Opening 27.8.2024 at 5-7 pm, welcome!
The Soiva Tuleva sound installation asks what the Finnish forest will sound like in 2085.
What if the forest moved around the city? What if we could have conversations with the forest? What would the soundscape be like in the forest of the future? On Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the immersive sound installation Soiva Tuleva opens in Yö Galleria, Helsinki; the installation invites the audience to imagine the multiple potential futures of the Finnish forests. The futures prototype has been curated and compiled by sound artist, futurist, and sustainability expert Auri Antinranta, with the help of creative technologist Marko Tanninen, the BIODIFUL project, and other experts. The future prototype continues Antinranta's long work combining art and futures research.
The exhibition takes visitors on a journey to the future, and the storytelling medium is sound art. "The future prototype is a combination of imagination and reality. In this prototype, research-based knowledge and nature recordings from the present meet imagined soundscapes from the future. Futures research helps us understand what might happen in the future, and future prototypes help us experiment and test these events in practice. We will assemble soundscapes with the exhibition visitors using different forest-related audio clips," says Antinranta.
The pilot of the Soiva Tuleva exhibition presents different elements related to climate change in Finland, such as the forest, the built environment, extreme weather phenomena, the edible frogs, the boreal owl, and the pollinators. Each element plays in its speaker, and the audience can influence the room's soundscape. The exhibition also features a "Black Swan" microphone, through which the public can participate in the work by leaving their message to the universe.
"The black swan is an event impossible to predict, which has a huge impact when it happens and for which we can develop an explanation afterward. I boldly invite the public to participate in future forest-related discussions through the audience microphone. This microphone—the Black Swan—is an answering machine. Leave a message to the universe; it might ring back in an unforeseen situation," Antinranta describes.
Welcome to Yö Galleria to experience, hear, and discuss future soundscapes. Soiva Tuleva is on display at Yö Galleria from August 28 to September 1. On Saturday, August 31, the exhibition celebrates the Finnish Nature Theme Day. Antinranta aims to record a hundred audio scenarios in the exhibition, and the scenarios arise from the interaction between the audience and the work.
Workgroup:
The prototype's concept, sound design, and curation: Auri Annina Antinranta, Technology specialist Marko Tanninen, audio consulting: Mats Karlsson, content consulting Virpi Vaittinen and researchers Juulia Räikkönen (BIODIFUL/UTU), Ilari Sääksjärvi (BIODIFUL/UTU), Tommi Luoma (BIODIFUL/LUKE), Matti Salo (BIODIFUL/LUKE). The exhibition has also used material published by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and blog posts about the future of cities (e.g., Forum Virium Helsinki). The soundscapes of the exhibition have been recorded, e.g., In Heinola, one of the Cities in the network of National Urban Parks (NUP star cities). The prototype also uses recordings from various soundbanks. New Narratives oy produced the work.
Yö Galleria, Lönnrotinkatu 33, Helsinki, Exhibition is open: Wed 14-20, Thu–Fri 14–19, Sat 12-18, Sun 12–17.