Category: Audiovisual


AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC 2023

AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC 2023

///Pink Twins///Nicolina Stylianou///Tottumiskysymys///

///Turun Syntetisaattoriseuran Oopperaorkesteri///Mesak///[ówt krì]///

Thursday-Friday 19.-20.1.2023 at 6-9 pm

Vuotalo

-free entrance-



AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC is an intensive sound art and electronic music event at Vuotalo Cultural Centre in Helsinki. Invited musicians, composers and sound artists are offering for the audience a wide spectrum of new sonic expression from the fields of experimental electronic music, sound art, noise and ambient. The program includes modular sound systems, do-it-yourself musical instruments, and improvised music with attitude.
* * *

THURSDAY 19.1. at 6-9 pm
PINK TWINS
NICOLINA STYLIANOU
TOTTUMISKYSYMYS
***
FRIDAY 20.1 at 6-9 pm
TURUN SYNTETISAATTORISEURAN OOPPERAORKESTERI
MESAK
[ÓWT KRÌ]

PINK TWINS
“There are things known and things unknown, and in between are the Pink Twins.”
Pink Twins was formed in 1997 by brothers Juha and Vesa Vehviläinen, artists, filmmakers and electronic musicians, born and raised in Helsinki, Finland. Since starting in the hotbed of arts and underground music that was turn-of-the-millennium Helsinki, Pink Twins have polished their musical and visual output into a distinctive and superimmersive audiovisual mayhem.
The colourful, abstract cyclic flow of their animation works focus on human perception, its functionality and limits. In their audiovisual live performances Pink Twins create a wholesome and transformative experience with an extremely detailed wall of sound made of concrete and electronic sounds, noises and harmonic musical elements, mixed with immersive video projections.
Pink Twins have presented their works in exhibitions and festivals on all continents and performed audiovisual live shows through Europe, Americas, Asia and Australia. https://pinktwins.com/
NICOLINA STYLIANOU
Nicolina Stylianou is an artist and independent curator working in the intersection between performance, sound and sculpture. The spectrum of her interest lies in the absurdity of existence and the in-betweenness of bodies, objects, things, spaces, networks and subjects as states of transition, transformation and noise. Nicolina holds a Masters of Arts (Theatre and Drama) from the Theatre Academy – University of the Arts Helsinki (FI), and a BA (hons) in Art & Design from Kingston University London (UK). She is a member at Artists’ Association MUU in Finland, and at Visual Artists and Art Theorists Association – phytorio in Cyprus. She is the artistic director at “SENSORIUM SPACE Happenings”: a mobile platform dedicated to engage with the art of living exhibits; and the founder of “Conjoined Fugue” working group collective, in Finland. www.nicolinastylianou.com @aetherlinna
TOTTUMISKYSYMYS
Balancing between acoustic and electric sound painting and sometimes standing still in complete darkness, Tottumiskysymys is just a question of getting used to. Since 2008 an improvisational touch to creating performances has dominated this nowadays electrified collective. The collective comprises of Olli Haveri (El.mandolin, Otamatone), Jukka Laine (Bass, perc.), Ville Olaskari (Modular synth​, Slidetar), Pekka Parviainen (Bass) and Juha Kemppainen (Modular synth). The performance at Akusmata is completed with their own light design. http://tottumiskysymys.weebly.com/
MESAK
Tatu Metsätähti is the other side of the Mr Velcro Fastener electro duo that gained fame at the turn of the millennium. Since then, he has performed as a solo artist under the name Mesak and produced and made a variety of electronic music. In the piece heard at the Vuotalo concert, Mesak plays various delay and reverb devices.
TURUN SYNTETISAATTORISEURAN OOPPERAORKESTERI
Turun Syntetisaattoriseuran Oopperaorkesteri (TSO) is Turku-based electronic music orchestra that was formed in 2022 to perform experimental electronic and electro-acoustic music.
Accompanying an experimental opera, that is composed by Helsinki-based composer and sound artist Petri Kuljuntausta, will be the first major work for the TSO in 2023 and the following years. Besides accompanying the opera TSO will also perform the opera music on it’s own in few concerts in 2023. At Akusmata Polyphonic 2023 TSO makes its first public appearance performing three experimental pieces composed by Petri Kuljuntausta for the upcoming opera.
TSO is composed of the key members of Turun syntetisaattoriseura (Turku Synth Club): Ossi Hätönen, Jesse Juup, Markus Kaunismäki, Jaakko Penttinen and Teppo Toivonen.
[ÓWT KRÌ]
[ówt krì] is a Helsinki-based Dark Ambient sound project that started late 2005. The project is the solo effort of Kenneth Kovasin, a self-taught sound artist from Helsinki, Finland. Kenneth creates soundscapes mainly through looping sounds created by effects and self-made instruments. www.owtkri.org
*
Lauri Peltonen is a dancer, choreographer, musician and a multidisciplinary artist who has worked in many fields. Peltonen has done many projects exploring the relationship between dance and live music — ranging from experimental dark ambient to classical opera. Some of the concepts he is working on at the moment include Common Impulse Exploration (CIE) and Circles In Motion (CIM). He has performed internationally for example in England, Iceland and USA. www.lauripeltonen.com
*
Sonja Peuhkurinen is a Finnish artist, contemporary dancer, flute player and a member of the artist collective Oneiros Resort. She is particularly interested in art’s ability to deepen and brighten life. www.sonjapeuhkurinen.com

