Undercurrent

Sibylle Eimermacher, Johannes Eimermacher

Locals knew that there was something special in the hill called Outokumpu (literally “strange hill”) in Eastern Finland, as unusual thunderstorms around the hill were very common. In 1908 a 15.000 kg erratic boulder was found some 60 km south-east, containing 750 kg copper, 5,000 kg iron, 8,700 kg sulphur, 180 g silver and 16 g gold. Tracing it's way back by calculating how the boulder must have been moved by the glaciers, the ore body in the hill of Outokumpu was discovered and the Outokumpu Kopparwerk was founded. Since it's closure in 1989 the Old Mine of Outokumpu became an international center for artists and researchers. During our two weeks residency we assembled used metal objects like bowls, pipes, sawblades, etc. into an interactive, room-filling sound installation around the former hoist machinery of the old mine. We wanted to give a voice to the material that has been mined there and exported around the world. High-pitch ringing, singing, beating and howling resonances replaced the once deafening noise of the heavy machines. During open sessions we invited the participants to improvise with us on the instruments, guiding them with simple exercices to sharpen the sensibility of listening and group awareness. The atmosphere in the room changed from being loaded by it’s former exploitation goals into uplifting collectively creative processes.