Human Factor

The performance happening Focus on the Human Factor introduces new generation performance artists from different countries. High Heel Sisters, Kurt Johannesen, Antti Laitinen and Taje Tross use performance to search for answers to the relationship between art and social life, for instance. Performance art does not try to create an illusion. Instead, it takes place in concrete reality, according to the physical properties of matter. The programme of the happening is compiled by the artist Roi Vaara.

The performances of the Finn Antti Laitinen are created in stages. He often builds his performances as a process, moving from one meaning to another. He reflects on cultural meanings especially by using humour, which stems from the meeting of impossible or disproportionate elements. His contribution to the happening is a Snowman performance, complete with a carrot nose.

The group High Heel Sisters, comprising three Scandinavian women, began their collaboration in 2002. The power of the performances comes from their shared experiences, which they use to explore the rules and boundaries of communities. The perspective is feminist. The group combines performance art, cabaret and Nordic uniqueness.

Taje Tross from Estonia has studied in the Academy of Fine Arts in Finland. She is part of the internationally acclaimed group Non Grata. The group, characterised as art activists, combine their art with social, political and provocative views.

Kurt Johannesen of Norway is one of the most esteemed performance artists in Norway. He also works in visual arts. He has studied art in Bergen, Reykjavik and London and his performances emphasise the visual aspects.