works
2024 Olennot 1 + audio
2023
2023 Uumen
2023 Untitled
2023 Pinnan alla (proposal)
2022 Sounding silence
2022 Suovillat
2021 The last salmon
2018 Do you remember...?
2017 reed
2017 Pinnan alla
Pinnan alla
(competition proposal)
sculpture / sound installation / participatory process
2023
Atso Airola & Leon Hidalgo
'Pinnan alla' is a proposal for a permanent sound installation in the National Museum Park, including a participatory process. The work examines Finns' relationship with water, the collective memories created by water and sound, and the ability of water bodies to unite people across borders. It brings Finland's subsurface soundscape to the National Museum and reminds us of the importance of waterways to the Finnish national identity.
The work consists of two copper-covered rowboats standing upside down on metal oars and a sound piece composed of sounds recorded underwater. The rowing boats act as acoustic shells for the sound piece, in which it is possible to listen to what it sounds like under Finnish waterways, in each season.
Connected by water - a journey below the surface
The process of recording underwater sounds is an integral part of the work, and people encountered during the process play a part in how the sound piece develops. The field recordings will start from the National Museum's nearby water: Töölönlahti. From Töölönlahti we are looking for one or more people willing to talk about their relationship with the bay and to join in listening the life under the surface. Most of us have a special connection with more than one body of water, so to the next lake, river, sea, or similar recording destination, we are led through the people we meet. From new recording destinations, new encounters are being sought, which again lead to new water bodies. This pattern is continued throughout the process. The idea is to listen and collect sounds as widely as possible from different areas and water bodies around Finland.
The final sound piece is an audio collage that changes monthly, based on recordings collected during that particular season. For example, in January, one can hear the (under-ice) soundscape recorded during January.
Open-endedness is starting point for the work, so people and stories encountered during the journey will influence and become integral parts of the final piece. The work process is meant to be an open journey that reflects the nature of water - shaping according to the situation and connecting different places, bodies, and agencies.
One rowing boat is custom-made for the recording trips. The boat is made in cooperation with a boat carpenter to be used in different waterways. We hope that this boat could remain in the use of the National Museum and be loaned to museum visitors, for example, in Töölönlahti.
Materials
The boats for the sculptural part of the work are recycled wooden rowing boats scavenged during the process. In this way, a new life is given to otherwise unusable boats. Modifications are made to the boats if needed.
The outer surface of the boats and the oars/legs are covered with hand-hammered copper, which gives the piece almost maintenance-free protection from weather and rain.
The work's visual language supports the unity of the National Museum building complex. The dark and slightly greenish copper surface on the outside echoes the tones of the old museum building, and the shape of the work references the architecture of museum buildings.
sculpture / sound installation / participatory process
2023
Atso Airola & Leon Hidalgo
'Pinnan alla' is a proposal for a permanent sound installation in the National Museum Park, including a participatory process. The work examines Finns' relationship with water, the collective memories created by water and sound, and the ability of water bodies to unite people across borders. It brings Finland's subsurface soundscape to the National Museum and reminds us of the importance of waterways to the Finnish national identity.
The work consists of two copper-covered rowboats standing upside down on metal oars and a sound piece composed of sounds recorded underwater. The rowing boats act as acoustic shells for the sound piece, in which it is possible to listen to what it sounds like under Finnish waterways, in each season.
Connected by water - a journey below the surface
The process of recording underwater sounds is an integral part of the work, and people encountered during the process play a part in how the sound piece develops. The field recordings will start from the National Museum's nearby water: Töölönlahti. From Töölönlahti we are looking for one or more people willing to talk about their relationship with the bay and to join in listening the life under the surface. Most of us have a special connection with more than one body of water, so to the next lake, river, sea, or similar recording destination, we are led through the people we meet. From new recording destinations, new encounters are being sought, which again lead to new water bodies. This pattern is continued throughout the process. The idea is to listen and collect sounds as widely as possible from different areas and water bodies around Finland.
The final sound piece is an audio collage that changes monthly, based on recordings collected during that particular season. For example, in January, one can hear the (under-ice) soundscape recorded during January.
Open-endedness is starting point for the work, so people and stories encountered during the journey will influence and become integral parts of the final piece. The work process is meant to be an open journey that reflects the nature of water - shaping according to the situation and connecting different places, bodies, and agencies.
One rowing boat is custom-made for the recording trips. The boat is made in cooperation with a boat carpenter to be used in different waterways. We hope that this boat could remain in the use of the National Museum and be loaned to museum visitors, for example, in Töölönlahti.
Materials
The boats for the sculptural part of the work are recycled wooden rowing boats scavenged during the process. In this way, a new life is given to otherwise unusable boats. Modifications are made to the boats if needed.
The outer surface of the boats and the oars/legs are covered with hand-hammered copper, which gives the piece almost maintenance-free protection from weather and rain.
The work's visual language supports the unity of the National Museum building complex. The dark and slightly greenish copper surface on the outside echoes the tones of the old museum building, and the shape of the work references the architecture of museum buildings.