HUMOUR: HOW YOU CAN REPURPOSE YOUR LIFE FROM ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND SUICIDE 

On the 7th of February between 16:00-17:30, Globe Art Point is organising an open discussion on how can artists repurpose their lives from anxiety, depression, and suicide.

How can they use their thoughts creatively?

How can these negative thoughts inspire their artistic practice?

The session will be facilitated by artist and storyteller Yemi Butterman. Join us to learn and share your thoughts on this topic. This event follows the principles of Globe Art Point’s Code of Ethics & Safer Space Guidelines.

Short Description:

Life is deep; sometimes a whole lot to soak in—even in a single day. Of feelings, deep feelings running amok. Domineering will and emotion, voices in the head, a constant cycle of endless thoughts, and a conflict between one’s intuitive symphonies and sociocultural reasoning. The issue that burdens a human psyche, especially a migrant up North cannot just only be about cultural shock. It is also about the struggle to communicate past trauma and the anxiety about an uncertain future.

Who gets it?
How do you explain that which only eats you from the inside out?

Humour is the tool that helped me descend into past hell. A journey down the tunnel of awareness that was not so obvious to me early on. And then comes this complex form of mind wandering, sneaking in, overriding earlier notions that made my head home for years. But then you realize you changed, making your thought more difficult to express. So how do you proceed with life from that which you are now aware of? Will share your thoughts with the world, or simply bow out of the world in silence are two of the most challenging questions that boggle the mind⁠. I am hoping this event wouldn’t just be another story shared, but a lesson of inspiration to rise and dare life.

Works:

Two Geniuses and a Fool, and the Deal of Silence are philosophical fictions. I wrote them to reimagine my lived experiences from the four walls of my tiny room in Helsinki, Finland through the lens of sociocultural me, and lost in a society that feels as though aloof. These are works that attempt to reflect on empathy in the face of human conditions such as loneliness, past trauma, and suicide. They are stories soaked in gallow humour and they are poetic.

Harsh experiences are in no way a light subject matter. They are not issues that we generally feel comfortable talking about. But through this style, I was able to open my mind’s closet, stare the past in the face and rework the narratives of my inner frailties.

About Yemi:

I visualise things in my mind and allow the words to flow to me for expression. I can sing the song of the ancestral sun from my bones. You can even add the stories of ice to this rhythm and already have a setup for new dark humour. I am cut from a part of the world (Yoruba Culture) that channels energy and useful proverbs to reflective perceptions, visualising a safe space for symbols to dance with metaphors.

My academic background is in literature from secondary to master. I am an intuitive artist and storyteller, an art educator and philosophical entertainer, a songwriter, and the author of Two Geniuses and a Fool and A Deal of Silence. My artistry, among other things, explores social experiences from a philosophy and ethics lens, focusing on poverty, shame, fear, suicide, and other forms of socioemotional barriers to expression. I tell a different story of emotion, life, and a unique struggle for human and nature connectedness in a cold world. I enjoy cross-border cultural interaction. This ambivert is passionate about making a sociocultural impact with his works.

Contact:

linktr.ee/buttermanyz
FB:@buttermanbreathes
IG: @buttermanbreathes

Venue Accessibility:

The office is located in Malminkatu 5, Kamppi, Helsinki. Our facilities are accessible on the street level, and assistant dogs are welcome, but there is no accessible toilet in the office space.