Tuhmat ⎜Finnish cultural foundation (Finland)

Bio

Susse Seppälä and Joonas Parviainen form the multidisciplinary art collective Tuhmat. Since autumn 2023 Tuhmat has created kinetic sculptures, multisensory spaces, living soundscapes and documented performances. Tuhmat has previously worked in two residencies in Iceland and the Åland Islands during winter 2023-2024. Our work is multidisciplinary combining sound art and performance, sculpture and architecture, painting and drawing, photography and media art. During spring 2024 Tuhmat participated in the Frozen People Festival, Oulu with their work “Wind Sculptures” and held the exhibition “Tuulenpesä” at Galleria IPloma, Helsinki. During summer 2024 Tuhmat took part in Mitäs Mitäs Mitäs (Urjala) ja Ilmiö (Turku) festivals with new sculptures. At Mitäs they also live scored the Finnish film classic Sleeping Beauty (Prinsessa Ruusunen, Edvin Laine 1949). In addition Tuhmat has done audiovisual performances at Reykjavík (SÍM), Brussels (auJUS), Helsinki (Bar typo) and Oulu (Frozen People). We have received a small grant from Elmu ry for the production costs of an upcoming sleeping concert series for which we are scouting for potential locations. Professional backgrounds: Joonas graduated as an architect from the University of Oulu in 2017. 28.10.2024 14.42

Architecture Studio Joonas Parviainen was founded in 2019 and since then they have worked independently on architectural projects and building history surveys. Joonas has previously done an 8 month artist residency at Cité internationale des arts, Paris, working on organ compositions and spatial sound installations. Susse has degrees in graphic design, wilderness guiding and youth work. They work on several film and music festival productions and are currently in charge of Espoo Ciné International Film Festival’s Communications & Graphic Design.

Project

At Narva Art Residency Tuhmat duo plans to focus on developing concepts for multisensory spaces through artistic research, prototypes and events. Their hypothesis is that multisensory art experiences can have the same effects as experiences in nature, like a walk in the forest or a trip to the archipelago. Multisensory art experiences are calming the mind and body and helping the audience to be rooted in the moment. We continue our exploration and experimentation with multiple medias. Our collective is open for anyone to join for a project or more permanently, and we are looking forward to potential collaborations during the residency. During the residency they wish to take some time to travel around Ida-Viru county to study local landscapes, architecture and culture. Tuhmat duo believes that Narva will serve as great inspiration for sound art, painting and drawing and that we will find perfect sceneries for photographic and video work documenting our kinetic sculptures and performances around them. The atmospheres encountered there are at least on some level transferred into the works produced during the residency. They plan to create a multisensory space within the studio space and/or another space (eg. a gallery space), including an ongoing concert, visuals and sensory experiences during visiting hours. Additionally we want to dedicate the 3-month residency to focus on our sound art.