In cooperation with RIXC Centre for New Media Culture What does it mean to have a piece of land to experiment upon, to care for, and have responsibility under/over/inbetween? The land is a substrate for organisms under/over and inbetween it’s surface. It is a double-bind relationship: The land looks after you, and you look after the land. It’s Maaland.*

In Finland, many people own small pieces of land and forest, often inherited.. Literally, passed-along family trees. Imagine it may be possible to de-fragment the land, bringing it under common management, like a hard-disk. What would be the protocols of access and retrieval of information? What might be the open-source ‘code’, ‘hardware’ or ‘wetware’ that comes with the land? Organised within the context of RIXC's Renewable Network and Pixelversity 2013 theme ‘Techno-ecologies’, including resilient agricultural infrastructure, art+bio-science collaborations, agroforestry, open hardware, and Commons management, we made an open call for participants to engage directly with the above subjects or initiates infrastructure which can support the exploration of these subjects.

The 4-day schedule of activities was open plan, and was open to change. A group of ~15 persons from different backgrounds and interests gathered on Kemiönsaari/Kimitoön in South-west Finland, to explore this double-bind relationship from different perspectives. Hosted by Kimito-proto-dojo house, a personal house of 2 families, and includes a wood/materials workshop, mini-fablab, indoor & outdoor workspaces. From 8 remote international participants also joined the occasion in online video-chat spaces, sharing their ideas, their experience and and in some cases their bit of their land with us. See programme summary & list of participants below.

* Maaland combines both the Finnish & Swedish words for land used in SW Finland.

Contacts

Tuomo Tammenpää: tuomo.tammenpaa[-at-]gmail.com, +358 (0)40 525 4636 Mikko Laajola: mikko[-at-]pixelache.ac Andrew Paterson: andrew[-at-]pixelache.ac, +358 (0)50 402 3828 Rasa Kavaliauskaitė: rasa[-at-]pixelache.ac

Schedule (all times in 24hrs)

La-Su. / Sat-Sun. 13-14.7. Arriving..

Arrivals to Kemiö and Kimito-proto-dojo house Photo documents of Kimito-proto-dojo house from air made by Ville Hyvönen from Helicam

Ma. / Mon. 15.7. Day 1 of practice / research activities

Programme at Kimito-proto-dojo house.. 

11-12: Introduction to the week together Starting note-gathering ('tieto-talkoot') related to conversations & artist/maker-run projects related to land 12-13: Lunch served 13-18: Afternoon practice.. Map/chart of approaches to the topic by Tuomo & Andrew Visiting land of Aino Toivettula by rest of group & collecting reeds/kaisla on site Testing of Google Hangout / On air with Mari Keski-Korsu Making of Kaislabetoni/ReedBrick 19-21: Evening: Remote connections.. Mari Keski-Korsu (Tunnila, Etelä-Savo/South Savonia, Finland): Google Hangout on Air | Clear-cut Preservation video and photos from Clear-cut Preservation | At one point she showed this image Dougald Hine, Dark Mountain / Uncivilisation festival (London, UK): direct Skype 21-23: Late dinner served

Ti./Tues. 16.7. Day 2 of practice / research activities

Programme at Kimito-proto-dojo house.. 11-12: Round-the-table discussions 12-13: Lunch served 13-18: Afternoon practice.. 100W Wind Turbine repair talkoot [manual 2.29MB] with Peter Kuria Githinji, Tuomo Tammenpää, Niko Punin & others Solar oven building workshop led by Mikko Laajola 19-21: Remote connections.. Dimitris Kitsikopoulos, IppofaesPlus, (Kamena Vourla, Greece): Google Hangout on air (broadcast sadly broke after 12mins) & Slides [1.38MB] Meiran Pelto video-journalism by Jukka Peltokoski (Tampere) Blast from the past (but another example of rural media): Līgo-Jāņi 2010 in Aizpute (2010) from Herbologies/Foraging Networks expedition to Kurzeme, Latvia, edited by Tuomo Tammenpää 21-23: Late dinner served

