The year 2019 was my third year with trees, and the second year of the artistic research project Performing with Plants at Stockholm University of the Arts Research Centre, as professor of performance, art and theory. Now that is all finished, and I will be writing a proper report of the project soon. Here I am only listing things I have done during the year, some of which are part of the project and others not.
 
For an idea of the project, see: Performing with Plants – Att uppträda/samarbeta med växter and the blog about my activities in Stockholm, artisticresearchinstockholm. A brief presentation of the project,  on the SKH-website, and for more details go to the living archive on the Research catalogue. This project was funded by the Committee for artistic research at the Swedish Research Council and hosted by Stockholm University of the Arts.
During the year I have also been working with the project How to do things with performance? – Miten tehdä asioita esityksellä?, a four-year research project funded by the Academy of Finland, with Hanna Järvinen, Tero Nauha and Pilvi Porkola. More info about that project on the website of HTDTWP with links to blog and living archive on the RC.
 
But what was really important during this year? What was special compared to previous years? I cannot really see that clearly, but in some sense these two years in Stockholm have been like a kind of sabbatical, where I have had the chance to focus on my artistic research and writing, but still had a context of discussion to participate in. Sheer luxury! Compared to that general feeling it feels trivial to list all kinds of works and events, but I am doing it anyway, simply to have them noted somewhere.
 
During the year I organised two seminars in Stockholm:
Working with the Vegetal IV at Stockholm University of the Arts 17 October 2019.
Working with the Vegetal III at Stockholm University of the Arts 4 April 2019.
 
With HTDTWP we organised two research daysi Helsinki:
Research Day V: Performance of/in/as an institution 1 November 2019, University of the Arts Helsinki Theatre Academy
Research Day IV: Performance and Feminism, 20 March 2019 University of the Arts Helsinki Theatre Academy.
 
We also created performances, panels or events at conferences:
“The Human in Performance?” Panel presented by How to do things with performance -project at PARSE conference 2019 Human in Gothenburg 13-15 November 2019, see here.
“The Transformative Potential of Performance”, lecture demonstration with Hanna Järvinen, Tero Nauha and Pilvi Porkola (HTDTWP) at CARPA 6 in Helsinki 28-30 August 2019. See here
“Elastic Connections – Creativity, Resistance, Resilience: A Long Table by the How to Do Things with Performance? research project” at Psi #25 in Calgary 4-7 July 2019, see here
Publishing event of Ruukku #11 How to do things with performance at Publics 23.5.2019, here.
“Long table on productive gaps – How to do things with performance?” with HTDTWP at the 10th SAR International Conference on Artistic Research, Zurich University of the Arts, March 21-23, 2019
 
In terms of publications I am probably most proud of my first picture book (not a photo book, because it is based on video stills) Att Uppträda med Träd – Performing with Trees. X-position n 6. Stockholms Konstnärliga Högskola 2019.
I am also happy about the special issue of Ruukku Journal we edited together:
How to do things with performance. (eds.) Annette Arlander, Hanna Järvinen, Tero Nauha and Pilvi Porkola. Ruukku – Studies in Artistic Research Issue 11. 2019.
 
And of course, in research contexts the important “outputs” are the peer reviewed articles:
“Performing with Trees and the Tide – A Diffractive Reading”, Research in Art Education 3/2019, pp 14-46 here
“Return to the Site of the Year of the Rooster” in Annette Arlander, Hanna Järvinen, Tero Nauha and Pilvi Porkola (eds.) How to do things with performance, Ruukku – studies in artistic research 11 (2019)
“Performing with Plants – Appearing with Elms and Alder”, in Mika Elo, Lea Kantonen and Petri Kaverma (eds.) Etappeja – Kuvataideakatemian tohtoriohjelma 20 vuotta / Waypoints – The Doctoral Programme at Academy of Fine Arts 20 Years 2019, pp 33-56.
“Resting with Pines in Nida – attempts at performing with plants”, Performance Philosophy vol 4 (2) 2019, pp 452-475, see here
 
I participated in other publications with so called non-refereed research articles:
“Visiting a Tree” in Mari Mäkiranta & Maiju Loukola (eds.) Voices: Floating Peripheries Conference 2019 – Site and Situation see here
“Performing with a Pine Tree” in Ziegler, Denise (ed.) I Experience as I Experiment – I Experiment as I Experience. Experience and experimentality in artistic work and research. The Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki, 2019, 15-26.
“Authentic trees? – Artistic research, non-human collaborators and the documentary” in Quaresma, José (ed.) Research in the Arts. Authenticity, Polymathy and Dissimulation. Lissabon: Museo Archeologico, 83-98.
“Looking at Malla / Steaming Earth” in Jonathan Pitches & David Shearing (eds.) Performance Research Vol 24. No 3: On Mountains. https://doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2019.1624066
“It rains – it thinks – it dances” in Johannes Birringer, Josephine Fenger (Hg./eds.) Tanz der Dinge/Things that dance. Jahrbuch Tanzforschung 2019. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, pp. 187-191.
 
There were also some publications that came out in 2019, but are listed as published in 2018, such as:
“Performing as a tourist – with trees”. In Terese Longva and Rita Marhaug (eds.) Between Sky and Sea V: Tourist. Bergen: performance Art Bergen and PABLISH 2018, pp. 128-149.
“Breathing and Growth – performing with plants”, Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices Volume 10. Number 2.2018, pp 175-187.
And the same will probably happen this year, too.
 
