Fern Orchestra’s new performance is based on a sediment sample from the Baltic Sea bottom and the DNA material analysed from it. The sediment core will be used in the exhibition Hidden Archives at the Brinkkala Gallery in Turku from April to May 2024 to compose the piece, and the DNA score obtained from it will serve as a form for the performance Compressed Time. It is reportedly the first work composed by the Baltic Sea. The performance is an underwater time, rhythm and history from droplet to ocean, from micro to macro, with a time span that stretches from the Ice Age to the present. The collective has previously explored microorganisms in its work in Mareld (2020), Love Between Species – Happening (2023) and Water Divider (2023), popularising science and its results.
Stepping through the first impression; Until now you never really seen the world you live in.
Several microalgae sink to the seabed as resting cells after blooming. Thus they can be found in sediment layers, and centuries-old buried cells have been resurrected in laboratory conditions. Analysing the DNA of microorganisms helps scientists to reconstruct the past and model the future. The work reveals the invisible and unlocks the ghosts of cells; the underwater sediment core is a note, a score, a composition – a symphony of diversity. The sediment core is compressed time and contains more information than the annual rings of a tree. It is repetition, regeneration and time travel, where the nature of time becomes visible. Compressed Time is a celebration of DNA and how everything is connected to everything: it turns the collective memory of the seafloor from the Baltic Sea into stage. The performance combines elements of contemporary dance and circus, light and sound art and contains hidden secrets.
#everythingbutphotosynthesisisinvain
The ticket sales from the performance will be donated to the nature conservation. Therefore, there are four ticket categories to choose from: spectator, aware, influencer and actor. The ticket price includes a Turku public transport ticket valid three hours before and two hours after the performance. The performance will be in three languages: Finnish, Swedish and English. However, no language skills are required, the content is suitable for multilingual audience.
The working group
Fern Orchestra is an internationally award-winning art and science collective working with plants and microorganisms. Their work explores the relationship between light, people and the environment through performance art, contemporary dance, publications and light and sound art.
Collaboration: Fern Orchestra, Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland and Turku City Theatre.
The performance will feature Fern Orchestras dancers Ilona Salonen and Kalle Suominen, circus artist Timo Tamminen and a guest performer from The Finnish National Ballet: first solo dancer Tuukka Piitulainen. Sound design and music composition by Markus Heino together with Baltic Sea, costume design Jaakko Mäkinen, graphics and video design Samuel Salminen, visualisation and concept design Vespa Laine, space design and social media Saara Isola, marine biology Conny Sjöqvist / Åbo Akademi.