Ke. / Wed. 17.7. Day 3: Presentations

Programme at Kimito-proto-dojo house.. 11-12: Round-the-table discussions 12-13: Lunch served 13.30-14.30: Afternoon practice.. Continuation of Solar oven building workshop led by Mikko Laajola Making of introduction presentation by Tuomo Tammenpää Programme at Kulttuurikeskus Villa Lande auditorium (Engelsbyntie 8, 25700 Kemiö).. 14.30-15.30: Lunch served at Lalla Vinde cafe 16-19: Maaland 'Public Sessions': Bambuser live stream/archive Introduction by hosts Andrew Paterson & Tuomo Tammenpää RIXC's short documentary clip of last summer's Renewable worklab in Pedvāle and Saliņas, Kurzeme region of Latvia, July 26–28, 2012. 16.15-17.00: Remote connections.. Rasa Smite, (RIXC, Salinas, Kurzeme, Latvia) Malin Lindmark-Vrijman (Kultivator, Öland, Sweden) 17-18: Screening of Thomas Bagge (DK)'s documentary The Wedding between Art & Agriculture (2011, 39mins) 18.00-18.20: Introduction to Seeds Underground Party by Shu Lea Cheang (US/FR) Programme at Kimito-proto-dojo house.. 19-23: Ville Hyvönen from Helicam returns and make aerial video documentation 1st Kemiö Seeds Underground Party led by Shu Lea Cheang & dinner served.

To. / Thurs. 18.7. Day 4: Processing & fore/insights

Programme at Kimito-proto-dojo house.. 11-13: Guided visit to Arkipaleg Workshop in Kemiö by Aino Toivettula & Tuisku Torkkeli 13-14: Lunch served & remote connection with Marcus Letts, United Diversity co-op (UK) 14-18: Media sorting. 19-20: Remote connections.. Vanessa Gocksch, Intermundos, El ensueno, (Palomino, Colombia):  Google Hang out on air | Palomino El Ensueño video-clip & Casa Biyuka video-clip Serena Reed, PhillyHomeGrown (Philidelphia, USA): Evidence of our Survival video-clip 21-23: Late dinner served

Pe. / Fri. 19.7. Day 5: Leaving..

Programme at Kimito-proto-dojo house.. 11.00-11.30: Final round-the-table discussion. What to do next? 12.00: Bus back to Helsinki

19-21.7.

Many of group went to Jättömaa/Wasteland Festival in Kouvola, SE Finland.

Location / Venue

Our host venue is ‘Kimito-proto-dojo’ house, a personal house of 2 families, and includes a wood/materials workshop, mini-fablab, indoor & outdoor workspaces. Lodging can be experimental, including tents & shelters. Food will be collectively organised, and participants will be expected to help with food preparation, serving and cleaning up duties. Address: Address: Kårkulla, Pedersåvägen 215, 25700 Kemiönsaari/Kimitoön, Finland Google Streetview: http://goo.gl/maps/6P8er Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/rKBFS Open Street Maps: http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/way/24438261 NB: Wednesday afternoon events were at Villa Lande (Engelsbyntie 8, 25700 Kemiö): http://www.villalande.fi/ and also site of organising partner Lalla Vinde: http://www.lallavinde.fi/

Communications

* Short-link for this page: http://tiny.cc/maaland * During 15-18.7. we maintained a channel on IRC (Freenode network), Channel #maaland * Related Facebook event for the week. * Twitter/Facebook hashtag: #maaland

