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Choirs Raise Complaining to an Art Form

Summary: By PHYLLIS KORKKI Life in Tokyo as everywhere else is annoying and unfair The good men are all married Co workers clip their fingernails at their desks Laundry comes back from the cleaners still dirty Society is too competitive Recently about 100 Tokyo residents put their complaints into a pile and a composer Okuchi Shunsuke turned them into a song About 80 of the complainers accompanied by an accordion a bass cello and a tambourine then performed the composition at various sites around the city becoming the latest example of what has become known as a complaints choir The idea started in Finland where there is a word for people who complain simultaneously valituskuoro which translates as complaints choir About six years ago Oliver Kochta Kalleinen and his wife Tellervo Kalleinen visual artists living in Helsinki began discussing the possibility of turning this metaphorical concept into something quite literal In 2005 the two organized their first complaints choir in Birmingham England The Tokyo choir which performed last month is the eighth that the couple have worked with But others have formed choirs in other cities and Mr Kochta Kalleinen said more than 60 performances have occurred worldwide People of differing ages and backgrounds are encouraged to participate Singing experience is not required If you demand a certain amount of singing skills it would exclude a lot of people Mr Kochta Kalleinen said Anyone who has a complaint should be able to take part At the start of the performance last month many choir members were wearing surgical masks which are common in Tokyo these days because of swine flu another thing perhaps to complain about They started by humming to the music then took off their masks and started singing Videos of choirs around the world show that while some complaints are universal lack of sex appears to be a problem everywhere others are colored by the particulars of a culture In Tokyo complaints about work were more common than in other cities Mr Kochta Kalleinen said I cannot say no to work on holidays My boss made his mistakes mine In Helsinki mobile phone complaints were high on the list The battery on my mobile is always going flat Ring tones are all irritating And in St Petersburg Russia the complaints were more reflective of deep existential trauma and unfulfilled love Mr Kochta Kalleinen said Why are we always dissatisfied with something Why do we keep loving when love is so painful Regardless of the complaint and where it is sung being able to sing it while standing alongside others is apparently often cathartic Frank Mauceri who owns a record company called Smog Veil in Chicago helped plan and was a member of a complaints choir there two years ago He also helped make a documentary on complaints choirs that is now on the festival circuit A self described loudmouth and curmudgeon he said singing about his complaints made him feel better The Kalleinens took a simple act and made it transformative he said But the Tokyo choir is the last one that Mr Kochta Kalleinen and his wife plan to assist directly I think we have listened to enough complaints he said wearily A complaints choir in Tokyo Their grievances focused more on work than those of choirs in other countries KO SASAKI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Copyright 미주한국일보 koreatimes com 무단전재 및 재배포 금지 By PHYLLIS KORKKI Life in Tokyo as everywhere else is annoying and unfair The good men are all married Co workers clip their fingernails at their desks Laundry comes back from the cleaners still dirty Society is too competitive Recently about 100 Tokyo residents put their complaints into a pile and a composer Okuchi Shunsuke turned them into a song About 80 of the complainers accompanied by an accordion a bass cello and a tambourine then performed the composition at various sites around the city becoming the latest example of what has become known as a complaints choir The idea started in Finland where there is a word for people who complain simultaneously valituskuoro which translates as complaints choir About six years ago Oliver Kochta Kalleinen and his wife Tellervo Kalleinen visual artists living in Helsinki began discussing the possibility of turning this metaphorical concept into something quite literal In 2005 the two organized their first complaints choir in Birmingham England The Tokyo choir which performed last month is the eighth that the couple have worked with But others have formed choirs in other cities and Mr Kochta Kalleinen said more than 60 performances have occurred worldwide People of differing ages and backgrounds are encouraged to participate Singing experience is not required If you demand a certain amount of singing skills it would exclude a lot of people Mr Kochta Kalleinen said Anyone who has a complaint should be able to take part At the start of the performance last month many choir members were wearing surgical masks which are common in Tokyo these days because of swine flu another thing perhaps to complain about They started by humming to the music then took off their masks and started singing Videos of choirs around the world show that while some complaints are universal lack of sex appears to be a problem everywhere others are colored by the particulars of a culture In Tokyo complaints about work were more common than in other cities Mr Kochta Kalleinen said I cannot say no to work on holidays My boss made his mistakes mine In Helsinki mobile phone complaints were high on the list The battery on my mobile is always going flat Ring tones are all irritating And in St Petersburg Russia the complaints were more reflective of deep existential trauma and unfulfilled love Mr Kochta Kalleinen said Why are we always dissatisfied with something Why do we keep loving when love is so painful Regardless of the complaint and where it is sung being able to sing it while standing alongside others is apparently often cathartic Frank Mauceri who owns a record company called Smog Veil in Chicago helped plan and was a member of a complaints choir there two years ago He also helped make a documentary on complaints choirs that is now on the festival circuit A self described loudmouth and curmudgeon he said singing about his complaints made him feel better The Kalleinens took a simple act and made it transformative he said But the Tokyo choir is the last one that Mr Kochta Kalleinen and his wife plan to assist directly I think we have listened to enough complaints he said wearily A complaints choir in Tokyo Their grievances focused more on work than those of choirs in other countries KO SASAKI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Copyright 미주한국일보 koreatimes com 무단전재 및 재배포 금지

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