eviction,  Squatlife,  Tape Modern

Where to begin after such a time…

In the last post I said we were trying to find a new building as soon as possible. Well, it didn’t happen soon.
The blue building, the one we last moved into, was not good for us. It was big and gorgeous yes, but we couldn’t get running water without a flood, and the electricity situation was a bit precarious to say the least. On top of that, some of the supporting columns were dangerously rotten. Without running water everything felt difficult and our kitchen situation was sad. One can be happy without such luxuries but then you kinda want to be in nature, camping or something. This felt too much like surviving. The roof was the most beautiful thing about the building. The view was absolutely gorgeous!

After a few weeks, somehow the drabness of the building settled on the people. This was not a good time for us, so we took some time to figure out how we look after one another and how does the crew function as a community. This lead to some restructuring and part of our crew ended up merging with the bigger group, myself and Tape Modern included.
We took a new building with our new crew and it is perfect for us! We could do with more space since there are so many of us, but it’s in a fairly good condition and we still have a lot of communal and workshop space. The building used to be a radio station and a club. Our studio is in the loading bay bar, take a look:

It is an excellent space! That’s the long-story-short version of how we ended up in this building with a different crew and what our new place is like, now to Art News!


We have a new van! It is a beautiful (in all honesty it’s a bit battered second hand, but it is what we need), 2012 long wheel base Ford Transit. I am currently making a conversion plan to transform it into a “mobile studio gear and temporary accommodation”- solution. Unfortunately I can’t start the building itself in this space, we can’t drive vans in, but the next building will be chosen with that in mind.
It’s not only the conversion we can’t do right now. We can’t really facilitate an exhibition in this building either, so unfortunately the next show will be pushed to next year.

It’s not just because of the building; enne&moffa has been very busy with happenings/performance and it has definitely taken a toll on Tape Modern’s exhibition program. But it seems there is a time and a place for everything.
We have had a fantastic autumn with showing work and we are looking forward to enne&moffa’s upcoming performances, like the Dhaka Live Art Biennale. (If you want to know more about the work of enne&moffa, the dyad behind Tape Modern, take a look at what we’ve been up to while the gallery has been downshifting: enne&moffa

Even though we didn’t do an autumn show, the gallery hasn’t been in complete silence! We had the pleasure to be part of peace of video art by Finnish artist Aimo Hyvärinen. Him and his team are making a video installation and then possibly a documentary about artists working in peculiar conditions and the storage, moving and handling of works of art. We had a lovely day at the studio with David Malcolm Chapman and one of his students Gui who came to film us in the current studio. Since we had just moved into our new building there was not all that much to show in terms of finished work, but since we were in the process of some inventory it turned out to be a good time for their shoot. We had a lovely time chatting about the conditions of other artists and art world professionals they had interviewed while making this work, shared past experiences, talked about lost work, funny mishaps in evictions and other squat stories. Enne&moffa and Tape Modern thank everyone involved and thank Aimo for having us to be part of the peace. We are very much looking forward to seeing the installation in Helsinki in the autumn 2019. We’ll keep you all posted on that.

On a more personal note, there has also been a major change in my life, which was letting go of my flat. I have been working and part-time living in occupied properties since June, but since I had mandatory time left on my contract I had to keep my flat till last month. It feels very different living here without having my apartment, but I don’t feel homeless. This is good.

From the midst of all this flux, I apologize for not delivering the autumn show we promised but not to worry; there will be a next show and it will be a good one! We have loads of plans with Tape Modern and we’ll let you in on them as soon as the time is right. Till the end of the year though, there won’t be much to report. I’ll try to coax a guest article from Sophia for the next entry. Maybe she can give a little inside scoop of what’s been going on with the happenings and what was up with all that jam. If this tickled your curiosity, stay tuned.