​Karri Kokko: Open Studio — Avoimet ovet

Karri Kokko: Open Studio — Avoimet ovet

4.-9.10.2022

–THE EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED–


Poet Karri Kokko, who specializes in visual and conceptual poetry, moves his desk to the gallery for a week and invites his friends, colleagues and the public to participate in poetic work. The program also includes surprise visits, music performances, live streamed performances from home and abroad.


Karri Kokko is a Finnish poet specializing in asemic writing and visual poetry. He’s the author of more than thirty books, his first collection of poetry, Uno Boy, was published in 1982. Karri’s work can be found at Lettttere (lettttere.tumblr.com), Nokturno (nokturno.fi/authtor/karri-kokko), Instagram  (instagram.com/karri_kokko) and Soundcloud (souncloud.com/karrikokko). He lives and works in Helsinki.

AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC 2022

AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC 2022

Venue: Vuotalo Cultural Centre, Helsinki

13.–14.5.2022


AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC is an intensive sound art and electronic music event at Vuotalo Cultural Centre in Helsinki. Invited musicians, composers and sound artists are from Nordic countries, Germany and Finland, offering for the audience a wide spectrum of new sonic expression from the fields of experimental electronic music, sound art, noise and ambient. The program includes modular sound systems, do-it-yourself musical instruments, and improvised music with attitude.



Akusmata Polyphonic 2022 (images by Fredrik Willberg)


CONCERTS I – II – III

Friday 13.5.2022 at 18:30

Place: Vuosali (Vuotalo), Mosaiikkitori 2, Helsinki

-free entry-

Performers:

STATIC TELLER (Den)

(Jørgen Teller w/ Jimi Tenor)

STEPPING STONES (Swe / Fin)

(Compositions by Ann Rosén, Sten-Olof Hellström, Petri Kuljuntausta)

POLYPHONIC TONCHESTRA (Fin/Swe/Isl/Den/Ger)

(K. Bévand, E. Kalman, K. Kovasin, Pál Ivan, J. Pedersen, J. Teller)


CONCERTS IV – V – VI

Saturday 14.5.2022 at 18:00

Place: Vuosali (Vuotalo), Mosaiikkitori 2, Helsinki

-free entry-

Performers:

EGIL KALMAN (Swe)

STÓRMKRÓKUR (Isl)

(Jesper Pedersen and Páll Ivan frá Eiðum)

KATHARINA BÉVAND (Ger)


Supported by Nordisk Kulturfond / Puls, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme, Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation, and Vuotalo Cultural Centre.


Venue

Vuotalo Cultural Centre

Mosaiikkitori 2, 00980 Helsinki

http://www.vuotalo.fi/en/about-us

Akusmata (producer)

galleria.akusmata@gmail.com

akusmata.com

Tukholmankatu 7 K, 00270 Helsinki


ARTISTS

STATIC TELLER (Den)

Call it minimal rock goes synth’n’poetry! 

STATIC TELLER is Jørgen Teller’s new solo project, but at the Akusmata Polyphonic Festival it expands into a duo as Jimi Tenor joins in. Teller has a long career as electric guitarist, electronic musician, vocalist and since 1990s he has released many records as solo artist and with Jørgen Teller & The Empty Stairs. Teller has co-labed / performed with many Danish and international musicians like Rhys Chatham, Otomo Yoshihide, Kasper Toeplitz, Jimi Tenor, Kim Cascone, Fast Forward, Jakob Draminsky, David (Pere Ubu) Thomas & foreigners, Coal Hook (w Ron Schneiderman (Sunburned)), Jean-Francois Pauvros, Sofia Härdig, Lazara Rosell Albear, Bruno Ferro Xavier da Silva… At Vuotalo’s concert, STATIC TELLER’s performance will be complemented by video projection. http://www.jorgenteller.dk/STATICTELLER.html

STEPPING STONES (Swe/Fin)

