Press Release

Love Matters in Art meets Down the Rabbit Hole at the National Art Gallery in June

Exciting exciting! The National Art Gallery of Namibia presents Niina Turtola and Kirsten Wechslberger exhibiting their views on the status quo of life and the society.

Love Matters in Art / Vol.013 Hate me and see if I care / Niina Turtola

When you saw the Love Matters in Art logo on the streets, did you think it was Land Matters? Look again. If you have not seen anything, are you actually awake? We are conditioned to see things as we see them, not as they are. “The world as we present it to ourselves is an effect of interpretation.” Niina Turtola remembers reading Umberto Eco’s statement. We live in a parallel universe.

This self-initiated low-key and low-tech design is a project by the fertilizer of the psycho-visual probability, Niina Turtola, a Master of Arts in graphic design originating from Finland. Her exhibition is named after a bumper sticker that said “Hate me and see if I care”. Love Matters in Art is an homage to typography (the art of arranging typeface), simplicity, individualism and simply – honesty. There is no commercial client, institution, manipulation or special effect stipulating what the project is, it is her project about the society – printed by a printer and copied by a copy machine.

Love Matters in Art project collects excerpts from published texts, news, statistics, poems and facts from their original source. She retypes, designs and reproduces them into different standard A-series paper sizes with a typographic design. Pure text, pure typography! No photo manipulation. If you think what a poster is, think again. Read the Love Matters in Art Manifesto online: http://lovemattersinart.blogspot.com/. This project has received funding from the Finnish Embassy in Windhoek.

Down the Rabbit Hole / Kirsten Wechslberger

The second exhibiting artist Kirsten Wechslberger felt like she had a pipe down her throat for the first 30 years of her life which force fed her unwholesome information, spewed out by the mass media and society which left her bloated, nauseated and undernourished. During this time she went through fits of rage, tears of anger and disbelief protecting an incredibly sensitive ‘her’.  Just like the media she pushed and pushed until the day she discovered peace by choosing love. Today, even though still far from perfect (what is perfect?) she makes mostly conscious decisions and has learned to pick her daily ‘diet’ for herself.” 

Kirsten explains even though she had no actual Morpheus to give her the choice between the blue and the red pill as Neo had in the pop culture film The Matrix she still woke up. The viewer of her work will have to physically step into her mixed media installation which includes mediums such as digital visual display, sound, light, wood and rope amongst others. She challenges the viewer to become aware of their life and life choices while seeing, hearing, and feeling. Come and see how far the rabbit hole goes.

Exhibitions run at the National Art Gallery of Namibia during the time of 7^th of June until 3^rd of July. The opening is on Thursday, 6 June at 18:00. Welcome!

The New Media Design students receive their personal invitations.

New Media Design Center is located at the Katutura Community Art Centre, and it is part of the College of the Arts. 

I am preparing some personal invitations. My imaginary little friends such as a FoxRat Mix illustrate the envelopes.

When I was a kid, I wanted to work in a library so I could stamp things. No I am stamping around!

Vol013. Hate me and see if I care*

You are invited to a

niina turtola | love matters in art

Exhibition opening on Thursday 6, June 2013 at 18:00pm 

at the National Art Gallery of Namibia 

The exhibition will run from the 7th June 2013 – until 3rd July 2013

Denial

Denial, in ordinary English usage, is asserting that a statement or allegation is not true.^[1]

The subject may use:

• simple denial: deny the reality of the unpleasant fact altogether
• minimisation: admit the fact but deny its seriousness (a combination of denial and rationalization)
• projection: admit both the fact and seriousness but deny responsibility by blaming somebody or something else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denial

The Street Walker.
Talk of the town.  

People especially (designers and artists) should be able to differentiate themselves form the nation and country they live in. 

Art and design is not suppose to support structures and institutions, it is suppose to express the freedom of "thinking". 

 Are You thinking for Yourself?

Vol020_StoogesWifeyKamboroto.jpg

Matching exercise. Match the items on the right to the items on the left.

The world as we present it to ourselves is an effect of interpretation.
Umberto Eco

The definition of the alternatives is the supreme instrument of power; the antagonist can rarely agree on what the issues are because power is involved in the definition. He who determines what politics is runs the country, because the definition of alternatives is the choice of conflicts, and the choice of conflicts allocates power. 
E.E.  Schattschnieider.

Dear Reader, 

I am looking for Namibian song lyrics/poems/texts, that talk about the Namibian society and it's challenges. And of course life and love and its' challenges, how could I forget!

ANY LOCAL LANGUAGE! (Please send a translation in English.)

I am preparing typographic posters for an exhibition at the National Art Gallery of Namibia coming up in June and wish to collect more material from local artists and writers.

The writer's name will appear in the poster as a reference. I will make a typographic presentation of texts.

lovemattersinart@gmail.com

My name is Niina Turtola. 

I am a typographer, graphic designer, fertilizer of the psycho-visual probability and Love Matters in Art is a self-initiated art project.

Love Matters in Art is looking for your visual interpretation. What do you see and where?

Take a photograph of the interaction between people on the streets and the posters you see in Windhoek and send it to lovemattersinart@gmail.com.

Travels with Love Matters, lovely time we are having!

 

Poster title "Rape / Afraid"

All the posters are reproduced texts from media in Namibia. 

Love Matters in Art strikes a pose in the Nature.

Ps. Shake that thing!

Dictionary explains much about things we seem to forget. 

