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Why Do We Do the Things We Do?      
Ariel Bustamante and his working group
25.9.–29.10.2015
Kampintori, Helsinki

Artist Ariel Bustamante and his working group bring their piece, Why Do We Do the Things We Do?, to Kampintori for over a month, beginning September 25th, 2015. The artist and his group invite the public to experience the visually striking sound sculpture built specifically for housing one-on-one conversation. Inside the sculpture the sounds of the city are silenced, leaving space for thinking and listening together.

Large sound sculpture engages citizens in one-on-one conversations

Through conversations held inside the structure, Bustamante and working group members Ari-Pekka Leinonen and Ava Grayson engage with individual members of the community. From 25.9-29.10.2015, dialogues between members of the community and the artistic group take place on-site daily. Excerpts of the conversations will be played into the surrounding area, aiming to create a living communion with the cityscape and use the voice as a personal expression to attract others to listen and participate in this encounter. The sculpture itself is constructed almost entirely of biodegradable, recycled, and up-cycled eco-friendly building materials.

Two-year residency in academic setting results a major art production

Chilean artist Ariel Bustamante has worked as an Artist-in-residence in Aalto University since January 2014. During this 2-year residency, he and his working group have used dialogue methods as a practice to think in a participatory way and explore the motives behind our choices. Bustamante’s body of work reflects the physical and cognitive aspects of sound and his newest ongoing project, Why Do We Do the Things We Do? includes the social elements of listening and dialogue. Long-term projects are typical of Bustamante, as is combining theoretical research and craftsmanship.

Why Do We Do the Things We Do? is a result of Aalto University’s Artist- in-Residence programme. It was initiated to experiment what would it mean to academic community, usually hosting researchers rather than practitioners, to have an artist working within the cross-disciplinary community. Due to the residency’s unusually long two-year span, it gives time for the artist to hesitate and create from a different angle, and to research in collaboration with others more thoroughly.

The building of the sculpture has been developed with much collaboration with The Natural Building Company Oy. Additionally, the project has been developed in collaboration with EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, HIAP Helsinki International Artist Programme, and Frame Visual Art Finland. In addition to the main project, a parallel event The Conversations on Listening will be organised in October. This is a collaboration with Frame and EMMA to further open up viewpoints within the arts community regarding listening and dialogue.

Contact:
Ava Grayson
Member of the working group
Tel. +358 41 481 4134
ava.grayson@aalto.fi

Henna Harri
Lecturer, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Art
Tel. +358 50 364 1938
henna.harri@aalto.fi

Photos by working group and Sinem Kayacan