“… a magical experience, (it) breaks all barriers, it’s venturing, it’s experimental and when you open your ears, it is very appealing”, said an enthusiastic critic about a concert of The Barrier Orchestra. Three members of the orchestra, artist Ann Rosén and composers Sten-Olof Hellström and Petri Kuljuntausta, continue their collaboration by launching a new group project. STEPPING STONES is a trio which works as test lab for the musicians focusing on the new interfaces and ways of producing sound in unconventional ways. In the new work series, they combine vivid sound elements and textures into a multi-layered and vibrant whole in an elastic small group format. ANN ROSÉN’s works have been performed at the Swedish Royal Opera, Moderna Museet, and South Bank in London. In the Drawing Sessions by Rosén, she performs with the pencil as her instrument, live electronic music emerge when graphite fuses with paper. STEN-OLOF HELLSTRÖM obtained a PhD in composition at University of Huddersfield, UK. His albums Sine Cera (w/ Bowers) and Kept in the Dark (Agaig) were nominated for best experimental album at the Manifest Awards. PETRI KULJUNTAUSTA divides his time between composing, performing, building sound and media installations, and researching. In recent years, he has done underwater concerts and installations and given concerts with birds.

POLYPHONIC TONCHESTRA

Modular, electronic, analog, improvisation, digital, interactivity, composition, graphic, drone, ambient, do-it-yourself, experimental, synthesizers, electroacoustic, electric guitar, silence, rock, modulation, noise, live processing, feedback… This multinational orchestra offers sound adventures that cannot be known in advance. The orchestra plays on the edge of time and space, its musicians react to what they hear, go further and the performance develops in a direction that cannot be predicted. The journey into the unknown goes through situations where the presence of harmony and chaos is transformed into a musical play in the hands of musicians, where logic and illogicality lose their meaning. Dropping a pebble in water produces essentially the same rippling sound effect as colliding super-black holes a billion light years away in time and space. It partially suggests the elemental power of sound, linked as it is to movement, a signal of life, dynamism and creation. That is what POLYPHONIC TONCHESTRA is all about. At this concert the line-up is K. Bévand, E. Kalman, K. Kovasin, Pál Ivan, J. Pedersen, and J. Teller.

EGIL KALMAN (Swe)

Egil Kalman is a Swedish musician / composer primarily playing modular synthesizer and double bass. His music aims to dissolve the brittle barriers separating traditional Scandinavian folk and contemporary electroacoustic music via minimalist compositional techniques and soulful improvisations. Utilizing just intonation tunings, hypnotic forms, synthesized sound mimicking the acoustic and vice versa, his music explores qualities intrinsic to traditional Scandinavian folk music in ways where the musical foundation is felt rather than explicitly heard. Kalman’s new album ‘Kingdom of Bells – Egil Kalman plays the Synthi 100’ will be realeased in May 2022 on iDeal Recordings: “Mind altering just tuned drones with melodies that echoes traditional Scandinavian folk music flow into abstract soundscapes reminiscent of early electronic music pioneers, but still holds a fresh sound and vibe. Deep synth music from the North!” http://egilkalman.com/

STÓRMKRÓKUR (Isl)

STÓRMKRÓKUR is an electronic duo founded by composers Jesper Pedersen and Páll Ivan frá Eiðum. The music of STÓRMKRÓKUR is seeking new inspiration in techniques used by noise musicians of yesteryear using non-linear feedback through analog sound equipment like mixing desks, stomp boxes and modular synthesizers. The sound world is raw and abstract sounding but with clear dialogues emerging between the sounds walking the fine line between chaos and order. Composer and sound artist Pedersen has written music for acoustic instruments and the electronic medium both, as an electronic musician and improviser he works with diverse groups ranging from contemporary, experimental and improvised music to ambient and drone. Páll Ivan is a multi-instrumentalist and visual artist, he has collaborated in many diverse projects and appears on recordings with baroque music over pop to metal and contemporary experimental music. <https://jesperpedersen.bandcamp.com>, <https://www.pallivan.is>

KATHARINA BÉVAND (Ger)

Katharina Bévand is a sound artist based in Berlin. She performs on modular synthesizers and creates site-specific sound installations and sound sculptures. Bévand works with processed field recordings, extended recording techniques and the resonance of spaces and objects. She exhibited internationally in Germany, Egypt, Taiwan, and in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq. In 2021 she received a research grant from the Berlin Senate and a GVL Stipend for music production, and was part of Goldrausch Project for women artists. She has been a directive board member of the Berlin Association for New Music, BGNM e.V. https://katharinabevand.com/


The Barrier Orchestra: ‘Det kommer främmande’

The Barrier Orchestra
‘Det kommer främmande’

Premiär fredag 11 juni 19.00
Lunchkonsert 12 juni 12.00

Place: Folkhemmet i Östra Hoby, Borrby, Sweden.


