audience body

Audience Body took place in 10.-13.11.2022 as part of the programs of Reality Research Center, Moving in November festival and Center for New Dance Zodiak. It is composed of several different reading objects, or “chapters”, which are available for the audience members to read. The work combines different printed formats, which I have developed in the series of artistic research experiments conducted during the research project: for example a roll of paper, a letter, a large-scale book, an underwater book and edible paper. The texts were dealing with the phenomeon of audience, while combining different writing styles (theatre play, personal messages, autotheory, lyric essay, geometry) into an excessive textual composition. All materials were available both in Finnish and in English.

The work was performed six times during three days. The traces of each performance were left in the space and thus the previous audiences would haunt the space through unwound paper rolls and ripped letters. The 90 minute duration of the performance would start to exhaust the audience’s need to read and they would begin to audience each other. Thus the audience performed and the started to audience itself performing. The work functioned as an autopoietic performance apparatus.

A more comprehensive presentation of the work is available at audiencebody.fi.

Working group

Script, direction: Tuomas Laitinen

Lighting designer: Nanni Vapaavuori

Sound designer: Carolina Jinde

Set designer: Alexander Furunes Eriksson

Graphic designer: Visa Knuuttila

Documentation: Visa Knuuttila, Tuomas Laitinen

Production: Reality Research Center
Production in collaboration with: Moving in November
With the support of: Zodiak – Center for New Dance

Supported by: Jenny ja Antti Wihuri Foundation, Kone Foundation’s Saari Residence, Performing Arts Research Center Tutke, TTOR – Taiteellisen tutkimuksen ohjausryhmä, Uniarts Helsinki; Arts Promotion Center Finland, Helsinki City, Brother