It makes me smile, bemused, sad.
With what sorts of hoofs paws whiskers snouts beaks fins ears horns stems winds do we share in this universe? What kinds of wisdom could we learn from our co-inhabitors if we stopped and gave everyone the same space and opportunity to speak, each in their own way. And even if I don’t fully understand, stopping to listen asks for an equal, reciprocal and respectful attitude with all the beings among which we share the cosmos.
A fox is probably not at all interested in travelling to Mars, it has better things to do. It also experiences the world around it in ways I could not even dream of. And what is so amazing is that there are a multitude of ways of understanding, feeling, and observing the world—of existing. I would not wish any of this to disappear.
Like a language that dies, alongside it vanishes a unique way of understanding and perceiving the world. Even if I do not share a common language or means of communication with another being, I can share in respectful coexistence. In the words of poet Leena Krohn: “where your beginning is, there is also mine”.

In her exhibition Anne Yli-Ikkelä looks for the possibilities of sharing and interacting within space. Shape of the Wind is a video where a person holds up a human-sized scrap of plywood on a windy shore. The piece records communication, interaction and movement developed by the cooperation between wind, wood and human being. In addition to the video, the exhibition includes sculptural elements where co-inhabitors remind us of their uniqueness.

Anne Yli-Ikkelä’s processes are fuelled by a curiosity ignited by observation of beings, creatures and various ephemera—unbound to specific mediums or materials. Anne Yli-Ikkelä graduated with an MA from the Aalto University in 2015. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad.

The Arts Promotion Centre Finland has kindly supported the exhibition.

Anne Yli-Ikkelä
With Certain Type of Ears I Could Hear

31 August – 23 September 2018
Hippolyte Studio
Open: Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–16

image: Anne Yli-Ikkelä, Shape of the Wind, 2016 (video still)