Artist is the art.

To think of me, jerk off.

| Henna Timanttimetsä

 

2001, self-portrait on bed

Surely my nude picture is going to explode the internet. I wish. Why do I do this and have done it, is for many reasons. It is the conflict which interests me, it is because nudity on the internet is seen obscene which naturally is a very every day picture in a sense that showing skin is more a rule than exception. In art reclining nude is a concept and an ideal. To see a bare ass, I should probably be wearing a thong and it wouldn’t be as big a crime, is a revelation. Judging of the ass begins immediately. A piece of ass, hmm not big enough, not round enough, not this and that. Looks like a normal white ass. A crack, and then you can go deeper because all is not there, not even close.

To think of me means very often to think of sex, not me as a person who is a complete human being. I am all too often seen as very incomplete and incapable just because of my gender, origin and looks. I am directly associated with sex and measured like a piece of meat. Here the body of mine should be covered because it is a shame, a hurtful picture. I must keep this secret, pornography, eroticism to myself, although it is all over and why I exist. To hide my sex which equals my being, my existence, everything felt in the context of constant sexualization and human relations, is to me hypocritical. Those who speak of me in objectifying terms as I wasn’t there want to have something to stare at, point their fingers at, put someone in shame, ashamed. That is possibly the only thing they can do, feel embarrassed. This picture is about hurt, it is about need to humiliate just as much as it is about laying on the bed after a hot day. It is not about the act of fucking or seduction. It is a reclining nude which usually are seductive images and were pictures of prostitutes, is a classic term in fine art. It is a kind of replica or appropriation. In fine art, which I began to study in my early twenties and saw a lot of reclining nudes of women, nudity is where art begins. It is no wonder art is sexist, sex is a difficult topic and which open sexism I have also

faced like it was something completely organic to the system of art, a game.

SuoMen Performance Red Ochre Splash 1998, image by Sakari Sali

What is art and what is entertainment?

| Henna Timanttimetsä
Where goes the limit when Social media is platform for art, to become an artist, be like an artist? What is creativity there, what is the new and what is imitation? Imitation seems to work well. The illusion of thinking on one is being authentic, original, one’s own maker is hard to break. So what is the authentic then? Is it the character, way one poses, what is in the pictures, perspective, a new face, a new kind of way to present oneself maybe?
Many Instagrammers say, they do Instagram as artists do art. They create an image of something real which is on the other hand unreal, out of reach for many, a kind of perfection filtering ’ugliness’ away. It is thinking of being absolutely unique via possession and wealth, admirable and with talent. Being cool and hip, in the game and a star. A package of glitter in a real world, untouchable and light.

Size of om

| Henna Timanttimetsä

Joensuu 2000

Kuva | | Henna Timanttimetsä

Kronstadt 2001

Kuva | | Henna Timanttimetsä

 

Kronstadt 2001

Interested in how we perceive what we see, to what kinds of things we are blind. Do we make something of what we see? Something truthful?

| Henna Timanttimetsä
How do we understand what we see and do we analyse the view, to what extent do we learn to calculate and measure the seen? How complicated or simple the process is and how influential are we in impacting biases, creating preconceptions, world views and keeping or dismantling stuck ideas on what is and what we should be?
For many this problematic seems to be uninteresting and to think we see all there is necessary to see and rest is futile. This result I have concluded by the intense need to jump into conclusions and depend on thinking you know more than finding out. An open mind is rare. Also the simplicity of questions asked strike as there is repetitious need to see people via gender, looks, class, status, wealth, occupation, education, colour, origin etc. This is at the very core of how humans interact with each other, how we like to keep closed groups closed and why. It is protecting something that is seen perfect and worthy of policing. To believe a lie is common, truth is on the other hand difficult to believe. Truth can be so unbelievable, unimaginable. This result is also interesting: whose story is believable, whose word is trustworthy.
It is different for a woman to be outside at night in the dark than for a man. What are they after, why are they there, what do they look for? A woman is vulnerable and in search of protection, finding a partner, wanting something. She is still passive, man is active. Man is there to do things in a very different way. Woman is a prey, man is a hunter. But still woman is seen as manipulating the situation, she is vulnerable and abuses this to gain something.

What there is to know?

| Henna Timanttimetsä
How do you look at people? How do you look at women? Do you look at men differently and why? Do you think of people’s clothing, that their looks make stories of them who they are and what do those details tell you? Do you compare yourself to others? Do you have specific ideas of what certain people should be wearing and look like to be accepted and respected? What does appearance mean to you and how important it is for you as means of expression, telling of status, ideas, occupation, priorities, wealth, interests, character, intellect, creativity and what goes on in someone’s mind and life? How much of this thinking process is rational and what is irrational, how much is based on feelings and hanging on to stereotypes? How much do you enjoy people get hurt? What do you make of this hurt?

How much do you judge people by their appearance and how does that happen? Is a constant way for you to put people down in their places to be controlled and bullied, you above or on the same level? How does that make you feel? What do you do when you judge, what kind of process is it? Do you do it without hesitation, without second thought? Do you make visible reactions, gestures, do you speak of what you have seen, a version of yours to someone who will have same kind of reactions and thoughts as you do? What kinds of reactions do you show and give to people or do you keep those assumptions to yourself? Do you ever wonder why do you think the way you do? How do you understand justification for behaviour where people are what they look like, that people represent specific types of people who do not change, which they can’t help and change, over which they do not have power. What do you think when people are unable to have a say over what is spoken of them, that it is taken for granted people are what they look like, represent and this is passed forward as such without being self-critical. People who speak of other people and their ’flaws’ surely are perfect, aren’t they. Situation is they have been granted acceptance within a group and from that security they speak. How weak is that. To understand our weaknesses is to admit to them.

Physical violence is not the only form of violence and when you see blood you can either scream or do something about it. How much do you think you have responsibility on what you say, how much your word weighs, how trustworthy are you? What is your responsibility concerning judgment, equality, human rights and human relations? What do you think keeps segregation, class, bullying, fear of difference alive, gaps between us? Who is interested in truth and how to find it?

Could you analyse these sentences: I find you interesting. Do you like anal sex?

You can send me your answers hjoronen@gmail.com Cheers!

P.S. You can tell me whether you like anal sex or not and why. I don’t base my interest on anyone by sexual preferences or try to trick by telling first someone is interesting and would you have kinky sex with me kind of way if you know what I mean. Thank you.

Breathing

| Henna Timanttimetsä

Womanhood what it is, so

| Henna Timanttimetsä