Elis Hannikainen & Vappu Jalonen: Visitor Centre X

Music and sound for the exhibition: Eero Pulkkinen

I’m sinking
Feels like sinking

Visitor Centre X imagines a future national park. In the stage-like installation, two characters fantasise about destruction and conservation; one of them tries to save the other; and an audio guide recording moves back and forth in time.

The routes of the national park traverse a multi-use zone in which mining also takes place. In hot weather, clouds above the park’s mires are seeded with silver iodide.

Visitor Centre X continues Hannikainen and Jalonen’s work on national parks. Its sibling work—the radio feature Valtapuisto (“Power Park”)—was broadcast by Yle in 2023. Valtapuisto is available on Yle Areena.

Artists Elis Hannikainen and Vappu Jalonen’s practice is text-driven. They create video and audio works, and installations. Hannikainen and Jalonen’s works have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and outdoor recreational areas. In their collaborative works, they explore everyday bodily experiences of illness and queerness, means of support, and questions related to power. Both artists live in Helsinki.

A composition for the exhibition was made by sound artist and composer Eero Pulkkinen, who also works in the fields of performance and visual arts. Recently, Pulkkinen has specialised in site-specific performance pieces and audio-based artistic projects. Pulkkinen is also the other founder member of the Hunajanjyvä art platform.

Kone Foundation has supported the work of the artists.

Narrators: Tari Doris and Flis Holland

English language advice and proofreading: Katie Lenanton

Image: Venla Helenius

Exhibition has been supported by Finnish Heritage Agency.