“… a magical experience. The Barrier Orchestra breaks all barriers in Österlen. It’s venturing, it’s experimental and it’s undeniably what you can call “narrow” music. But when you open your ears, this is very appealing.”
– https://www.ystadsallehanda.se/kultur/en-sommarkvall-i-ostra-hoby-8784bd57/



The Barrier Orchestra

The Barrier Orchestra är en internationell ensemble som Ann Rosén startade 2015 som en svensk grupp under namnet Barriärorkestern och har med tiden vuxit och fått internationell inriktning.
The Barrier Orchestra spelade på Österlen sommaren 2019 då de framförde Bovetets ljudvågor.

Musikerna har skiftat lite genom åren och kommer från olika håll som klassisk musik, elektronisk, improvisation och ljudkonst. Alla är utvalda för sin speciella kompetens och vilja att utmana, ta spjärn och använda sina egna barriärer.

I dagsläget vet vi inte vilka av våra musiker, förutom de som redan är i Sverige, som kommer att kunna befinna sig på plats i och med pandemin. Men alla kommer att vara med under repetitionerna och på föreställningarna även om några kommer att medverka online.

Medverkande

Petri Kuljuntausta, elgitarr (FI)
Mikko Raasakka, klarinett (FI)
Linn Persson, saxofon
Jakob Riis, trombon, live-elektronik (DK/SE)
Anna Lindal, violin
Hanan Benammar, violin (FR/NO)
Lise-Lotte Norelius, slagverk , live-elektronik
Jørgen Teller, elgitarr (DK)
Ann Rosén, live-elektronik
Fabian Svensson, melodika
Gunnel Pettersson, visuella inslag
Sten-Olof Hellström, klang- och bild-regi

Produktion

Konstnärlig ledning: Ann Rosén
Komposition: Ann Rosén, Fabian Svensson och Sten-Olof Hellström
Livestream producent: Sten-Olof Hellström
Producent: Jacob Schmidt


In the image are two streaming musicians from the 12-member The Barrier Orchestra.
Mikko Raasakka and Petri Kuljuntausta played in Akusmata over internet and the rest of the orchestra performed in Sweden, where their parts were mixed to the orchestra.

Special thanks Petri and Mikko sends to: Ann Rosén on the formation of the project, Fabian Svensson on composing solo parts for guitar and clarinet, and Sten-Olof Hellström for mixing our streaming into the orchestra.

Kenneth Kovasin: From Bow To Stem – A Daxophone Study

FROM BOW TO STEM – A DAXOPHONE STUDY

Kenneth Kovasin
Mon 3.8. – Fri 7.8.2020 at 14 – 18​.

​OPENING: Daxophone Concert by Kenneth Kovasin on Saturday 1.8. at 17:00.

From Bow to Stem – A Daxophone study

The installation “From Bow to Stem” is built around Finnish wood – the Appletree, Ash, Larch and Aspen. Kenneth Kovasin has designed 24 different Daxophone tongues of these four types of wood and built a sound installation that praises the soundscape of Finnish wood. Even an Aspen tongue that broke halfway through the recording of the piece is present. Three different soundboxes were used in the recordings.
Each wood is played from its own sound source creating ever-changing spatial sound in the gallery. The Daxophone recordings are repeated in random order regardless of each other.
The Daxophone tongues are like small beautiful wooden sculptures and the instrument produces unique and exciting sounds. The form of the tongues and choices of material affect the instruments sound in great extent.


Kenneth Kovasin is a sound artist and ambient musician from Helsinki, Finland. His works are often minimalistic and created with self-built instruments. Kenneth has toured festivals in the United States, Sweden and Estonia with his project [ówt krì] and has performed various concerts in Finland.
Kenneth’s first sound installation “Urban Evolution” was on display during the (con)temporary festival organized by LéSPACE in Helsinki 18.9–3.10.2015.
When not performing music Kenneth also produces concerts in cooperation with Sound gallery Akusmata. He is also one of the founding members of Frekvenssi, a collective aiding audial art in Finland.


