing memories- “mémoires oubliées”.

exhibition view of Mémoires Oubliées, Tallinn Art Hall, 2007

Almost Film I-IV2010/2011

1 channel HD videos

The video series is about people who are making films. It is an archeology of a future or maybe

not existing film.

In «Almost Film» we see people talking about their films, we see the places where they

plan to shoot and some accessories... The elements of their non existing film are the-

re, but the film itself is a potential one, created again and again in the head of every spec-

tator. We see the films without seeing them and without knowing if what we are loo-

king at is a fiction, a portrait of a filmmaker or a documentary on a non-existing fiction....

view here

Objectives2008

1 channel video 9’00’’

here

the video is about a missing person kalev leiga whos’ profile is based on a

statistically average man in estonia. he is missing and somebody is looking

through the materials found in his apart- ment- his video diary and personal

photo archive which is composed of archives of many people. the viewer is

looking how somebody is loo- king at somebody who is looking back at us.

”objectives” was my master thesis (video together with a written

paper) in Estonian Academy of Arts photography departement.

7 Beloved Christmas Songs2006/2007

1 channel video 6’36’’

here

the video is about a person having christmas dinner with so-

mebody. the soundtrack of the video is the person’s mono-

logue juxta- posed with a mix of 7 popular christmas songs.

Credo2006

video installation, 3 channels 3’46’’ loop

idea and direction: Laura Kuusk actress: Riina Maidre montage: Priit Pääsuke, Luxfilm

In the video installation «Credo», there are three screens and

three persons played by the same actress. the person on the

left screen is saying «a», the one on the right screen is saying

«o» and the one in the middle «aoa». a gong accompanied by

invisible pu- blic’s laughters is periodically cutting the discours

of each person.

With this work I want to blur the boundaries between reality

and fiction, communication and empty letters, viewer and per-

former, video and theater, personal and public.

exhibition view

The chairs of montrouge

event with people who didn’t know each other and were invited to come and sit on the chairs. they could move the chairs according to their needs. the event lasted about 5 hours. people found activites around and with the chairs as a pretext to overcome the social discomfort.

The Chairs of Montrougefebruary 2008

installation

all the chairs found on the streets of the town of montrouge

Laura Kuuskborn in 1982 in Tartulives and works in Grenoble and Tallinn

Formation

2009 - Annecy Higher Art School, post-diploma2008 Estonian Academy of Arts, MA of photography2005 Tartu University, BA of semiotics and culture theory

Solo exhibitions

2011 Spéciale Dédicace, Annecy Higher Art School2009 Common sense (with Wladislav Novak), Loop art space, Tartu, Tallinn, Grenoble2009 Soon (with Anna-Stina Treumund), Tallinn City Gallery2008 Objectives, guest atelier of Montrouge

Group exhibitions and residencies

2011Best & Practices, exhibitions in Sugar Cube gallery and Mejan gallery, Stockholm, project by Stéphane Sau-zedde, Nicolas Thély and Amanda Newallexhibition of artists in residency of Montrouge, JCE side-project, Médiathèque of MontrougeHappiness, in 4+4 Days in Motion, 16th Performing Arts Festival, Prague, curated by Katerina FojtikovaAccess & Paradox, Nofound/photofair, 66 rue de Turenne, Paris, curated by Yann PerolSummer Lake artist in residency, AnnecyVideo Art Projection, G11 galerie, Berlin, curated by Margarita LipskiMuseum Files I: Collected Principles, Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia, TallinnFamily, Märtz project space, Tallinn, curated by Anna-Stina Treumund and Jaanus Samma

2010Des Montagnes, 10m2, Sarajevo, curated by Pascale Riou and Stéphane DéplanTout, OUI art center, Grenoble, curated by Stéphane Sauzeddeartist in residency with Camille Laurelli in Veranda, GrenoblePhotographic Art Fair, Zelluloos area, Tallinn, curated by Marge Monko

2009Dimanche, online group exhibition of gifs, curated by C. Laurelli and S. ComteFilling the Emptiness, video and photo for dance spectacle by Maria Goltsman, KUMU art museum, Tallinnartist in residency in Marine de Manichino, Corsica, FranceWhen Ätituuds Become Norms, Pärnu Art Hall, curated by M. Laimre and N. KülmLeonardo da Vinci scolarship, resident in OUI art center, Grenoble, France

2008artist in residency and exhibition Objectives in Montrouge, FranceVideokitchen in Zurich, Switzerland, curated by Riikka Tauriainenvideo experiment Encountering Eden with Liina Siib, Su Grierson and Kyra GleggHansa Harmonics, experimental film by Pavlov MediaLab, NetherlandsI See YouYou look at me, Evald Okas Museum, Haapsalu, Estonia, curated by Marge MonkoInsanity, Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Tallinn, curated by Denes FarkasChristmas Altar Competition, Tallinn, curated by Martin Rünk and Jaanus SammaTASE08, graduate show of Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonian Musem of Art KUMU, Tallinn

2007Jeune Création Européenne, group exhibition in Montrouge, FranceBackwards Blues, Estonian contemporary art, Moscow Center of Contemporary Arts, Russia, curated by Johannes SaarClub of Marinists, young artists at Tallinn Triennale of Graphic Arts, Tallinn Recycling Center, curated by M. Rünk and J. SammaTASE07, Master show of Estonian Art Academy in Estonian Museum of Arts KUMUNew Wave, Estonian art on the 21st century Tallinn Art Hall, curated by H. Soans and A.Härm

Other experiences

2009 founder and curator of art space Loop2009 assistant for Triin Tamm’s solo exhibition Retrospective in OUI art center, Grenoblesince 2009 member of FOKU- Union of Estonian Photographic Artists2009 co-founder of artist residency Résidence du Coup (with Camille Laurelli)2008 co-founder of artist network Doings or Not with Margit Säde and others2008 MIR festival, photographer, Athens2010-2011 tutor for the students of the 1st year in Annecy Higher Art Schoolsince 2007 occasionally holding workshops in Estonian Academy of Arts2006 assistant of Dove Allouche for his photographic art project «Stalker», Tallinn2006 assistant of Marco Laimre for his personal exhibition in Hobusepea gallery, Tallinn2004 Cannes film festival, member of group of Young Europeans at the festival