Astral Projections is a living installation and a performance that is situated somewhere in between dream and fiction. The work is inspired by experiences that happen at the outskirts of everyday physical realities, when the material body is sleeping or consuming entertainment. In the gallery space, different dream-bodies and their incarnations communicate together, creating a surreal ritual. The installation-performance merges documented dreams, mysticism and atmospheres from digital entertainment.
The working group consists of choreographers Mikko Niemistö and Sanna Blennow, lighting designer Teo Lanerva, dancer-sound designer Olli Lautiola and fashion designer-performance artist Justus Kantakoski.
Performances:
Tuesday / Thursday / Friday at 13 – 16
Wednesday at 17 – 20
Saturday / Sunday at 13 – 16
Duration of the whole performance is three hours. Outside the performance the active installation is open to the public during the gallery opening hours without presence of the artists.
Mikko Niemistö is a choreographer and performance artist who works in Helsinki and abroad. He has realised both solo works and multi-disciplinary works in different collaborations. Niemistö has completed a Master of Fine Arts degree in Choreography at the New Performative Practices program of School of Dance and Circus, Stockholm in 2017.
Sanna Blennow is a Copenhagen-based choreographer originally from Stockholm. The key of her working method is to challenge performance formats and hybrid art forms. Blennow has graduated from Malmö Art Academy in 2019 with the Master of Fine Arts in Critical & Pedagogical Studies degree.
Teo Lanerva is a freelance photo and video designer and Master of Arts (Theatre and Drama) from Helsinki. He works mostly with contemporary performances and different events both in small underground clubs and big festivals. Works designed by Lanerva have been performed in over ten countries.
Olli Lautiola is a freelance dancer, dance teacher, choreographer and sound designer. In 2017 he graduated as Bachelor of Arts in dance in School of Dance and Circus in Stockholm after which he has been working in various productions in Finland and internationally.
Justus Kantakoski is a Finnish fashion and performance artist currently living in Paris. Kantakoski works with fashion design, arts and crafts and contemporary art as well as in the field of performance arts.
The exhibition has been supported by The Kone Foundation and Nordic Culture Point.
Astral Projections is a spiritual twin to Odd Meters, a solo work by Mikko Niemistö that will have its premiere at Zodiak, Helsinki in September 2020.
Mediabox