Keithy Kuuspu and Ave Vellesalu performative installation Eruption
Ave Vellesalu’s and Keithy Kuuspu’s performative installation Eruption unfolds like a hybrid ritual or a sensory workshop, in which viewers step into an intimate space of shared experience.
The work is inspired by Ragnar Kjartansson’s Variation on Meat Joy (2013), which in turn resonates with Carolee Schneemann’s legendary performance Meat Joy (1964). Eruption was born in this multilayered network of references: a volcano from the landscapes of Iceland meets bodily sensations. The table has been set with the first “food” of human beings: a symbolically fuming and dripping breast. In this choreographed mess, the installation-based space and the presence of bodies co-create a shifted field of co-existence. Eruption is not for visual enjoyment only: it is participatory. It is an encounter with an open structure that is reminiscent of a workshop, yet refuses to be didactic. Hands will be covered in clay, the table will be covered in gunk, and mouths will be full of sounds, materials and tastes. Who does the work and who does the eating? Who creates and who consumes?
Keithy Kuuspu (1994) is an Estonian artist working where performative arts, choreography, visual arts and ceramics overlap. In her oeuvre she focuses on everyday structures and society’s power over the individual. Her approach is often ironically naïve. Her main focus is on integrating performative arts with visual arts and looking for connections between the body and materials.
www.keithykuuspu.com
Ave Vellesalu (1993) is a contemporary artist and musician who works in Tallinn. She has studied photography and new media at the Estonian Academy of Arts and has done additional training courses at the Sibelius Academy and the Academy of Fine Art of the University of the Arts Helsinki. Vellesalu’s works focus mainly on current societal conflicts and environmental issues and often rely on robotics and spatial installations with curated movements. Her installations are usually accompanied by photos, videos and sounds. The artist attempts to combine the organic with the sterile, while looking for a place of her own amidst domesticated natural elements. Ave Vellesalu is also a sound artist and a member of the electronic music duo Vera Vice.
The event is part of the Kumu Courtyard Festival: Icelandic Currents programme.