Love Matters in Art Still Life Experiments in Writing of Photography Part 1. 

The Oxford Dictionary, a orange winter sock. a pink/red morning slipper. 

Love Matters in Art Manifesto of May 14, 2013 in the City Windhoek

Love Matters in Art is an engine that 

000. looks in your mirror, first of all

00. acts in a form of a poster on the streets

0. works with text, writing and typography, visualises thinking, collects excerpts for the files, thinks that education and reading are the only tools to create a better world, oh yes, and healthy and meaningful interaction with right people

01. chooses written text from any source (news, statistics, poems, fiction, faction) any writing that has been produced by some one else and that has been printed/published

02. reproduces text with good principles of graphic design and typography resulting into a printed poster

03. uses maximum of two colors in the poster (1. stamp and 2. text)

04. is an anti-photographic-people-posing-image movement:
only handles images of the posing of the paper poster, (no "strike-a-pose-posing" unless considered for some reason necessary), the process of Love Matters project, people interacting with the poster are considered worthwhile

05. is not responsible for any psycho-visual probabilities the viewer might start to think or see during or after reading the poster

06. is not responsible for any grey projections in the eye sight during or after reading the poster

07. is an anti-being-cool movement since cool is in the inside not in the pocket, anti-consumerism, anti-posing movement, anti-visual-pollution-movement, pro-life and pro-action movement, pro-simplicity movement

08. is documenting the process and has no target in the process

09. hand-stamps all the original posters with a red Love Matters in Art stamp as a sign of hand-made Love Matters original whose value in the future will be immense: read: collect now! if you can

010. posts posters on the streets, hope for them to stay up for a meaningful period of time, and waits for them to end up in people's homes on the wall to show interest in mentally joining the movement

011. uses text as such and writes the concrete clear reference of publishing and the author on the left corner of the poster, hope you question these texts and contact the author for finding out

012a. copies text from a source, chooses the right words and takes text out of the context, If there is no reference link, the words have appeared earlier in a previous poster, maybe, 

013. currently focuses on the Namibian (as a southern african part of the world) society

014. depicts the society and its insanity and has fun with it!

100f. Does not understand why the major local newspaper "The Namibian" has a centerfold of people posing. All answers please direct to the lovemattersinart@gmail.com immediately! please!

If you read this far please report to Love Matters in Art at lovemattersinart@gmail.com any interesting cases you see of hear from or about the Love Matters in Art posters you might see in town. Talk on the streets and images of Love Matters interaction.

car
house 
cattle
wife

Love Matters interacts on the streets!

Coca Cola, Domestic violence and Love Matters in Art hanging out in Windhoek

The latest "tinted" editions of Love Matters in Art approaching the street shortly!

_____________________

Tonight!

Namibian Film Screening "A Country for My Daughter"

7pm at the Windhoek College of the Arts Theatre School

Robert Mugabe Avenue

Entrance: 10,- N$

An African Woman : Poem by a young Namibian

By Victoria Hasheela 
published in 
Women and Custom in Namibia, 
Cultural Practice versus Gender Equality?, 
ed. Oliver C Ruppel, Macmillan Education Namibia, 
Windhoek, 2008, 
p. 8. 

I'm an African woman
A victim of culture
I have no rights
I do whatever he says

I am his first wife
I thought I'd be the only one
But after one year
There were two of us

I was taken by surprise
I didn't see it coming
I was only told
The day that she arrived

He said it's his right
He said I've no say
He said it's his house
He said it's Africa

This is the fifth year
There are now five of us
I wonder if he'll get more
I still have no say

He is a proud king
I gave him two sons
But I am feeling ill
There's a disease in me

I wonder if culture will ever change
I wonder if this will go on and on
I wonder how many more generations
Will experience this trauma

They say it is culture
It is not his fault
He found it here
But I really wonder
If it's not time
To stop this trauma
And let go of the culture

Hanging at Pharaoh's parking lot, Windhoek April 27, 2013












Posing with the Girls, Windhoek April 27, 2013












Posing with Ees in Ludwigsdorf, April 20

Posters up and about in the city of Windhoek

"I do not understand this poster!"

Dialogue on the streets.

1. Between the viewer and the poster, 2. between the hanger of the poster (messenger) and the viewer. 

The response is very different based on who is hanging the poster and who is around on the streets. There has been long discussions and only exchange of few looks.

a) There was a 11th grader school boy whom Love Matters met at a bus stop who did not believe that "Source report that most rapes in Namibia are committed by family members or the acquaintances of the victim." Love Matters explained that she is only retyping the statistics that she finds.

b) There was a family man in Zoo Park in Windhoek who asked was Love Matters a victim of domestic violence or is she affiliated to an NGO who has sent her to post the posters.

c) One young lady was very impressed with the $$$$ poster.

d) Some claim to not understand at all.

e) Some say this is a very good cause.

f) Some are aggressive defensive and hostile with their body language, especially ladies. 

g) A young lady commented about the Blah blah blah poster as follows: "It is a man's responsibility to take care of the woman and the baby. Baby dumping is the mans fault." 

Love Matters asks: Who will take care of you if not you and who is responsible for your life if not you?

Love Matters in Art is an initiative from a social designer who is picking up on repetitive patterns  and topics from the media in the Namibian society and transform them into art.

Love Matters is a great appreciator of typography, letters and text. She is working on trying to depict a social phenomena with two typefaces: Melior and Info.