Participants

/// Confirmed present locals & currently based in Finland

Tuomo Tammenpää, Pixelache/Lalla Vinde (Kemiö): http://misusage.org | http://www.lallavinde.fi/ | http://www.ohanda.org/ Sari Kippilä, Lalla Vinde (Kemiö): http://www.lallavinde.fi/ Antti Ahonen, Pixelache/Koelse (Helsinki): http://anttiahonenphotography.com | http://koelse.org Peter Kuria Githinji, SHALIN Finland ry (Helsinki): http://www.shalinry.org Aino Toivettula (Kemiö): http://www.arsnet.net/ainotoivettula | http://www.kimito.fi/arkipelagworkshop/ Ilari Toivettula (Helsinki/Kemiö) Niko Punin (Kemiö) Tuisku Torkkeli (Kemiö) Andrew Gryf Paterson, Pixelache (Helsinki): http://agryfp.info Jon Sundell, Made in Kallio (Helsinki): http://madeinkallio.fi Mikko Laajola + Verne Laajola, Pixelache (Helsinki) Rasa Kavaliauskaitė, Vilnius Art Academy/Pixelache intern (Vilnius/Helsinki) Rehab Hazgui, Pixelache (Tunis/Helsinki) Lilli Tölp, Estonian Art Academy/Bioart Society intern (Tallinn/Helsinki) Jana Pejoska (Helsinki)

/// International guest present

Shu Lea Cheang, Seeds Underground Party, CycleX (New York/Paris) "Seeds underground holds seed exchange parties where packets of seeds change hands and go underground in the fields across nation borders. Bring your harvested, acquired seeds of sorts to this after-work party! Sign on to trade seeds, to adopt and germinate, to broadcast and track their distribution. Bring your music, pump up the volume, seeds go underground as we party. Tales of seeds are shared while waiting for the sprouts to rise up in early daybreak." Shu Lea Cheang describes herself as: Artist. conceptualist. filmmaker. networker. She constructs networked installation and multi- player performance in collective mode. She drafts sci-fi narratives in her film scenario and artwork imagination." http://www.mauvaiscontact.info/ | http://www.seedsunderground.net/ | http://accidental-landing.mobi | http://cyclex.info

