Vello Väärtnõu - Leebe brutaal

Original Estonian Article

English Translation

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Vello Väärtnõu - Leebe brutaal

● EESTI KUNSTIS ON SÜGIS
● BUDISM POLE MINU JAOKS RELIGIOON, VAID KULTUUR
● KGB PEAB MIND ENDISELT LKA AGENDIKS

11. oktoobril avati «G» galeriis Vello Väärtnõu maalide näitus. See on Saaremaalt pärit renessanslikult mitmekülgne 39aastase kunstniku esimene personaalnäitus Tallinnas.

● OMA KUNSTIST

Mulle ei meeldi, kui kunstnikud räägivad oma läbi- ja üleelamistest. Seda pole vaja. Ei kõnelda ju laialt ka oma intiimelust. Minu looming on tugevasti seotud budismiga. Pilt on minu jaoks visuaalne psüühiliste seisundite rida, mis väljendab taju. Reaalsus pole tool või natüürmort või maastik, reaalsus on hingeseisund. Värv on kõige puhtam asi, mis annab edasi alateadlikku seisundit. Minu pildid ei kanna endas mingit konkreetset sõnumit. Pigem on see eneseteadvuses ja alateadvuses sorimine.

Abstraktsionism on õiglasem ja otsekohesem kui realism.

● HARIDUSEST

Minu käest on sagelt päritud kunstiõpingute kohta. Mõnel pool on isegi vilksatanud, nagu oleksin mingi akadeemia lõpetanud. Midagi sellist pole olnud. Olen iseõppija. Kõige rohkem olen õppinud oma ateljees. Viisteist aastat tagasi tegin ERKIs meister Sarri juures jube usinasti graafikat. Päris naljakas on neid pilte nüüd vaadata. Maalitehnilisi võtteid olen õppinud Jüri Arraku käest. Praegu arvan, et kunsti ei pea tingimata kuskil koolis õppima. Tuleb lihtsalt leida oma väljenduslaad ja -viis. Aga kunstikõrgkooli vastuvõtukomisjon peaks arvestama, et kõik sisseastujad on kunstnikud, kellest praeguse süsteemi juures paljudest õppimise ajal kunstnik välja pigistatakse ja tavaliseks tööinimeseks muudetakse. Võiks ju Kunstiülikooli vedada kuskile linna äärde, võtta vastu kõik kolm tuhat kodanikku, kes sisse astuda tahavad, ja sundida neid õpingute ajal mõnda aega välismaal ise hakkama saama. Küll selline vabaakadeemia nipp stuudiumi ajal lõpuks need õiged ja tõelised välja sõelub.

● EESTI KUNSTIST

Ega ma väga hästi ei tea, mis siin praegu toimub. Sügisnäitusel tundus küll, et näitus vastab oma nimele – eesti kunstis on sügis. Eesti kunstile on omane kujundlikkus. See pole tingimata mingi figuur, võib olla lihtsalt punkt. Aga too punkt on väga täpselt ja hoolikalt sinna pilti paigutatud ja täiesti võimatu, et tehtaks midagi väljaspool seda punkti või ilma selle punktita. Nii on. Eesti kunst on õudselt korralik. Teeme ta hästi täpseks ja mõnusaks, aga sellega ta tapab meid. See on absurd.

Mulle meeldis Kadrioru Kunstimuuseumis saksa mehe Seegebrechti tööde näitus. Mees, kellel on täiesti oma maailm, võrratud universumi mudelid ja mütoloogiline taust. Eesti kunstnikud võiksid võtta ritta ja püüda selle mehe mõttega samale lainele jõuda. Fantastiline. Muidugi, Paidest tulevale bussiekskursioonile meeldib kindlasti rohkem lillepilte vaadata. Selles pole midagi halba. Kõikidele tasanditele peab ruumi olema.

