IT ALL STARTED PRIOR MY DEATH

"I have definitely included the dream together with incomplete and
oftentimes unfinished fragments in my working process. Parts have
been added to each other without chronological order or in order
to provide answers. The rest is gathered from material made at
different moments, which I may or may not have included,
simultaneously, like a key to whoever yearns for a greater
understanding of other truths about our existence on this earth.
In other words; there are other ones with us in existing rooms."

marja-leena sillanpää
stockholm 2017

"I ask around 30 artists (including, you) to each loan me something
to be printed. What I want is not an artwork per se, something to go
on a black and white copy machine to make an art work,
You might think of it as the equivalent of say an etching plate,
the plate isn't the work itself but is used to make the print. I mean
it can be a drawing or painting, or it can be an object, or it can
play with the idea of copying or how a copy machine works... I'm open.
The prints are black and white, 8 ½ X11. Gallery goers can request
prints of any of the pieces, which are given away for free. They are
stamped and numbered on the back, the edition size is limited to the
number of prints given out during the exhibition.
At the end each artist receives their piece back and a complete set of
stamped and numbered prints. The prints of your piece remain a print
by you, editioned and printed by me (and Pilot Projects)."

philip von zweck
chicago 2017

I AM CLAIRVOYANT
 
I was born 1965
I was sent to a private school
I wasted two years
 
I study
I am waiting
waiting
I wanted to be
I
I will know everything
I had discovered long ago that I missed those
parents I seem to need
I do not meet my father
I have put myself together
I dare
I
I do not have any conceptions
I suppose
I understand
I want to live
I was "good"
I received poems published under a pseudonym
I was the most successful person of the century
but some have still not read my books or never
heard of me
I have seen more
I have always liked things about them they do not
I
like them selves
I was eighteen years old and hitler was dead
I was forced to show a symbolic gratitude
 
Marja-leena Sillanpää
Stockholm - New York - Stockholm
2015

PANDORA´S BOX
which contained all the evils of the world
to open the box means to create evil
that cannot be undone

Marja-leena Sillanpää
2015

CFH

some of us
care more about the place
in the next life
than our reputation
in this one
 
Marja-leena Sillanpää
2013

REGISTRATION
 
Renate Bauer
the swedish artist
with handwritten notes by a copier
art on the boards all around the city
looks like low-voiced hum
but very intense
now and then the notes show up
you do not need to read them always
they have a kind of function anyway
 
someone keeps on
establish opinions
find out
sort out
assure
investigate
examine
observe
register
comment
score and note
state and express ones ideas
the freedom of speech
and art when art works well
 
I remember Renate Bauer´s exhibition at Riche
her notes as a contrast to the barlife
her art as a contrast to the stylish people
those pretty drinks
tasty
cold
cocktails
a frozen strawberry daiquiri
far away
from those who are lying out there on rugs
 
Marja-leena Sillanpää
2010

A MAGIC STONE
 
there are magic places in all our lives probably
they affect something we have experienced
or something unknown
these magical places we need to keep in secret
since it can be a mistake if the place appear to be
a common place
the magic might be gone
but
this magic stone... found at långholmen
an old prison island
outside hornstull in stockholm
it´s rather easy to find
this magic stone
on a walk
at the same time
there is a nice café at the museum of Bellman

Marja-leena Sillanpää
2010

BLOOD
tells about a sense of sensitivity
we have the possibility to understand something
deep inside
in personal level but also in human conceptions
for me John Duncan´s work is deeply existential
with huge intelligence and precision
what surprises me most is my own reactions  
for example his early performance SCARE from 1976
this entices my thoughts in new ways
for me that is great art
 
blood is pumping in all bodies by the heart
the room radiates some kind of its own coolness
as signs of extraordinary choreography
the blood goes from the heart to the lungs for oxygen
back to the heart and then to all the tissues in the body
 
after a blazing act the sound is still left in the crime scene
but in John Duncan´s room we can hear a calm breath
and these are neither mine or yours

Marja-leena Sillanpää
2010

 
CONTACT

I visit the graves
every where I go
I just end up visiting the graves
where ever I go
 
(the dead ones are not there)
 
I still meet my parents
yes I still meet my parents
every where I go
and I end up at their grave
where ever I go
 
Marja-leena Sillanpää
Koppartorp Sweden
2003

photo Mattias Åkerfeldt

1984
Beth Laurin
Firework Edition Records
 
thinking of Beth Laurin
and her red hair
thinking of her gaze
and of Berlin
Beth Laurin is in my ears
some of the tracks is in my heart
prologue
some kind of foreword  
with something interesting for the upcoming
a rhythm
drips from the roof
muffled saxophone
the hotel room
20 seconds
pang pang pang
pang pang pang
pang pang pang
after 2.30 minutes
repeat several times
this is a breakthrough
backwards
svart black musta
empty room
pass through
a sound as a pump
to see what´s happening
machinery
purl
sewer
test sound
Beth Laurin´s voice
Beth Laurin´s voice
sandpaper
it was also splashing
the radio
the song
the raining
fragrance of the city
it was before my death
it do not suprise me at all
the tv
the flies
Beth both Beth
the day if
this is a breakthrough
this is a breakthrough
I do not need him
and life can go on forever

Marja-leena Sillanpää
2010