The Daxophone

The Daxophone is an electromechanical experimental instrument invented by the German musician and instrument builder Hans Reichel (1949–2011) in the end of the 1980’s. The instruments sound is produced by friction and vibration.
The name is derived from the German word “dachs” standing for vole due to the strange, almost animal, sounds it produces. Reichel modified the word into ”dax” to mimic the saxophone by Adolphe Sax.
The Daxophone consists of a soundbox, installed with one or many contact microphones, and a wooden tongue clamped to the body. The body is placed on a tripod to provide more comfort for the performer. The Daxophone can also be made from metal or plastic but these materials will not enable as versatile tones as wood.
The instrument is played by rubbing the tongue with a bow and pushing down on the tongue with the “Dax”, a piece of wood formed as a wedge. The tongue can also be hit or plucked on. When playing the instrument, the tongue resonates, and the resonance is then transferred to the soundbox and it’s contact microphones that amplify the sound. The Daxophones scale is broad and the tone diverse. The sound depends in great extent on the used material, the shape of the tongue and where on the tongue the bow and Dax are being applied.
Compact wood like Ebony or Oak produce softer sounds whereas softer wood like Pine easily produce harsh sounds. Compact wood like Ebony or Oak produce mellow sounds whereas softer wood like Pine easily produce harsher sounds. The instrument scale is not as exact as on a guitar or other string instrument, but a fretboard can be installed on the Dax to provide for exact notes. The other side of the Dax is curved to enable smooth transitions between notes. Due to the fact that the Daxophone is an electronic instrument, different pedals and effects add to the versatility of the instrument.
Hans Reichel released his album ”The Dawn of Dachsman” in 1987 and this was the first time the Daxophone was heard in a musical piece. His 2002 release “Yuxo: A New Daxophone Operetta” gave the instrument broader attention. Still today the Daxophone remains a rarity. A musician interested in the instrument will have no other choice but to build one. The Daxophone is not mass-produced.
Reichel has illustrated plans and directions for building his instrument on his website and a skilled carpenter is thus able to build one.


AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC 2020

AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC 2020

Sound Art and Electronic Music weeks

Venue: Vuotalo Cultural Centre & Akusmata, Helsinki

  1. – 31.1.2020

17 days of adventurous music and sound art for adventurous minds!

AKUSMATA POLYPHONIC is an intensive sound art and electronic music event at Vuotalo Cultural Centre and Akusmata gallery in Helsinki. Invited musicians and sound artists are from Nordic countries, North America and Finland, offering for the audience a wide spectrum of new sonic expression from the fields of experimental electronic music, sound art and ambient. The program includes electronic music, do-it-yourself musical instruments, sound performances, and improvised music. Sound installations are open in the Vuotalo gallery and Akusmata gallery. The producer of the event is Akusmata, the first sound art gallery in Finland. The program and updates will be published at akusmata.com and Akusmata’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Akusmata. The Nordic artists are visiting as a part of the Puls concert program / Nordic Culture Fund.


CONCERT 1

Friday 17.1.2020 at 19:00

Place: Vuosali (Vuotalo), Mosaiikkitori 2, Helsinki

Performers:

Jacob Kirkegaard (DK)

Halldór Úlfarsson (IS) & Max Lilja duo

[ówt krì] & Lauri Peltonen

* * *

CONCERT 2

Saturday 18.1.2020 at 19:00

Place: Vuosali (Vuotalo), Mosaiikkitori 2, Helsinki

Performers:

Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard (DK)

Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir (IS)


EXHIBITION 1: ‘Earth.Water.Air.Fire’

Place: Vuotalo Gallery (Vuotalo), Mosaiikkitori 2, Helsinki.

Time: 14. – 25.1.2020 (during Vuotalo’s opening hours)

-Sound works by

Jukka Andersson

Ava Grayson (CAN)

Ana Gutieszca (MEX)

Mikko H. Haapoja

Esa Kotilainen

Petri Kuljuntausta

Heikki Lindgren

The exhibition is co-produced by Frekvenssi association.


EXHIBITION 2: ‘Kinaesthetic Poetry’ (with KuNuKu Choir)

Sound installation by Jaakko Autio

Place: Akusmata gallery, Tukholmankatu 7 K, Helsinki.

Time: 17. – 31.1.2020

Open: Mon to Fri between 14.00-18.00. Weekends 11.00-16.00.
(Closed 25-26.1).

Free entry

Sound installation is part of international Art’s birthday event on Fri 17.1.2020 at 17-20.


Supported by Nordisk Kulturfond / Puls, Kordelin Foundation and Vuotalo Cultural Centre.

Vuotalo exhibition is co-produced by Frekvenssi association.

Curated by Petri Kuljuntausta & Kenneth Kovasin / Akusmata Sound Gallery.


Contact

Akusmata

Tukholmankatu 7 K, 00270 Helsinki

galleria.akusmata@gmail.com

akusmata.com

* * *

Vuotalo Cultural Centre

Mosaiikkitori 2, 00980 Helsinki

http://www.vuotalo.fi/en/about-us


WEB

Jacob Kirkegaard (DK), http://fonik.dk/about.html

Halldór Úlfarsson (IS) & Max Lilja duo, https://www.halldorophone.info/about/, http://maxlilja.com.

