Santa Monica Art Studios December 2016

I was on a trip to Los Angeles to participate to a group exhibition in Santa Monica Art Studios last December. It was organized by Titanik Gallery from Turku, Finland and Arena 1 people from Santa Monica (3026 airport ave Santa Monica Ca 90405). Thank You! This was my first trip to the states. By the way -the customs were incredible. Otherwise the trip was a total success. I lost my bankcard once - but was super lucky to get it back. I guess it was a lesson worth learning - traveling reveals new scenery in many sense. I met some great people on the trip, one samurai, one Julie Weiss and one Teemu Selanne to mention a few :) Finish Independence day celebrations in the embassy was also something I would have never thought of ending up to... In just 1 1/2 weeks time we built the exhibition and I also got to have 2 waves in the Pacific with a wave-(body)board. We had a great group - and we made some real teamwork with a funny mix of persons who I guess would not work together 'normally'. That's why it was so great experience. California sun is incredible. I brought some paintings with me from Finland in suitcases. They were presents for the organizing party. Here's couple of pictures from 'my' installation.

I was lucky to make a site -specific video during the trip here's the link: https://vimeo.com/194182737

The morning we went to film the video I had no idea where exactly we were going and what we would exactly try to film. I had practised to play the song - I had a loaned guitar with me - I had a cameraman with a hangover. I had to drive through downtown with a car with automatic gears for the first time. But we managed to get to the site and we did it with minimum budget and right on time with the perfect lighting. Good job, Ville Laaksonen, J-A E. & Antti O.

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