Eesti kunstnikest austan nelja meest. Leo Lapin, kellel on tuntav armastus El Lissitsky vastu, aga see ei sega. Jüri Okas – maailma klass, Andres Tali – täiesti omaette nähtus, ja Tõnis Vint. Vint on geniaalne mees. Ta on eesti kunstile andnud rohkem haritud ja arvestatavaid kunstnikke kui ükski akadeemia. Kahjuks käib suurem osa meie kunstnikest sissetallatud radu, kardavad kaotada oma nägu, nimetavad staatilisust oma käekirjaks ja tammuvad edasi. Kahju.

● POLIITIKAST

Poliitikaga ma enam ei tegele. Olen üritanud selle süsteemiga mitmeti – kord taandudes, kord rünnates – toime tulla... Alguses proovisin põgeneda. 1982. aastal üritasin ebaõnnestunult ära hüpata ja sain kolm aastat piiririkkumise eest. Patareis panin kongikaaslased konspekte tegema. Lugesin neile kolmest maailmareligioonist – budismist, kristlusest ja islamist. Vennad sehkendasid usinasti, vaevalt, et nad midagi aru said, aga kord oli majas. Vanglas pandi mulle «minu enese huvides» skisofreenia diagnoos – hull budist. Kui istumast tulin, oli tuttavatehulk imeväärselt vähenenud. Õnneks sain nii teada, kes on sõbrad.

Kui siin mõned aastad tagasi spontaansed väljaastumised tekkisid, oli päris selge, et asi, mis kogu seda värki päästaks, oleks opositsioonipartei. Pärnus toimus rahvakogunemine, kus erutatud kodanikud kõnelesid vorstipuudusest. Esinesin seal ideega organiseeritud opositsiooni vajalikkusest. Minu jutt oli siis rahvale arusaamatu ja igav. Koostasin partei loomise projekti ja pakkusin seda mitmele mehele. Kõhklemist oli palju. Aga see plaan sai ERSP loomise aluseks. Siis, kui aktiivselt poliitikaga tegelesin, tegin vihaselt 18 tundi ööpäevas tööd. 1988. aastal tehti mulle esimene ettepanek Eestist lahkuda. Varem olin tahtnud ise minna, aga siis oli poliitikavanker veerema lükatud ja ma tahtsin näha, mis sellest kõigest tuleb.

Keeldusin minemast. Ise veel õigustasin, et skisofreenikut ei tohi maalt välja saata. Mulle vastati, et minu paberid olla ammu puhtad. Nii et imeline paranemine. Aga Tartu rahu sündmustega sai võimudel mõõt täis. Hallides ülikondades kodanikud tulid mulle koju järele. Sain kaks päeva aega asjaajamiseks ja siis topiti mind Moskvas Rootsi lennukile. Arlanda lennujaamas oli vastas mõnikümmend väliseestlast, kes rõõmsalt väikseid sinimustvalgeid lehvitasid ja hirmsasti haletsesid, et näe, represseeritu, kiilaks ka veel aetud. Pidin neile pettumuse valmistama – juusteta olen juba ammu budismi, mitte riigivastasuse pärast.

Päris vabaks poliitilise taustaga sekeldustest ei saa ma vist kunagi. Eestisse (ikka veel N Liidu osa?) sissesõidu viisa sain viimati pärast pikaajalist ootamist peaaegu et valuvõttega. Saaremaale ma suvel ei pääsenud – luba ei saanud ega saanudki valmis. Ja KGB ei väsi levitamast kuuldusi, justkui oleksin eriti peene dressuuri läbi teinud LKA agent. Ma ei tea kunagi päris kindlasti, kas mind lastakse enam Eestisse.

● BUDISMIST

Budismiga olen tegelenud pikalt ja innukalt. Minu jaoks on see vana ja sügav kultuur, mitte religioon. Mul on palju väärtuslikku kirjandust. (KGB oli paanikas, et võtan kõik minnes kaasa ja teen rahaks.) Tõsine plaan on korraldada Tallinnas budismiteemaline näitus. See kõik on liiga väärtuslik, et eesti-inimene sellest lihtsalt teadmatusest ja võimaluse puudumise pärast ilma jääks.