/// Remote participants

Rasa Šmite (RIXC, Salinas, Kurzeme, Latvia) "RIXC was established on May 2000 on the basis of E-LAB (Centre for electronic arts and media, since 1996). The basic activity of RIXC is to initiate the most novel and current topics in digital art by performing innovative experimental projects in art, science and technology in Latvia and internationally. RIXC fosters cultural exchange as well as promotes new forms of cultural and artistic expression. RIXC approaches new media not only as a new field of artistic and cultural practice, but also as an infrastructure to support other forms of art and culture." http://renewable.rixc.lv | http://rixc.lv  Malin Lindmark-Vrijman (Kultivator, Öland, Sweden) "Kultivator was founded in 2005 by the artists Mathieu Vrijman and Malin Lindmark Vrijman and the farmers Maria Lindmark och Henric Stigeborn. Member since 2007 is also Marlene Lindmark. Kultivator initiate and execute projects, exhibitions and workshops that explores possible alternative narratives within art and farming, with the members or/and invited guests and the public. At site on Öland, Sweden, Kultivator has a residency, exhibition space and a dairy farm with 30 cows + chicken, ducks, sheep and horses. Since the start in 2005, approximately 80 artists, researchers and farmers has visited and worked on the premises" http://kultivator.org  Dougald Hine, Dark Mountain / Uncivilisation festival (London, UK) "The Dark Mountain Project is a network of writers, artists and thinkers who have stopped believing the stories our civilisation tells itself. We see that the world is entering an age of ecological collapse, material contraction and social and political unravelling, and we want our cultural responses to reflect this reality rather than denying it." http://dark-mountain.net/ | http://uncivilisation.co.uk/  Vanessa Gocksch and friends, Intermundos, El ensueno, (Palomino, Colombia) "El Ensueño is a 15 hectar rural laborary and living space located on Palomino river, one hour walking distance from the Palomino village in the Guajira department of Colombia. El Ensueño was bought by Intermundos in 2009 and has since been in a process of recuperation and habilitation. El Ensueño is being developed together with Felipe Rague (and family!) from Ereciclaje; experts and pioneers in Colombia working with recycling and perma-culture" http://intermundos.org/el-ensueno/  Dimitris Kitsikopoulos, IppofaesPlus, (Greece) "Ippofaes Plus is an initiative that mainly, brings together sea buckthorn farmers in order to exchange ideas, experiences and hopefully to proceed to collaboration on selling, promoting and other activities. The model proposed is the Cooperative entrepreneurship model, but this is the destination. The vehicle to get there is a new type of Greek farmer that has an 'Open Agri-CULTURE' and the fuel of this vehicle is the free exchange among farmers of information, farming practices, mistakes, ideas and even feelings." http://www.ippofaesplus.com  Mari Keski-Korsu (Helsinki/Tunnila, E. Finland) "I have declared one hectare of clear-cutted forest to be a Clear- cut Preservation for the next 70 years. This is the time a tree grows to be big enough to be cutted in intensive forestry. The area is located in Tunnila village, Finland. Planting, thinning and timbering of the trees is forbidden. So far there have been one illegal thinning in the preservation. I have a camera in the Clear-Cut Preservation to record tree growth. It takes still images in one hour intervals. This is probably the longest reality-show in history. Mari Keski-Korsu (mkk) is an transdisciplinary artist. She explores how ecological and socio-economical changes manifest in people’s everyday life. Her works have a political nature with a humorous twist. The basis of the work is in location, a place and people’s relations to it." http://artsufartsu.net  Marcus Letts, BuildingMan Coop, United Diversity, Cloud Cuckooland Festival, (Somerset/London, UK) "Building Man is a radically open multi-stakeholder co-operative, which means we need YOU to help us build the change. Our volunteer-led gatherings of like minded people and projects rely on resource mapping, skills sharing, and the empowerment of an emerging network of volunteers and permanent site infrastructures across the UK and beyond." http://buildingman.org | http://uniteddiversity.coop | http://www.cloudcuckooland.org/  Serena 'Muthi Reed, 'Crop Rotation' at CycleX, DAT Green Lab (Philidelphia, USA) "CROP Rotation Cycle project, as an artistic collaboration between textile, installation and performance artist Rachel Schaffran and media maker Serena 'Muthi Reed, brought a holistic interdisciplinary sensibility and shared interest in nature, the body, working in community and sustainable living. Serena Reed was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Philadelphia, PA during the 1980s, which inspired a lifelong interest in the architecture and stories of industrial ruin. Educated primarily as a sociologist Reed has worked largely as a community-based media maker as well as visual artist. Her current work focuses on recycle, reclaim and reuse aesthetics in art & culture, investigating how both material matter and people's embodiment of space inscribes narrative and performance codes" http://datgreenlab.org | http://phillyhomegrown.net  David Li (Hackspace Shanghai, China) "Hackspace Shanghai has eXtreme Farming experiments: We have a piece of land that is divided into about 20 x 200 SqM greenhouse. We are getting people to try their best ideas to make the green house productive. They are free to deploy any organic method. No chemical fertilizer or pesticide/herbicide. We have people interested in doing natural farming (one straw revolution), soil food web, aquaponics, biodynamic and more. They are also aiming for the integration of Aquaponics as a hub for organic waste management in the factory and residential complex." http://xinchejian.com/

/// Only video contributions

Thomas Gunnar Bagge (Lerbæk, Storstrom, Denmark) "The Wedding Between Art & Agriculture is a documentary by Thomas Gunnar Bagge about Kultivator, an experimental cooperation of organic farming and visual art practice, situated in rural village Dyestad, on the island of Öland, Sweden. In the summer of 2010 Kultivator initiated The Wedding Between Art and Agriculture, an artist conference and public ceremony which intended to unite the two ancient activities. The film shows the preparation process before the wedding ceremony - with flashbacks to a variety of agricultural and social projects that Kultivator have initiated, and thus gives a glimpse into the experimental and idealistic world of Kultivator. Thomas Gunnar Bagge is a visual artist, filmmaker and curator. He was educated at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam. http://www.thomasbagge.dk Jukka Peltokoski (Tampere, Finland) Jukka Peltokoski works as an educational designer and adult educator in KSL Civic Center for Adult Learning which is leftist third sector organization in Finland. Peltokoski has been active in many social movements from environmentalism to precarity issues and basic income initiative. Recently Peltokoski has been founding a new political research platform Commons.fi which is meant to deal widely with commons and p2p issues. Peltokoski's personal interests lie especially in the questions concerning new cooperativism and commons related social and political struggles. http://www.commons.fi/ .