The exhibition features all new works by Maija Tammi in a 600m2 space at The Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Finland. The exhibition consists of three large-scale installations. My main contribution to the exhibition is the music I composed for the video Hulda and Lili where I combined Western films and Wagner's "Tristan Prelude" to create a powerful soundtrack that echoes throughout the entire 600 m2 exhibition space.
Empathy Machine
Sound Design for Maija Tammi's Museum Exhibition, 2023
Review of the exhibition in Helsing Sanomat : "MELODRAAMAN voiman on oivaltanut myös Lillin ja Huldan seikkailun taustalle musiikin säveltänyt Charles Quevillon, joka ammentaa lännenelokuvista. Kun Lilli empii hyppyään kirsikkapuun oksalta toiselle, taustalla käyskentelevä sähkökitara maalaa parvestaan eksyneestä ”yksinäisestä ratsastajasta” vahvan kuvan."
“Composer Charles Quevillon, who has composed the music for Hulda’s and Lilli’s adventure, has recognized the power of melodrama drawing inspiration from Western films. As Lilli struggles to jump from one branch to the next in a cherry tree, the sound of electric guitar paints a powerful picture of the 'lone rider'.” (my translation).
In two of the installations, anthropomorphism—seeing human-like features in other animals and beings—is deliberate, and the museum visitors might be led astray at first glance.
Hulda & Lilli, 2023, the main artwork of the exhibition, examines empathy through storytelling. The work is an inventive human experiment, which aims to draw out an emotional reaction and encourages viewers to probe the making of their feelings. The immersive installation offers two paths with different perspectives. One path depicts the story of a predator and the other of a prey. In the end, the paths and protagonists meet; who will you empathise with?
Octomom, 2021–2023, is an installation where an audio story and a video of a brooding octopus, who guarded her eggs for almost five years at the bottom of the ocean, is combined with a Rineke Dijkstra inspired portrait of a mother with her newborn.
Bathing Brains, 2023, is an installation combining a cultural history of brains with images of human brain organoids floating in a void. Bathing Brains is a new work that will keep developing further.
More here.