As part of a research visit to Australia, Maria Nurmela and Kalle Ropponen (both artist from Finland) and Renae Shadler (AUS/GER) will take forward their project ‘Susurrus’ with a residency at Critical Path, 25 – 31 March, and research visits to Dance Massive (Melbourne) and Supercell (Brisbane).
Susurrus’ is a new performance installation that draws a parallel between a human midlife crisis and the current ecological crisis. The project brings together contemporary dance, original spoken text, and immersive design to embrace audiences in this alternately humorous, moving and provocative journey.
As part of the creative process, the ‘Susurrus’ team have been collaborating with Aerocene, an artistic/scientific community initiated by visual artist, Tomás Saraceno. The core of the foundation is the Aerocene Explorer, a light-weight 6.15mx8.8m solar-powered sculpture that its inflated by air, lifted only by the sun and carried by the wind. Alongside each presentation of ‘Susurrus’ the team will have a public Explorer launch and movement workshop.
The ‘Susurrus’ project was initiated by Renae and Maria in May 2017, in collaboration with a lighting/set designer, Kalle Ropponen and sound artist, Samuel Hertz. As an international team from different artistic landscapes in Australia, Germany, USA and Finland, the group are committed to creating ecological ways to make and present performance art. ‘Susurrus’ have led events at Palais de Tokyo (FR), Ehkä -productions (FIN) and Hellerau – European Center of the Arts (DE), among others.
Renae Shadler www.renaeshadler.com
Maria Nurmela www.marianurmela.com
Kalle Ropponen
Samuel Hertz www.samhertzsound.com
Kalle Ropponen´s and Maria Nurmela´s participation is supported by Arts Promotion Center Finland.
Image: Courtesy of the Artist.