Mean Time Between Failures

We are Mean Time Between Failures, a life-long collaboration and a co-dependent artistic adventure exploring limits of performance making. We are Suvi Tuominen and Dash Che.

Thus far we have managed to create a messy and multi-layered performance language which weaves together extended notions of performance and live art, dance, institutional critique, research and reflections on the current political and pop culture affairs.

Suvi Tuominen (she/her) is a Finnish performance artist and archaeologist. Her artistic thinking digs into the layers of heritage studies, world relations and performance. Her artistic devices are dance, humor, wordy stimulation, hesitation, discursive engagement and use of trendy colors. Suvi has graduated as a dancer from North Karelia college Outokumpu 2017 and holds a master’s degree in archaeology from University of Helsinki and a master’s degree in Live Art and Performance Studies from University of Arts Helsinki. She worked also as a curator for Helsinki City Theatre between 2021-2023.

Dash Che (they/them) is a transnational Russian American performance artist, dancer and a performance teacher who also has a strong background in DIY organizing and LGBTQ activism. Their work lingers at the border of eerie, subtle, comical, aggressive, risky, and abstract. Currently they are busy with an artistic research exploring toxic attachment to one’s country by deconstructing it with the help of absurdity and queerness. They hold a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in Live Art and Performance Studies from University of Arts Helsinki.

“Originally the name ‘mean time between failures’ is taken from the machines’ realm, for example, mechanical or electronic systems. It describes the elapsed time between inherent failures of the systems that can be repaired and depends on the definition of what is considered a failure (Wikipedia).

For our system of the entanglement of two human bodies and a number of non-human bodies MTBF name gestures toward the ongoing presence of fragility and exhaustion. It gently frames our rigor, rage and curiosity as artists and bodies in relation to the political, social, imaginary and corporeal. It is important for us that the system can always be restored. Moreover, we view our duet as an open system that repairs itself by coming in close contact with what impacted its breakage in the first place. Our open system multiplies, drops its organs/parts – the art objects that are left around like spores – and goes through the processes of misalignment and realignment. This informs our artistic work methods and the relationship to each other as artistic collaborators.

We find that it is curious and playful that the word ‘mean’ has so many meanings in English whether in a verb, an adjective, or in a noun form. We relate to the multiplicity of meanings here. While in sciences ‘mean’ means ‘an average’ or ‘a middle way,’ in other realms of language it stands for ‘unkind’ or ‘vicious.’ In the past, ‘mean’ was used when pointing at someone of a low birth or social class. In informal English ‘mean’ can signify ‘a very skillful or effective.’ We rotate and roll through all of these meanings in our collective art practice. Sometimes we choose to be simply mean and angry, other times – average.

Also, we wanted to get the same tattoo with ‘mean time between failures’ formula but we are so busy juggling many part time artistic and non-artistic jobs to survive in the expensive Nordic country, that our schedules haven’t align yet.”

– Mean Time Between Failures