Performance, Reading
2023

On Saturday June 17th, a special one-off performances took place in the exhibition Slo Mo Mother by Emma Jääskeläinen. For this afternoon, musicians Verneri Pohjola & Joonas Riippa, and writer and dramaturge Even Minn were invited by Jääskeläinen to bring her sculptures to life. The performances were a search for rhythm, sound, movement and text in the work of Jääskeläinen.

For the first part of the afternoon, Jääskeläinen has invited artist, dramaturge and writer Even Minn to present their essay Alien Mother (2023). The first reading Aliens, mothers, gorillas was at the Veranda event by Sorbus Art Space in Helsinki (2017). The second version Äitini on Alien is an audio essay broadcasted by Yle Radio 2018. One approach to cope with big changes that the world is facing emerging in this essay, like climate change and scientific discoveries, is to be sensitive and embrace the unknown. Jääskeläinen first heard this essay in 2019, when she had just become a mother, and working on an ensemble of sculptures dealing with family. Scaling up her practice, alongside her fresh motherhood brought many feelings that are echoed in the essay, such as awareness of the changing body, and extending notions of care and family.

Jääskeläinen invited trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and percussionist Joonas Riippa for the second performance of the day. Together they used the chains of the sculpture At Her Fingertips as an instrument during the improvisational session. The sounds Jääskeläinen hears during her working process, such as the rhythmic stroke of the chisel and the monotonous high pitch of the sander, sparked the idea of using the sculptures as instrument.