Flo Kasearu, 2020
Flo Kasearu, ”Godzilla" from the "Fears of a Museum Director” series, 2014.
THE FEARS OF GOTLAND WORKSHOP
During three workshops arranged by BAC on Gotland March 14-16, the Estonian artist Flo Kasearu will deal with the fears of Gotland by mapping them in a series of drawings. The artist will meet groups of people of different ages, sexes and occupations to hear about their troubles and what keeps them awake at night. She will offer coffee and cake, listen to the group and capture their fears in drawings.
Flo Kasearu:
“What are the actual feelings of the young house owner, tortured to insomnia by the concerns and responsibilities she has towards her ward? What dreadful incidents may happen with a corner shop? Yet how does a museum ensure the preservation of works when anything could happen – from a flood to a new minister? How strong and secure must a museum be for its director to sleep soundly through the night?
Since 2013 I have mapped and visualised a bunch of fears and nightmare scenarios that might torment a museum director, a house owner, a shelter for women or a little corner shop. The drawings show different possible future scenarios for these. True, some fears are less likely to come to fruition than others. One of the main causes of fear is certainly lack of knowledge about the future and the resulting unease. Lack of knowledge gives birth to speculations and the imagining of all kinds of possible events. The question is how far to let one’s paranoias soar – should one stop at the fear of the future shaped by politicians, parties and officials with the predicted lifespan of four years or go all the way out to force majeure that has no other antidote but evacuation… Mapping the Fears on paper is like art therapy: if you deal with your fears and share them with others they will most likely seem less frightening…”
was born in 1985 in the Soviet Union but grew up in Estonia. With performance, photo, drawings and sculpture the artists engages with issues of her own history and the makings of identity. Since 2013 she is the director of the Flo Kasearu House Museum located in Tallinn, in the repossessed house built by her family before the Soviet occupation. The Flo Kasearu House Museum is a place where the artist’s family history is mirrored by Estonian history and where the artist herself and invited colleagues presents new works in the house, its gardens and in the surrounding neighbourhood.