Laine & Nivalainen: Still pouring from the soft spot
coming again in 2023
Still pouring from the soft spot is a performance-installation that gives space to sensitivity as multi-sensorial and visceral. Sensitivity is fluid; the body is a membrane from which and into which emotion and sensation are dripping.
Still pouring from a soft spot is inspired by the feeling of bursting emotion and the bodies presented in sci-fi literature (futuristic, speculative, strange yet identifiable and something we can empathize with). It looks at the stigma of sensitivity; awkward, gendered overreacting, even self pity. It materializes emotional labour as not measurable, but experiential work.
Still pouring from the soft spot is proposing a world where emotional labour is there for everyone to see and witness. On the other hand, it explores the weight that is carried and felt by the sensitive and emotional bodies in present times. The performer explores a porous and emotional body, from which and into which the sensations can drip. They use thick liquid to create flows, movements, currents and traces with an agency of their own.
Still pouring from the soft spot has grown out from a caring collaboration between two artists. Sonjis Laine is a Helsinki based artist and an anthropologist, who works with the themes of care and empathy, both in her artistic work and in her approach to the field. Veera Nivalainen is a photography based visual artist currently living in Helsinki. Current research of Nivalainen explores possibilities of sensory experiences, emotionality and queerness, aiming to place empathy and radical softness in the focus of her practice.
Choreography and performance: Sonja-Riitta Laine
Video and installation: Veera Nivalainen
Sound design: Olli Lautiola
Still pouring from the soft spot is a performance-installation that gives space to sensitivity as multi-sensorial and visceral. Sensitivity is fluid; the body is a membrane from which and into which emotion and sensation are dripping.
Still pouring from a soft spot is inspired by the feeling of bursting emotion and the bodies presented in sci-fi literature (futuristic, speculative, strange yet identifiable and something we can empathize with). It looks at the stigma of sensitivity; awkward, gendered overreacting, even self pity. It materializes emotional labour as not measurable, but experiential work.
Still pouring from the soft spot is proposing a world where emotional labour is there for everyone to see and witness. On the other hand, it explores the weight that is carried and felt by the sensitive and emotional bodies in present times. The performer explores a porous and emotional body, from which and into which the sensations can drip. They use thick liquid to create flows, movements, currents and traces with an agency of their own.
Still pouring from the soft spot has grown out from a caring collaboration between two artists. Sonjis Laine is a Helsinki based artist and an anthropologist, who works with the themes of care and empathy, both in her artistic work and in her approach to the field. Veera Nivalainen is a photography based visual artist currently living in Helsinki. Current research of Nivalainen explores possibilities of sensory experiences, emotionality and queerness, aiming to place empathy and radical softness in the focus of her practice.
we are sensitive
soft
pouring
and slimy
Tolerate our drama. Please, thank you, bye.
Yours truly,
The divas on fire
Choreography and performance: Sonja-Riitta Laine
Video and installation: Veera Nivalainen
Sound design: Olli Lautiola
Supported by: Kekäläinen & Co. , Taiteen edistämiskeskus
Demo performance at UrbanApa X Ateneum Oct 2021, Helsinki
Research performance Nov 2020, Living Room Live / Finnland institut (GER)