● ELUST JA INIMESTEST

Rootsis suhtlen inimestega – rootslaste, soomlaste, hiinlaste ja jänkidega, mitte kitsalt väliseestlastega. Õudselt raske on hakata inimestega läbi käima; kui näed, et neil sinu vastu mingit huvi pole. Seal on igaüks omaette, mingit erilist väliseesti kunstielu pole olemas. Rootsis vähemalt mitte.

Olen rääkinud Stockholmis joodikutega, kes oma läbielamuste kaudu tunnetavad maailma selgemalt kui nn tavalised inimesed. Keskmine kodanik, kes on jube korralik ja käib iga päev viksilt tööl, on oma kookonis tegelikult täiesti kaitsetu.

Mind on peetud hulluks budistiks, ohtlikuks spiooniks ja halastamatuks ringihoorajaks – mind ei huvita, mis minust räägitakse. Mina tean ise, mida ma tahan, ja väljapääsmatuid olukordi minu jaoks pole. Inimesi, kes puhtast igavusest teiste elus sorivad, ma ei salli, seetõttu ei kannata ma ka ajakirjanikke.

LIIS PAJUPUU
Eesti Elu

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This translation is provided by AI

Vello Väärtnõu: The Gentle Brute

● THERE IS AUTUMN IN ESTONIAN ART
● BUDDHISM IS NOT A RELIGION FOR ME, BUT CULTURE
● THE KGB STILL CONSIDERS ME AN CIA AGENT

On 11 October an exhibition of Vello Väärtnõu's paintings opened at the "G" gallery. It is the first solo exhibition in Tallinn of this 39-year-old artist, who comes from Saaremaa and is versatile in a Renaissance manner.

● ON MY ART

I do not like it when artists talk about what they have gone through and lived through. There is no need for that. After all, one does not talk openly about one's intimate life either. My work is strongly tied to Buddhism. For me a picture is a series of visual psychic states, which expresses perception. Reality is not a chair or a still life or a landscape, reality is a state of mind. Colour is the purest thing, conveying a subconscious state. My pictures carry no concrete message. Rather, it is a rummaging in self-awareness and in the subconscious.

Abstractionism is more just and more direct than realism.

● ON EDUCATION

I have often been asked about my art studies. In some places it has even been suggested in passing that I had graduated from some academy. Nothing of the kind. I am self-taught. I have learned most in my own studio. Fifteen years ago I did printmaking very diligently at ERKI(Estonian State Art Institute) under master Sarri. It is quite funny to look at those pictures now. I learned painting techniques from Jüri Arrak. Nowadays I think that one does not necessarily have to study art at some school. One simply has to find one's own manner and way of expression. But the admissions committee of an art college should take into account that all applicants are artists, from many of whom, under the present system, the artist is squeezed out during their studies and who are turned into ordinary working people. One could, after all, haul the Art University off to the edge of town, admit all three thousand citizens who want to enter, and force them to fend for themselves abroad for some part of their studies. Such a free-academy trick would in the end sift out the right and genuine ones during the course of study.

● ON ESTONIAN ART

I do not know very well what is going on here at the moment. At the Autumn Exhibition it did seem that the exhibition lives up to its name: in Estonian art it is autumn. Estonian art is characterised by figurativeness. It need not be some figure, it can be simply a point. But that point is placed in the picture very precisely and carefully, and it is quite impossible that anything would be done outside that point or without that point. That is how it is. Estonian art is terribly proper. We make it very precise and cosy, but with that it kills us. That is absurd.

I liked the exhibition of works by the German Seegebrecht at the Kadriorg Art Museum. A man who has a completely world of his own, incomparable models of the universe, and a mythological background. Estonian artists could line up and try to get on the same wavelength as this man's thinking. Fantastic. Of course, a bus excursion coming from Paide would surely prefer to look at pictures of flowers. There is nothing bad in that. There has to be room for all levels.

