brain work works

If you haven't noticed, I like folks that don't conform and I especially like ones that point out the insanity of conformity. I first read about Pilvi Takala in the book How To Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. The author, Jenny Odell, introduces Pilvi as –

"...a Finnish artist who is known for videos in which she quietly threatens social norms with simple actions."

Then, there was a longer profile by Lauren Collins in The New Yorker: Pilvi Takala and the Art of Awkwardness. The subheading reads, "The Finnish Artist is quietly taking notes as the people around her are losing their shit."

Like Diogenes or Tom Green, her performances, which she refers to as interventions, call into question modern social expectations and challenge the accepted order of things. And I find them hilarious.

In one performance piece called Bag Lady, she carried a clear plastic bag full of euros through a shopping mall in Berlin. From the artist statement on her website:

Behaving like a perfect customer while doing something totally wrong, Bag Lady is both a security threat and a subject of protection. 

In another, she attended Disneyland Paris dressed up as Snow White. She is quickly mobbed by children, parents, and security alike. As she fills out autographs and takes pictures, she has a conversation with the head of security. Here is my favorite snippet from the conversation:

Head of security: Only the real Snow White can dress like this.

Pilvi: I thought the real Snow White is a drawing.

But without a doubt, the intervention I enjoy the most is called The Trainee (2008). Her artist statement describes it best:

We see the trainee sitting at her workstation in the consultants' open-plan office space, or in the tax department library all day doing nothing. One of the videos shows her spending an entire day in an elevator. These acts or rather the absence of visible action slowly make the atmosphere around the trainee unbearable, forcing the colleagues to search for solutions and to come up with explanations for the situation.

Though it seems like mere curiosity is what her coworkers are thinking, the emails to their superiors carry a much different tone.

Something so simple – like not doing anything when everyone else is doing something – can quickly challenge the existing order of things. I commend her for her ability to sit at a desk without any external stimulation for hours on end. What she does, isn't easy. Bravo, Pilvi.

indoor animal is curated by a human: Tim Papciak. On Mondays, he shares one link to one music video to help spark creativity in himself and in other creative types. On Thursdays, he recommends a book, movie, show, art piece, or link to some dusty corner of the internet that he believes either 1.) adds to the human experience, or 2.) serves as a coping mechanism in the year 2025. Note: this is not, and never will be, self-help content.