Work Commissioned by the Helsinki Biennial

Since childhood, I have felt spirits, and I have healed through a family tradition called mal aire (“bad air”). Based on this experience, I decided to learn about spirits and cultures, discovering that both in Ecuador and Finland—as well as in many parts of the world—there is a belief in spirits, though with varying worldviews depending on the place. Combining my personal experience with the knowledge I have gained, I decided to create this work.

The piece consisted of listening to non-human sounds and the spirits of Vallisaari Island in Helsinki, Finland, and singing their melodies—being a medium to give voice to their songs. For several days, I listened to the sounds of plants, trees, the sea, insects, animals, stones—a multitude of non-human sounds and their spirits. I then transcribed them into scores to be interpreted by my voice. It is a performance in which I feel the sounds with my body in order to interpret them. After the live action, my voice remains on the island, resonating in unison with the sounds I heard.

The project gives prominence to the non-human in our lives. I feel, listen, and transmit. Nature feels and sings to us, awakening not only our visual and auditory senses but others as well. Vallisaari is a living organism, and through the performance, I become a medium to give it a voice.