NORTH KARELIA SHOWROOM
FLOW FESTIVAL 2023, HELSINKI
SoundSCAPE, Sound design
I was commissioned to craft a captivating soundscape for the North Karelia Redesigner Showroom at Flow Festival 2023 in Helsinki. North Karelia, an eastern region of Finland, is undergoing a transformation to become more appealing to the younger population.
In collaboration with Sun Effects, we curated an engaging spatial design, blending industrial, organic, and natural elements. The venue, typically a black box used for theatrical performances, provided an ideal canvas for something extraordinary.
We used a mixture of intermediate bulk containers, plants, and greenery to create walls and a maze-like structure, inviting guests to explore the space. Accompanied by vibrant lighting and nature-inspired video projections on the floor, the installation offered festival-goers a moment of pause and reflection.
The soundscape was rooted in the rhythmic pattern of the cuckoo, featuring synthesized cuckoo-like sounds meandering throughout the space.
PARKING RITUALS
with GHOST PROJECT
Sound design
Parking Rituals, featured as part of the Reflektor Light Art Festival 2022, was a site-specific art installation created in an abandoned parking facility located in center of Espoo, Finland.
It utilized rhythmic light sequences and an echoing soundscape resonating in the empty, misty urban space, serving as its fuel. The installation guided the engaged experiencer through a cleansing trance using various technological means.
Psychologically, the process of trance was often described as a state induced by cognitive looping. Deliberately repeating the same action for a sufficiently extended period caused a momentary suspension of certain cognitive functions, rendering susceptibility to suggestion.
Parking Rituals harnessed this psychological mechanism to initiate a spiritual journey. Simultaneously, the installation raised the question amidst parking spaces: what kind of mysticism and otherworldly spirituality could fit into a constructed environment? Could a state akin to trance be automated?
Mixing & Mastering by Tuomas Salmela, Phonogenic Audio