[ówt krì] & Lauri Peltonen, http://www.owtkri.org/

Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard (DK), http://www.nielslyhne.com/

Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir (IS), http://www.bergrun.com/about

Ava Grayson (CAN), http://www.aigrayson.com/

Ana Gutieszca (MEX), http://www.anagutieszca.com/

Esa Kotilainen, https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esa_Kotilainen

Petri Kuljuntausta, http://kuljuntausta.com

Heikki Lindgren, https://akusmata.com/heikki-lindgren/

Mikko H. Haapoja, http://mikkohaapoja.net/

Jukka Andersson, https://akusmata.com/jukka-andersson/

Jaakko Autio, https://jaakkoautio.wordpress.com/


EEGsynth & Body Music demonstration by Oneplusoneisthree +guests

EEGsynth & Body Music demonstration
by Oneplusoneisthree (1+1=3) and guests

*   *   *
Sat 28.9.2019 at 20:00 – 22:00


Oneplusoneisthree (1+1=3) is an artistic platform / community / ecosystem for research and performance. The collective includes musicians, neuroscientists and visual artists. We stage performances where we use real time EEG signals. We use the signals to control sounds, lights and images. Since 2014 we have performed in Sweden, Greece, France, Brazil, the UK and the US. To find out more, you find the 1+1=3 / EEGsynth CV here: http://www.visionforum.eu/113-cv/

What is the EEGsynth?
The EEGsynth is both a device and a collaborative interdisciplinary research project. As a device, it interfaces with the brain and body for artistic and scientific exploration, research and expression, allowing anyone to use their own brain and body activity to flexibly and powerfully control performative equipment in real-time. In short, it transforms electrophysiological signals (EEG, EMG and ECG) into analogue and digital control signals by means of sophisticated neuroscience signal analysis and custom-made hardware. As a project, it brings together musicians, artists, neuroscientists and developers to work together on technology for specific artistic performances.

Why the EEGsynth?
Progress in understanding the human brain is increasingly determining how we perceive ourselves and others. At the same time, new technologies are expanding the possible interactions between technology and the human brain. Brain-computer interfaces have recently become affordable for a wider public, allowing new artistic research into the human condition and new ways of artistic expression. However, to be able to exploit their full potential and to ensure the development of a lasting involvement of the art world in this contemporary dialogue, artists and neuroscientists have to co-create.

The current core group of the project is: Jean-Louis Huhta, Per Huttner, Robert Oostenveld, Samon Takahashi and Stephen Whitmarsh. Collaborative Partners include Selen Atasaoy, Carima Neusser, Marcos Lutyens and Hernan Anllo.

1+1=3 is supported by the Nordic Culture Fund, the Swedish Arts Grants Committe and Kulturbryggan; the EEGsynth is supported by Innovativ kultur, Stockholm County Council, the City of Stockholm and the Swedish Arts Council.

The 1+1=3 website
http://www.oneplusoneisthree.org

The EEGsynth website
http://www.eegsynth.org


As an additional performance Petri Kuljuntausta (brain interface) and Eleni Tsitsirikou (arm interface) performed as the soloists of the 1+1=3 group.

Helsingin reitit – The Routes of Helsinki 2010-2020

Helsingin reitit – The Routes of Helsinki 2010-2020

Open: 6.-19.9.2019 Tue-Thu & Sat-Sun 14-18 (Mon & Fri closed)
Opening: Thursday, 5.9.2019 at 17.00 – 20.00.

*   *   *
Opening LIVE EVENT on Thursday, 5.9.2019, at 18.00

illmari (spoken word)

Mikko H. Haapoja (jouhikko, soundscapes)

Elina Aho-Brennan (live painting)


How does the city sound and how does it feel to just listen the city? The Routes of Helsinki leads one to a sonic journey from the rapids of Vanhakaupunki to bright summer nights in downtown and to listen the sounds recorded inside the Hanasaari B coal power plant.

The Routes of Helsinki (Helsingin reitit) is a soundscape project created by media & sound artist Mikko H. Haapoja and it consists of various audio-visual and sound art works. The project has focused on the changing soundscapes of Helsinki since 2010, on boundaries between nature and the city. In addition to the sound art compositions and media art installations, The Routes of Helsinki offers ’Sound Landscapes’ performances with live painting, music and urban poetry.

The Routes of Helsinki 2010-2020 exhibition offers inspiring urban exploring in the form of rare and familiar Helsinki sounds, and its first installation will happen in Sound Art Gallery Akusmata in September 2019.


