Last week I was in the entrance examination for Aalto University, as I aim to study yet another degree to become a qualified teacher of art. The exams were really tough. Basically during all the examination we were contemplating Jonna Kinas artwork "Arr. for a scene" (2017). In question is a video, where we can look at two foley-artists making sounds for a well known scene in the movie history, "the shower scene" of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
Therefore the starting point is a bit creepy. Before the examination we had to write an essay about Kina's artwork. In my essay I talked about realization, illusion, multisensory experience and concealed thoughts. Also, I got back pondering the same questions, as in my MA thesis "Encounters of Visual art and music" (2013), the relationship of music, visual art and text and their differences in their means of expression.
The artistic part of the test was a process, where these thoughts presented in the essay, are being developed further on.In these two small paintings I got back to my writing about concealed thoughts, quoting Magritte's "Les Amants" (The Lovers), placing real pages of a book inside the heads of the figures. In addition I used watercolor and transparent layer with black acryl color and medium to finish the painting. Further explanation of the thought behind the work is, that even lovers, who are so close to each other, can not always say aloud what they are thinking.
What does it have to with Jonna Kina's artwork, is that these foley-artists are working behind the scene, and Kina's work is basically making visible the invisible. The other small painting continues the discussion about partner relationships and topics, that often are kept quiet. In this work titled "Honey I'm home (original narrative in relation to the resolution)" I bring all these different layers together. In the picture we see elements from the video, a watering pot and a writing pad and a pen. These latter elements were also part of the original "shower scene". It is also a commentary on domestic violence, bringing the whole story to a new level. Maybe after the "me too" movement that could be the next phenomenon to bring to the daylight?
