Minna Leinonen, Heta Kuchka & defunensemble: From me to View installation
photo: Heta Kuchka
From Me to View, 2019
5 channel videoinstallation with Heta Kuchka,. Duration: 13 min 33
From Me to View is a Commissioned work for defunensemble in collaboration with visual artist Heta Kuchka. The installation takes the viewer on a journey to the favourite places of the original members of defunensemble: an untouched forest, the bunkers of Taivaskallio, the open sea, the neighborhood of Kallio, and an amusement park. The musicians were deeply involved in every part of the creative process, giving viewers insight into their individual personalities. Spending time together at their favourite locations was a valuable and inspiring creative method. We hear the wind playing the flute by the open sea, a duet with a clarinet and a bird in a sunny forest, a harpist imitating a rollercoaster, a pianist depicting the sounds of his neighborhood in Kallio, and an interpretation of the cellist's childhood memories. The journey culminates in the musicians returning to each of these special locations to perform a private concert for the landscape. In the gallery, sounds from their favourite landscapes blend together creating a common space. Coincidense was important for the creative process. The musical composition is based on improvisations and while filming, the locations provided various pleasant surprises.
From me to View was composed with the help of Sibelius Foundation.
Listen to the galleria version of From me to view
Check out the making of here:
https://vimeo.com/manage/393391228/general
This exhibition would not have been possible without the great commitment of Hanna Kinnunen (flute), Mikko Raasakka (Clarinet), Emil Holmström (Piano), Lily-Marlene Puusepp (harp) and Markus Hohti (Cello), Timo Kurkikangas (Recording and editing of sound) and Sami Klemola (Artistic director)
https://www.hetakuchka.com/
https://www.defunensemble.fi/index.php
all photos: Heta Kuchka
Defunensemble´s musicians improvising from their favourite views. in the installation.
Review
Sometimes, rarely, you may have a feeling in the exhibition that you wouldn't want to leave. Sound installation created by Heta Kuchka and Minna Leinonen keeps intensity in that way. In a small cellar gallery there are five small monitors which form a dense integrity. Five members of defunensemble have chosen a meaningful place for themselves to play their own instruments. Conclusion is an instrumental improvisation in a dialog with the substance of the view. With this improvisation as a starting point Minna Leinonen aggregated a musical work in which an airy and changing figures form a kind of experimental ethereality and create an irresistible, inspiring climate. As a visual counterpoint to that Kuchka´s living picture concentrates each musician´ s presence in their views, not as a profile but more as a part of the essence of the place and its influence to sound.
In Making of video the musicians think interestingly about the meaning of the chosen places and the sound as a part of it, like the presence of wind and raindrops.
Leena Kuumola, Taide-lehti (Art magazine) 1/2020