Mikko H. Haapoja is a versatile media artist & music professional – a producer, composer, musician and sound engineer from Helsinki, Finland. Haapoja works fluently with various music genres from acoustic folk music to contemporary electronic music, from alternative rap to indie pop.

Since 2014, Haapoja’s media & sound art projects The Routes of Helsinki & Oases from HEL have been presented in many galleries in Helsinki and New York, in Helsinki City Museum and in public city space, including metro platforms of Helsinki Central Railway station. Meanwhile, Haapoja has also recorded and mixed various global music albums like Okra Playground’s ‘Turmio’ and Nathan Riki Thomson solo LP.

Live: BRAIDEDSOUND (USA/CAN/NL/FI)

BraidedSOUND

(full band + duo & trio)

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Showtime 19:00, doors 18:30


BraidedSOUND is a series of improvisational site-specific experimental ensembles that operate off a graphic score designed by Jesse Perlstein. These performances celebrate collaboration, improvisation and interpretation, ensuring that each performance is a unique experiment unto itself. Braided Sound also strives to be as global as possible, connecting artists from different backgrounds, genres and cultures both musically and spiritually.

For BraidedSOUND’s Helsinki debut we have invited some amazing local musicians (and two foreign) to join the ensemble.


BraidedSOUND
[helsinki ensemble] – audio/video
from USA/Canada:
JEREMY YOUNG (piezo’d surfaces + oscillators)
https://cargocollective.com/jeremyyoung
JESSE PERLSTEIN (vox + field recordings on tape)
https://jesseperlstein.com
from Netherlands/Helsinki:
MARLOES VAN SON (electronics)
https://www.marloesvanson.nl
ALEX VAN GIERSBERGEN (visuals)
http://wtf0.nl/
TYTTI AROLA (violin + electronics)
https://www.tyttiarola.com/
PETRI KULJUNTAUSTA (guitar)
http://kuljuntausta.com/

Every performance is a chance to rethink the very building blocks upon which my compositional practice is founded, but invitational opportunities to perform with new creative collaborators in far away countries welcome both excitement and logistical challenges.

While this project draws on a deep familiarity with graphically notated score history, from that of Cage and Cardew and Stockhausen among many others, BraidedSOUND distances itself from the aesthetics and behaviors of “concert music” almost entirely—we are rather seeking to explore and define a contemporary use of the graphic score as a map, the compass and legend of which must be figured out with every single new performance, by every participating artist, together as a unit, in every new space and every different city, and using the hybrid sonic avenues of electronic and acoustic elements as its toolkit.

‘Helsinki Score’


Ääniaalto IV: Sound Art Exhibition

Ääniaalto IV: Sound Art Exhibition

Exhibition Dates: Wed-Sat 13.-16.3.2019

Opening time: 16:00-20:00 daily

LIVE Concert I: Friday 15.3.2019 at 18:00.

LIVE Concert II: Saturday 16.3.2019 at 18:00.

Free entry


ÄÄNIAALTO, the annual festival of audiovisual oddity, exhibits multichannel audio, VR, interactive and bioart sonic installations from Wednesday 13.3 to Saturday 16.3 at Akusmata. The official opening of the exhibition is on Wednesday 13.3 at 17:00.

We are collaborating with Akusmata to display the works of LenaoooYuki, Olga Palomäki, Otso Sorvettula and Lauri Linna. The programme also includes two live performance, Stephen Christopher Stamper on Friday 15.3 and Autotel with his Calculeitors on Saturday 16.3.


LenaoooYuki – Sonic Illustrations

The room is divided into areas, which address different momentums of senses (visual, acoustic, durational, pictorial, spatial, associative, …) in which thoughts about sounds could be crystallized within one’s mind. Different brain areas might be observed in a proprioceptive way. A sense for the notion of a virtual representation of a real object or the perceptive split when encountering a media depicted person in real life might be considered a relatively new perceptive momentum.

Thinking of how to relate to sound / sonic phenomena throughout the ever-changing ecology of perception in analog / digital constellations (after Bergson) is possible.

The VR part is through thin acoustic wires fusing a virtual space and the mostly analog experience corners of the exhibition space to symbolize a mind which might be in a future a fusion of analog and digital experiences and therefore bodily partly detached memories. The virtual reality part is a collaboration with artist / musician Carlos Ortiz (Colombia), graduate from University of Arts, Berlin.

(The installation is through its chemical compounds and emotional experience range supposed to be child friendly.)

Lena Andrea Haberberger, former exchange student at Sound in New Media (Aalto University Helsinki, Department of Arts, Design & Architecture) and graduate in Sound Studies (University of Arts, Berlin), is at the moment engaging philosophically and artistically with synaesthetic or inter-modal phenomena that might depict experiences or phenomena in a figurative and illustrative way.


