sophiesuominenprojects-blog

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‘Let’s Talk’ by Sophie Suominen, 2014.

A part of the Interaction(s)- Portrait exhibition at DJCAD Mar-Apr 2014

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/djcad/exhibitions/exhibitions/interactions-portraits/

As apart of the group exhibition, ‘Interaction(s)’, the artists were asked to put out work which would be relatable to all students within the university under the theme ‘portrait’.

Dissecting the word portrait , one is faced with the form becoming Por-Trait.

Por in Spanish being ‘For’ and a ‘trait’ being a personality of an individual. 

What are traits? Anxiousness, aggression, impulsiveness etc. 

What is a common trait in University…Anxiety. 

What are typical characteristics of someone who is anxious? 

How would you know if someone you were with was feeling anxiety… 

Commonly they might bite their lips, nails, stutter their words, tap their knee or get flushed. 

The lips are a centre focus for many individuals when interacting with others therefore to expand the impact of my work and the audience it affects, I chose to use the lips, and the mouth as the focus for showing traits of anxiety.

Taking close up shots of the lips so that they might blur into anyones mouth, I then paired these photographs with a self help quote relating to Anxiety in order to exemplify a state of hope among my work as it is by nature a grim topic. I wanted to achieve a portrait of everyone who experiences anxiety whether often or not, because everyone experiences it at some point and no-one should feel alone or self conscious about it.

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‘Constant/Flow’ 

A collaborative film by Alexander Allan and Sophie Suominen, 2013.

“Our work is concerned with challenging the way we interact and perceive the world around us. Working across many mediums we produce work that illustrates the apparent disconnection between mankind and the natural world around us, using our work as a way to bridge this gap and educate the viewer.” Both artists are currently studying Fine Art at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee.

“This short film although seemingly simplistic at first glance, carries with it a heavy context, this being that daylight as we perceive it; is not a constant. Light particles (photons) complete an enormous journey across the solar system. Firstly it takes between 10,000 to 170,000 years for the photon to travel from the Suns core to its surface, then the photons have to travel a distance of nearly 93 million miles on average before they reach our atmosphere; a journey that takes over 8 minutes to complete. This means that the photons that create daylight, as we perceive it; not only move at the speed of light (671 million miles per hour) but are in fact, something that was created in the past, in history. This is beyond our understanding in terms of what we can physically experience but is something that will happen trillions of times every day for the rest of our lives and we may never notice it.” S,Suominen & A,Allan.

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‘Light Prayer’ an installation by Sophie Suominen, 2013.

A prospective device to allow the user to pray to the elements. 

This is an example of  the ‘light’ or sun version. 

The mat is activated when a user bows down and the light comes on.

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‘Origin’ a performance by Sophie Suominen, 2013.

Playing with the idea behind origin of medicine and pharmacology, the artist acted out a quirky experiment where she made penicillin with some ink, flowers, candles and powder.

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’Moss reclamation’ by Sophie Suominen, 2013.

Experimenting with metaphor around the idea of nature taking over from humans destructive way of living. Apart of the series of works around the concepts provided by Next Nature.

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‘Burning the house down’ by Sophie Suominen, 2013.

A metaphor for the destructive means by which we power our homes.

Coal carved into homes and then burned leaving only ash.

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’Biosphere under peril’ by Sophie Suominen, 2013.

An experiment where the artist created a space for a habitat to grow with the inclusion of a toy car within. Thereby creating a visual post habitual planetary situation. Nature prevailing through all of human destruction.

Apart of a series about ‘Next Nature’

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’Subversive and Unspoken Law’ by Sophie Suominen and Katie Stott, 2012.

A performance where the artists performed as Justice (truth and fairness) and Liberty (Freedom). By replacing the totems of the heralded figures with comedic items, they revealed everyday truths which can all too often become obscured by the language and doctrine of governmental systems. 

Instead of liberty’s flame they replaced it with ice cream symbolising freedoms flame has become cold and  melting away.

Instead of justice’s scales she had some make shifts that were held off-balance. She also had a blindfold which was transparent, thereby symbolising the ‘impartial’ law systems transparency and corruption.

Both figures held books of the law and stood facing one another. 

This was to highlight how Justice and Freedom are often in conflict. 

“We stood for 6 minutes so that the image would develop its hypocrisy. For instance the ice cream cone dripping down onto the floor, the shaking hand holding the scales. Over our film we spoke out our laws showing that even if one was attempting to follow the laws, it’s coded language has become so jumbled that its impossible to comprehend.”

As well as the performance the artists created a series of subversive Law books which they bound and placed within their local Law library.

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A self portrait by Sophie Suominen, 2012.

“Looking at the influences that have made me, my love of poetry and song. 

I came up with a short film to represent an aspect of my current self.

‘Hullamackadoo’ a folk song sung to me as a child.

‘I had a Hippopotomous’ by Patrick Barrington recited to me by my grandfather.

‘Jabberwocky’ by lewis Carroll a love of mine from childhood.

‘Thoughts’, a monologue written by myself.”

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Vitamin D, 56.4500°N 2.9833°W by Sophie Suominen, 2012.

A campaign and photographic project to bring use of public space back to the people.

I photographed people using Greenmarket car park in Dundee, Scotland; like they would their home.

Doing chores, like ironing with the panoramic view from the top level.

Having a coffee break under cover of the second level, a place to seek seclusion.

Dynamic spaces for competitive and fun chess playing.

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‘End of Romance’ by Sophie Suominen, 2012.

A week long performance on the despair, desperation and obsession that manifests itself when love disappears and romance dies.

Leaving behind a space for reflection: obsessive stream of consciousness, poetry, lyrics, pet notes, broken rotting flowers, gifted jewellery, filled ashtrays and empty bottles. 

Photographic documentation by Sophie Suominen.

photographs installed displayed at knee level, so the viewer is forced into a position of begging.