Making Jury History?

It was a big day for the CCA Kuopio with many new, interesting experiences. We started the day off by picking up Jury B and heading to Gaetan Rusquet's Back and Forth. When we woke up this morning, none of us knew that we were going to see a naked man, but there he was. After about ten minutes of giggles and protest, the kids settled down, got past the nudity, and actually became engaged in the piece.



But at first, the nudity was a little too much for Kaius.


And when Gaetan started popping his balloons, the noise was a little too much for Liisa. Mammalian Diving Reflex, teaching kids around the world that sometimes, Art hurts.

I didn't get to see the popping balloons, because today was a two jury day. Fifteen minutes into Gatean's performance, Sampsa (who is adding taxi driver to his resume) and I got back in the van, headed back to the school, and picked up Jury C, whom we took to Juha Valkeapaa's Vocal Portraits.

When Mammalian worlds collide. Children's Choice Awards Kuopio? Or Haircuts by Children Holland?

Jury B and Jury C then met up in the railway station, where Christopher Hewitt had completed his drawing of Netta.

When 17 kids get together, they can get rowdy. The noise was too much for Christopher, who couldn't concentrate on his work. Understandable. The kids were running around like crazy. But when we corralled everyone and lined them up against the opposite wall to make space for Christopher, he said he still couldn't work and asked us to leave! CCA Kuopio Kicked Out! A CCA first?

The last stop for the day was Kirsi Pitkanen's Proclaimer.

As Liisa saw it.

Half of the kids then took off with Sampsa back to the school. The rest of us couldn't help but notice some familiar faces - TRYST! So Soe Tun, Tin Hla, Dap Hoe and Arturri all got to have a go (or two, or three) and Niko and Rida got to ride again. A great end to a long day.

Crossing the Street, A Wildman and Truth or Dare

On the lookout for TRYST's Assisted Street Crossing in Kuopio, Jury C cut through the railway station and found Christopher Hewitt hard at work on his life-sized mural of ANTI Festival's artists. Timing is everything, and Christopher needed a photo of one of the kids for the mural. The lucky model chosen was Netta. Sometimes being the shortest pays off. If Christopher's first mural is any indication, Netta can come back when she's 20 and see her image still on the train station's wall.


Netta checks out the menu of lifts.




Petrina opted for worker's choice, and she was given the donut lift.


Waiting for TRYST at the Festival Centre, Jasper created his own art and we played Truth or Dare.

N.B.: Netta (top model) has never pooed her pants. Or so she says...


Paul and Clarinda of TRYST stop by the Festival Centre to have a chat with Jury C.

Jury C also checked out Elaine Kordy's Analogies can make one feel at home.

But sometimes signing up to win iPhone 4s and riding the elevator up and down is more exciting than Art...




We were getting tired after experiencing all the art and being out in the cold all day, but there is no rest for the wicked. We dropped off Jury C and picked up Jury A. Traveling in style, we set off for Aaron Williamson's The Marooned Wildman.


Looking for the Wildman




The Wildman was found, and Noora feeds him Digestive cookies.

Jury B Meets Heidi Fast's (Re)attuning Choir & Svop/t's Viewpoints

Waiting at the Kuopio University Hospital for the piece to begin.


With their unique vocal performance, Heidi and the choir lead us through the corridors of the hospital.


Jury B heads into the streets of Kuopio to find Svop/t's stairs.






Along the way, we find out that this is a strict no pooing and no peeing zone.




But who needs to climb stairs when you can climb a fence?


Jury B ends the day with a stop at the Festival Centre to have an artist talk with Tron (of Svop/t's) and Heidi.

Pekka Makinen and Brian Lobel's Purge

We started the day yesterday by blinging the van with magnets. This is the photo before we left. Some magnets may have found new homes along Kuopio's streets...

Pics from the van

After decorating the van, we began our first day of jury duty. Jury A braved the rain and set off on a mission to find Pekka Makinen's photographs. The photographs taken of the last decade at the ANTI Festival have been put up around Kuopio. It was difficult to understand what was happening in each piece without a write-up, so we took our best guesses at what we thought was going on and what the artists were trying to say.

After heading back to the school for lunch (fish chowder), we were off to Brian Lobel's Purge. Brian lost a lot of friends because of CCA. In Brian's words, "children are harsh".

Critiquing Class, Categories and Trophy Design

We started the day by asking class 4C about the art they've seen in the past. Could they describe it? Did they like it? Why or why not? We then showed them a couple of videos: The Sultans Elephant by Royal de Luxe and Muto by blu. We talked about why we liked or disliked the pieces and what award we would give them if they were part of the Anti Fesitval. We worked on envelope design before having lunch with Liisa, Noora and Viivi in the cafeteria. Meatballs and potatoes for everyone except Petrina who got special vegetarian balls that were apparently delicious.

After lunch, we came up with a list of categories before decorating our trophies. The only question now is who's going to win the Most Wintery award? What about Most Idiotic?

Sampsa persons the hot glue gun station.




Sometimes more chocolate gets eaten than decorated.


Oona and her trophy.

The art in our bedroom is by Noora.


And this is what our living room looks like after putting all the magnets on our van signs.