Olga Palomäki – Water Connection

Water Connection (2019), is a 4-channel sound installation. The work is based on field recordings that were made in the Lofoten Islands, Norway last year. The recordings consist both of man-made and natural sounds, mostly those that are specific to the place. The recorded sounds were deconstructed and modified in the pursuit of creating an otherworldly, dreamlike and hypnotic soundscape out of them. Water Connection combines elements of sound art and experimental music. Minimalist drones, beats and harmonies, the musical elements of this three-dimensional composition, transform into a sonic representation of an imaginary place and vice versa.

Olga Palomäki (*1980) is a visual and sound artist based in Helsinki, Finland. S/he is fascinated by the lost, forgotten and the unseen. Palomäki makes experimental sounds based on field recordings. Olga’s sound works are influenced by dark ambient- and drone music. S/he captures man-made sounds and background noise, using them as instruments by modifying the recordings and shaping them into a new form. Palomäki makes videos that illustrate the sounds: music videos and visuals for performing live.

Palomäki’s works have been on display in several solo and joint exhibitions, radio shows and sound art/experimental music events, film and video festivals and screenings in Finland and other European countries. Palomäki has perfomed live at different venues in Finland and abroad. S/he graduated from Tampere University of Applied Sciences, Fine Arts Programme in 2007.


Otso Sorvettula – About Time

Sound has an inevitable relationship with time. Even when recorded and played back, sound is sensed at the present moment, one tiny chunk at a time. Sound exists only when it already ceases to exist. Light seems less tied to the dimension of time. Light can be recorded for years and the recording can be sensed at a glance.
The starting point of the work is the relationship between sound, light and time. Lamp cycles through different stages and light creates a sound that exists only at the moment of hearing. Observer inevitably affects the events by being present.
The work consists of a lamp and an array of light sensors. Sensors transform the emitted light into electrical voltage. The voltage then controls an analog synthesizer that creates the soundscape.

Otso Sorvettula is a media artist, maker and designer from Helsinki working with experimental media, sounds, visuals, DIY instruments and software. He is interested in mistakes, interference, aberrations and surprising harmonies. His works range from interactive installations to educational workshops exploring creative and expressive possibilities of both new and obsolete technologies. Currently Otso is finishing his Master of Arts degree at Media Lab in Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture.


Lauri Linna – Plants Pushing Buttons

Plants move very slow and usually we humans don’t see it happen. The installation “Plants Pushing Buttons” offers plants buttons to push. As the plant moves on top of the button a sound is played. It’s unclear can the plant understand the connection between its movement and the change in the soundscape. But what is clear is that when a plant is introduced to a button it likes to press on it. The plants also get bored and don’t push the button if the sound file of the button isn’t changed once in awhile.

Recent research has found that plants react to the sounds of running water and caterpillars munching on leaves. Another research found that plants also emit some kind of vibration that travels in air. Maybe insects and other plants hear it? Maybe it affects us too?

Special thanks to Marloes van Son for electronics coaching.

Lauri Linna is a Helsinki based artist. He works with plants, gardening, moving image, sound and electronics. Since 2014 he has been studying carrot – human relationship in his project PORK KANA CAR ROT. Other fields of interest are plant behavior and intelligence, plant – machine relationship and plant related technology. Linna is a recent Master of Arts from Aalto University’s Visual Culture and Contemporary Art (ViCCA) program.


Stephen Christopher Stamper: Live Concert

Friday 15.3.2019 at 18:00.

For this intimate performance, Stephen will be using the open-source audio and video programming environment Pure Data to generate and process acoustic feedback from an unamplified MacBook Pro.

Stephen Christopher Stamper is a British-born artist and immigrant living and working in Helsinki.

Through sound work, installation and performance, Stephen has explored themes of decay, memory and obsolescence, the body and its relationship to illness, the manipulation and execution of code by machine, and extreme metal music culture.


Autotel & co: Live Concert

Saturday 16.3.2019 at 18:00.

Autotel invites anyone interested in generative and electronic danceable music to jam with him and his Calculeitors. You can jam with Autotel’s Calculeitors or bring your own synth, just don’t forget your cables! This jam will be the closing ceremony of ÄÄNIAALTO sound art exhibition.

Autotel is an art engineer & electronic musician. On his current project, Autotel is exploring how music can be composed in the spot, according to the flow of the party. For this, he has created a unique live setup that he virtuously performs in the stage, capturing people’s attention. Autotel’s style is recognized as strongly rhythmic and organic. Depending on the audience, music may go along the lines of house music or dive into techno.