What about exhibitions and events?
I had a small solo exhibition on Harakka Island, as usual: Body on the Rocks. Video works in the Telegraph on Harakka Island 10-15 September 2019. See info
And Lichen at Alllinge in Mediaboxi, Gallery Forum Box 19 July – 11 August 2019. See here
 
My works were shown in some group exhibitions and other events during the year:
Swinging – With a Pine – Hanging as an installation at the exhibition I Experience as I Experiment – I Experiment as I Experience, in Exhibition laboratory, Helsinki 27.11.-11.12.2019. See Invitation info exhibition
Year of the Dog in Lill-Jansskogen (on a spruce stump) and Swinging – Hanging in a Pine Tree as an installation during the Symposium on Artistic Research at Kungliga Musikhögskolan 20.11.2019.see here
Trees in Victoria (Lorne) was shown as installation at Videoforma 7 festival in St Petersburg 9.11.2019.
With a Beech in Djurgården was shown at Stationen 6-13 October 2019, see Samtidigt i Svenshögen
”Day with Malla (text)” was shown at the event Par ici, par là: Artist in residence, organised by Marika Maijala on Harakka Island 27-29 June 2019.
“Windrail II” was part of the exhibition Näkyvä ja näkymätön meri [Visible and Invisible Sea) on Harakka Island 11-20 June 2019.
“Trees in Victoria (Apollo Bay)” and “Trees in Victoria (Lorne)” were shown in Art Fair Suomi 23-26 May 2019.
Sunday with a Pine Was screened at Evolving the Forest conference, Dartington Hall, Devon 19-21 June 2019.
“Necklace of images, late floppy disc period” in the exhibition in Harakka Library, opening 5 May 2019.
“Hanging in a Pine tree or appearing with plants” performance lecture or video essay at Performance Philosophy Research Festival and Conference, Intervention! Intoxication?, Amsterdam 14-17 March 2019.
Video “At Dusk” in “This was the silence I wanted to break in You”, an event organized by students at Stockholm University 18 January 2019.
 
During the year I participated in many conferences; here is a list of all my presentations, papers and lectures:
Performing with a pine tree, presentation at Kuva Research Days 10.12.2019 at Exhibition Laboratory, Helsinki.
Performing with plants, project presentation at the research seminar of Stockholm University of the Arts 11.12.2019.
Conversation with Kira O’Reilly on “performance with non-human others” in Research Day V: Performance of/in/as an institution 1 November 2019, University of the Arts Helsinki Theatre Academy
“Authentic trees? – Artistic research, non-human collaborators and the documentary”, pre-recorded video presentation in the seminar Research in the Arts. Authenticity, Polymathy and Dissimulation Lissabon: Museo Archeologico 24.10.2019.
Skype lecture for MA students of choreography from Oslo and Helsinki in Kilpisjärvi, 10 October 2019.
”PAR and plants – performing with trees?” in the Performance as Research Working Group at the IFTR conference in Shanghai 8-12 July 2019.
“Moving in a Pine” for “performance-response-extraction – elasticity of artistic research” by the Artistic Research Working Group at PSI #25 in Calgary 4-7 July 2019, see here
“Performing with plants – for a planthroposcene”, presentation at Art in the Anthropocene Conference in the Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, 7 to 9 June 2019
”Performing with Pines and Spruces”, presentation at the conference Trees in/and/around Literature in the Anthropocene at Universita degli studi di Torino, 21-22 May 2019, see here
”Ethics and artistic research – a material perspective”, seminarium with Doctoral candidates in Stockholm 7 May 2019.
“Maisema, materia ja muutos. Harakan saaren luontokulttuuria dokumentoimassa.” [Landscape, Matter and Change. Documenting the Natureculture of Harakka Island] Talk at the symposium Harakka Island and the Sea 27-28 April 2019.
“Miten tehdä asioita esityksellä -hankkeen kuulumisia – ‘Revisiting’ metodina” [News from the How to do things with performance -project – ‘revisiting as method] At the Spring Day of the Finnish Society for Theatre Research 26 April 2019.
”Artistic research and/as interdisciplinarity”, lecture at Musikhögskolan in Stockholm 16 April 2019.
“What do we mean by artistic research – Some Nordic perspectives on artistic doctorates”, at Per/Forming Futures. Investigating Artistic Doctorates in Dance and Performance Middlesex University, London, April 11th-13th 2019.
“The Rusty Ring Revisited – ecofeminism today?”, presentation at Research Day IV Performance and Feminism, organized by How to Do Things with Performance – project in Helsinki 20 March 2019
Skype lecture with BA-students at Lasalle University, Singapore 12 March 2019.
“The Stockholm Tree Calendar”, presentation at Sensing the City – Salon at Coventry University 4 March 2019.
“The Diversity of Artistic Research”, presentation at Aalto University Department of Media New Media Doctoral seminar with Heidi Tikka 28.2.2019 see here.
“Visiting a Tree”, presentation and installation at Floating Peripheries conference, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi 14-16 January 2019.
“Performing with a Pine tree”, participatory presentation in two parts, Stockholm University of the Arts Research Week 22-25 January 2019.
 
I have probably forgotten something important, but this is nevertheless quite a lot, I think. So, thank you all for this luxurious (and therefore) productive year!