TIIA KASURINEN: I’m not entirely here (cybersad) (2020)
I’m not entirely here (cybersad) is in love with sad girl aesthetics, classic art memes and grainy zoomed images. It is a perspective into a world that plays with gender stereotypes, sexuality and pink aesthetics as instruments for becoming whole.
I‘m not entirely here (cybersad) is a dance performance inspired by the themes of identity, gender, the Internet and sadness. The performance, premiering on the Zodiak Stage in September, deconstructs Internet phenomena, trends and cyber-expression using methods of performing art. What are Internet identities and how they are interpreted? How are they experienced in the world outside the Internet? How are gender and sexuality expressed in social media? How does the cyber-body move?
The performance uses make-up, movement and costumes to introduce a character whose appearance is inspired by the algorithms of the choreographer’s social media feed. Pieced together of virtual world performances and inspired by YouTube tutorials, Kardashian reality stars, drag aesthetics, Instagram and memes, the character takes to the stage in order to explore the meeting between virtual and everyday spaces and identities. How does the character connect with its audience?
I’m not entirely here (cybersad) seeks to embody a grasp of the present moment and the post-social media era through dance and performance. The aesthetics and the movement material of the performance as well as the emotions of the character can be studied in more detail through online choreography materials on social media (Instagram: @notenterilyhere).
Artist/choreographer Tiia Kasurinen graduated from the Stockholm University of the Arts in 2017. She is interested in themes such as identity, gender, the gaze and pop culture, and explores them in her works through theatre make-up, visual transformation and motion. In her works YouTube tutorials and somatic movement walk hand in hand, creating recognisable aesthetics. When not working on her own projects, Tiia Kasurinen works as a dancer and a performer and collaborates with other artists.
Concept, choreography and performance: Tiia Kasurinen
Lighting design: Sofia Linde
Sound design: Olli Lautiola
Costume design: Annukka Havukumpu
Supported by & collaborators: Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Kekäläinen & Company / KEIDAS Residency
Production: Zodiak, Tiia Kasurinen
Teaservideo: Eva-Liisa Orupõld
I’m not entirely here (cybersad) rakastaa sad girl-estetiikkaa, klassisen taiteen meemejä ja rakeisia zoomikuvia. Se on näkökulma maailmasta, jossa leikitään sukupuolistereotypioilla, seksuaalisuudella ja vaaleanpunaisella estetiikalla kokonaiseksi tulemisen työkaluina.
I’m not entirely here (cybersad) on tanssiteos, joka inspiroituu identiteetin, sukupuolen, Internetin ja surullisuuden teemoista. Zodiak Stagella syyskuussa ensi-iltansa saava teos purkaa esitystaiteen keinoin internet-ilmiöitä, trendejä ja kyberilmaisua. Mistä Internet-identiteetit ja niiden tulkitseminen koostuu? Miten ne näyttäytyvät Internetin ulkopuolisessa maailmassa? Miten sukupuolta ja seksuaalisuutta ilmaistaan sosiaalisessa mediassa? Miten kyberkeho liikkuu?
Teos esittelee maskeerauksen, liikkeen ja puvustuksen keinoin hahmon, jonka ulkomuoto on inspiroitunut koreografin sosiaalisen median algoritmeistä. Virtuaalimaailman performansseista koottu hahmo – vaikutteinaan mm. YouTube-tutorialit, Kardashian-realitytähdet, drag-estetiikka, Instagram ja “meemit” – asettuu lavalle tarkoituksenaan tutkia virtuaalisten ja jokapäiväisten tilojen sekä identiteettien kohtaamista. Miten hahmo kohtaa yleisönsä?
I’m not entirely here (cybersad) pyrkii tanssin ja esitystaiteen avulla kehollistamaan otteen nykyhetkestä ja post-sosiaalisen median ajasta. Projektia varten on koottu teoksen estetiikkaa, liikemateriaalia ja hahmon tunteiden käsittelyä tarkentavaa online-koreografiaa, jota on mahdollista seurata sosiaalisessa mediassa (Instagram: @notentirelyhere).
Tiia Kasurinen on Tukholman taideyliopistosta vuonna 2017 valmistunut taiteilija ja koreografi. Kasurinen on kiinnostunut mm. identiteetin, sukupuolen, katseen ja pop-kulttuurin teemoista, ja tutkii niitä töissään maskeerauksen, visuaalisen muodonmuutoksen ja liikkeen työkaluja hyödyntäen. Youtube-tutorialit ja somaattinen liike kulkevat hänen töissään rinnakkain, luoden tunnistettavan estetiikan. Kun Kasurinen ei työskentele omien projektiensa parissa, hän tekee töitä tanssijana, esiintyjänä ja kollaboraattorina muille taiteilijoille ja heidän kanssaan.
Konsepti, koreografia ja esitys: Tiia Kasurinen
Valosuunnittelu: Sofia Linde
Äänisuunnittelu: Olli Lautiola
Pukusuunnittelu: Annukka Havukumpu
Tukijat ja yhteistyökumppanit: Taiteen edistämiskeskus, Kekäläinen & Company / KEIDAS -residenssi
Tuotanto: Zodiak, Tiia Kasurinen
Teaservideo: Eva-Liisa Orupõld
Reviews: https://www.ts.fi/kulttuuri/5453744 / https://iscene.dk/2021/09/09/performing-hel-rusland-strammer-grebet-og-finsk-scenekunst-faenger/ /https://www.hbl.fi/artikel/2e1ebb08-8593-4227-aeb8-fe3405c8482a
“The highlight of the festival, however, was unconditionally Tiia Kasurinen’s picturesque and almost transcendent social media dance performance “I’m not entirely here (cybersad)”. Modern in its expression and theme. Furiously refined in its choreographic formatting of the social media channels. Instagram is square; Tik-Tok as well – a separate dance language arises in the frame adopted from the screens of reality and young dancers.
Perhaps the strongest grip of the piece is the performer herself. Tiia Kasurinen grew up with social media. She embraces cyber identities and expands their understanding by mixing the digital universes with related analog gender-playful subcultures like the drag show. The performance is constructed of images of sadness, but exudes an intoxicating, playful curiosity that constantly twists perception. Fantastic performance, terrific grip, refreshing perspective. We would also like to see it in Denmark!” – Rie Hammer, ISCENE
“Tiia Kasurinen was responsible for Wednesday’s highlight with her solo work I’m not entirely here (cybersad). Inspired by social media posing culture and identity shaping, the dance piece was hypnotic to watch from start to finish. The phrase “hopefully one day you will find a way to be yourself”, heard in the performance few times, gets stuck in the head.
The unnaturally modified character of the work has something interesting in a similar way as a doll on stage. As the character begins to move, at first very surreptitiously and slowly and then bigger and faster, it feels both dead and alive at the same time. Like the doll, the character also has a certain sadness and vulnerability. Secondary motion material speaks of compulsion and stuck in something coming from the outside.
And yet, in all his discipline, Kasurinen’s work also has a sense of freedom and defiance. While the character dances mostly expressionlessly like in his own world, she occasionally makes eye contact with the audience rather than asking “why are you staring”? At one point, loud music and flickering strobe lights becomes almost violent to the viewer. The lightness but also the layering associated with posing is brought to the work by a series of Instagram images and portraits taken from art history, on the faces of which the eyes of the character of Kasurinen’s work have been implanted.” – Irmeli Haapanen, TS
TIIA KASURINEN 