"On the Shores of the Lake", Discussion with Artist on the Rigidness of Art Galleries

Around the turn of the 20th century many great innish artists such as noted author !uhani Aho, his wife and artist "enny Soldan#$rofeldt, lo%ed com&oser !ean Si'elius along with the res&ected &ainters (ero !)rnefelt and *ekka +alonen saught refuge from the 'usy and o&&ressing life in +elsinki to concentrate on their res&ecti%e arts 'y the shores of Lake ,uusula- Only an hour and a half away from the ca&ital laid a lakeside &aradise which influenced some of the great works of innish artrom the ..th of Octo'er to the /th of e'ruary 20.0 the collecti%e works of the ,uusula artists under the title "On the Shores of the Lake" are on e1hi'ition on the second floor of the national gallery Ateneum- Se%eral halls are dedicated to the works which in%ol%e such known &ieces as *ekka +alonen2s "Sunset o%er Lake ,uusula" and "Still Life", alongside ",he Little (ngineer" from "enny Soldan#$rofeldt and (ero !)rnefel2s showcase of lo%e with the lakeside life "Great 3rested Gre'e, *ike and rog"4et the &aintings which would &erfectly fit a wall of a lakeside cottage where they were &ainted look out of &lace and diminished on the o%erly sanitised white walls of a national gallery- Ateneum has a certain feel of rigidity to its halls, holdings and staff- ,his rigidity then transfers to the %isitors- 4ou can clearly see that under the eyes of the staff in their &erfectly ironed dark suits, com'ed 'ack hair and dead#serious e1&ressions the casual %isitor from the street ado&ts a manner which 'ecomes self#defeating,here is something wrong with the way that normal &eo&le a&&roach and a&&rehend art in museums or galleries of the sort of Ateneum when under the effect of &ressure from the o&&ressi%eness of the 'uilding, the staff, and the way of thinking that this is how it2s meant to 'e done they walk with measured ste&s from one &ainting to another, look at it for a set socially acce&ta'le amount of time, read the name of the &iece and the artists # forgetting it 5ust moments later # and when &ressed to answer the 6uestion whether they like or don2t like it gi%e half#hearted answersArtist7 The reason for the white walls and polished floors is to remove additional influences on your senses so you could concentrate on the art itself. Although many artists toy around with different structures these days the white cube is a standard, a tradition, that has stuck and is being used by most high profile galleries and museums. Attending a concert or a theater production you are also partaking in a social

situation with its own rules - you are quiet because that's what the norm is and that's what you've been taught. ,he same &eo&le when asked for their most intimate connection with art rarely is it in a museum or gallery, more often than not a &iece of art in a &lace where you do not e1&ect it that then ca&tures and adds to the moment and 'uilds a connection 'etween you and the art you are &ercei%ing and taking from- +ugo Sim'erg2s ",he 8ounded Angel" did not ha%e significance for me until 9 saw it &ainted &icture#&erfect on the wall of a rundown slum u& the mountain o%erlooking rainy :a&lesArtists attend gallery or exhibition openings a little differently. ou arrive at the gallery, look at some art over a drink of wine or whatever beverage they are serving, and discuss it with your friends or colleagues. !t's usually a mix and match group of the artist and their friends, avid gallery visitors "like me#, known $stonian artists, and students from the art collages. ou learn the faces from attending various openings, it's often many of the same people. !t becomes social. The person has to be in the right mindset for the art, he has to be interested in what it is and what he can take away from it. %aking it interesting for the person is up to the artist - who is the art for& A large portion of art is directed toward the art world, art deals with art. !t can be difficult to get into it from outside especially when you are not interested. ,here is something the art world for the casual %isitor should aim to do and that is to make art more a&&roacha'le, more casual- ,here is a re%olution that is ongoing with 6uality wine in aiming to lessen the &ercei%ed sno''ishness of wine culture and make it accessi'le to anyone who walks in off the street- Grotesk wine 'ar and "in#"in are on the foreground of the mo%ement in +elsinki'ut what would be the casual art& !f the artist wants to pull the street crowd then they can do their art on the streets, but there is the ingrained idea that galleries are for art. !t can go so far that the art on the street might not be taken as being art for the person perceiving has their notions on how and where it should be. (ow do you pull the crowd into a gallery then& Gallery in a coffee sho&)hen you place art as you'd suggest into a coffee shop then inevitably it can become a part of the design. (owever when you know it is something else then you can see it as being great art. *ike with the violin player at +ew ork metro. (ditor2s :ote7 referring to renowned %iolinist !oshua $ell &laying incognito as an e1&eriment set u& 'y 8ashington *ost

,he challenge would arise in organising a casual sort of an art e1hi'ition under the conditions agreed u&on 'y the owners of the &ieces- +istorical &aintings such as on dis&lay during "On the Shores of the Lake" e1hi'ition do not only hold great nationalistic merit 'ut also monetary %alue- ;useums and galleries for the most &art are much more secure facilities than your coffee sho&s or wine 'ars, 'ut how do you 'reak the art from the monotony of the galleries< The two aspects mix and match sometimes but as a general guideline if you want to see a pretty picture go to a museum, if you want to think go to a gallery. %useums usually provide the classical paintings that reflect the ideas and truths of their era. (owever most of these works were not made to hang in a museum but rather as private orders for someplace else, f.e. someone's cottage, mansion. !t does tire you out moving from painting to painting in a museum - that's why you should find something that appeals to you and concentrate on that. Art does lose some of its meaning with passing age as they are often created because of a certain thought or situation of the time, it wouldn't surprise me if %ona *isa was meant to hang in some old guy's house over the fireplace. That it is now in a gallery under inches of bulletproof glass has changed the piece - %ona *isa would not fit your thought of a casual art to be en,oyed and discussed over a coffee or beer. -ld classics go well with the general population, you would be swarmed with thousands of tourists. (owever place it in a room with artists and whilst it would be under scrutiny at the beginning, eventually it would be ,ust a painting on a wall sometimes referred to. .allery is a room where whatever's in there people will perceive as art.