Of Estonian artists I respect four men. Leo Lapin, who has a noticeable love for El Lissitzky, but that does not interfere. Jüri Okas is world class, Andres Tali is a phenomenon entirely of his own, and Tõnis Vint. Vint is a brilliant man. He has given Estonian art more educated and serious artists than any academy. Unfortunately, most of our artists follow well-trodden paths, afraid of losing their face, calling their static quality their handwriting, and keep marking time. A pity.

● ON POLITICS

I no longer deal with politics. I have tried in various ways to cope with this system, now retreating, now attacking... At first I tried to escape. In 1982 I tried to bolt across the border, unsuccessfully, and got three years for the border violation. In Patarei(old Estonian Prison) I got my cellmates to take notes. I lectured them on the three world religions: Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. The lads busied themselves diligently, though hardly that they understood anything, but there was order in the house. In prison I was given a schizophrenia diagnosis "in my own interest": a mad Buddhist. When I got out, the number of my acquaintances had decreased remarkably. Luckily I thus found out who my friends were.

When spontaneous public demonstrations arose here a few years ago, it was quite clear that what would save this whole business would be an opposition party. In Pärnu a public gathering took place at which agitated citizens spoke about the sausage shortage. I spoke there about the idea of an organised opposition and its necessity. My talk was then incomprehensible and boring to the people. I drew up a project for founding a party and offered it to several men. There was a lot of hesitation. But that plan became the basis for founding the ERSP. Then, when I was actively engaged in politics, I worked furiously 18 hours a day. In 1988 I was offered, for the first time, to leave Estonia. Earlier I had wanted to go myself, but by then the political cart had been set rolling and I wanted to see what would come of it all.

I refused to go. I even justified it myself, saying that a schizophrenic may not be sent out of the country. I was told that my papers were reportedly clean long ago. So, a miraculous recovery. But with the events of the Tartu Peace, the authorities had had enough. Citizens in grey suits came to my home to fetch me. I got two days to settle my affairs, and then I was shoved onto a plane to Sweden in Moscow. At Arlanda airport some twenty exile Estonians were there to meet me, cheerfully waving small blue-black-and-white flags and pitying me terribly, saying, look, a repressed man, they have even shaved him bald. I had to disappoint them: I have been hairless for a long time because of Buddhism, not because of opposition to the state.

I will probably never get completely free of the troubles with a political background. I most recently got an entry visa to Estonia (still part of the Soviet Union?) after a long wait, almost by an armlock. I could not get to Saaremaa in the summer: the permit did not come, and in fact never did get ready. And the KGB does not tire of spreading rumours as if I were an CIA agent who had undergone especially refined training. I never know for sure whether I will be let into Estonia anymore.

● ON BUDDHISM

I have been engaged with Buddhism for a long time and fervently. For me it is an old and deep culture, not a religion. I have a lot of valuable literature. (The KGB was in a panic that I would take everything with me when leaving and turn it into cash.) A serious plan is to organise a Buddhism-themed exhibition in Tallinn. All of this is too valuable for the Estonian to be left without it simply through ignorance and for lack of opportunity.

● ON LIFE AND PEOPLE

In Sweden I associate with people: Swedes, Finns, Chinese and Yanks, not narrowly with exile Estonians. It is awfully hard to start getting along with people; when you see that they have no interest in you whatsoever. There everyone keeps to himself, there is no special Estonian exile art life. In Sweden, at least, not.

I have talked with drunks in Stockholm, who through their experiences perceive the world more clearly than so-called ordinary people. The average citizen, who is awfully decent and goes to work dutifully every day, is in fact completely defenceless in his cocoon.

I have been taken for a mad Buddhist, a dangerous spy and a ruthless womaniser. It does not interest me what is said about me. I know myself what I want, and for me there are no inescapable situations. I do not tolerate people who, out of sheer boredom, poke around in other people's lives, and for that reason I cannot stand journalists either.

LIIS PAJUPUU
Estonian Life