Juuso-Matias – An Artist-Expert

Safety First – Support Resources

Intimate scenes and violent scenes do always contain their risks. It can be heavy to work with such a scene without proper support structures. They might trigger memories from real-life situation, or you might simply need someone to talk to after working with heavy material. If you feel like it, always search for professional help.

Mental Health Crisis Center (Pirkanmaa area in English), Victim Support Finland (in English) and Nollalinja are places  that give advice when you are in a crisis or in an unclear situation. Both are low-threshold contact places, so please be in contact with them if you even suspect that something might be wrong. Besides them, we have a general emergency number 112 which should be contacted if the situation is threatening or you need urgent help. See their website for an excellent application with all relevant numbers and their text-message service if you are not able to speak. 

If you work professionally, you should be aware of the reporting chains of your workplace . On the list there is often an occupational safety and health representative or some other person who has responsibility of safety (these can be intimacy director, fight director or stunt director), your direct superior or direct superior’s superior. Naturally, you can always be in contact with the Occupational Safety and Health Office in Finland or be in contact with Ombudsman of Equality (especially with cases of harassment). It is also a very good idea to be in contact with your own trade union. In most cases in Finland this could be Teme, Actors Union, Journalistiliitto or Taku.  

Besides acute crisis situations, there are several useful resources for general mental health support with Mieli ry and for people who have experienced violence with Nollalinja. 

Story then – Resources for Artistic Research

For me, artistic research means the kind of research which uses the intrinsic qualities of the art: where any part of traditional research process is replaced with art. Naturally, as a form of research, it exists in discussion with the world, creates new information and bears its responsibility.

My own professional background is in performing arts and in performing arts pedagogy, specifically in the portrayal of heightened physicality. I also meddle a bit with natural sciences and psychology. 

My values lie with soft, humane structures that make collaborations possible. I have a soft spot especially for the union activities and for independent performing arts organizations. I would personally love to create a more sustainable and fairer structures for all of the human beings in the field. My belief is that everyone should be able to work with performing arts whoever they are – and still thrive and flourish.

I am in the process of defining my own artistic practice and the ways I work in different contexts. I am currently describing, defining and mapping my different identities and tools I use. These mapping processes naturally affect my practice, but they also are a part of my practice forming a network of processes for constant learning and curiosity for new tools and solutions, new people and their practices.

Collaboration appears to form a core to my practice: I support others, we craft solutions together, I hone others’ ideas, combine and fulfill them. Collaboration is simply the key to my working methods. 

The  processes of expression in the forms of writing, conceptualizing and discussions are also labour-heavy. I will try to do my best to take part in discussions, but as it often is, I only have two hands to work with, and the world is full of fascinating things to do.

I wanted to write down these as they all affect my identity as an artist and as a researcher, and influence the directions, sidejourneys and shortcuts I take with research. Most of the essays I write here are also no strictly peer-reviewed scientific papers but simply thoughts and observations put to the paper in the process of sense-making. The purpose of most of these expositions is to express these processes and to hopefully share the information. I am also in the process of gathering interesting research to this page. That takes some time as I want to frame the research in a more pedagogical way. 

Now, enough framing and let’s get to the resources.