let me leak for you
2019
CFEVA Philadelphia
textile, menstrual blood, leather cushion with ASMR sound, hourglass and shelf with sound
let me leak for you, made in collaboration with artist Bang Geul Han, incorporates interactive sculptures, textiles and sound to create an environment that encourages tactile exploration and deep listening. The project gestures towards making the cultural invisibility of bodily leakage visible, while subverting the associated embarrassment or shame into a productive and creative vehicle. The installation uses both physical and conceptual manifestations of leakage, including textiles dyed with menstrual blood and a leather cushion leaking warnings of the moral consequences of women’s bodily discharges and desires . A leather-covered hourglass alludes to capitalistic obsessions of time leakage and productivity . The sound utilises ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response sounds, known for triggering tingling sensations) and common linguistic cues taken from meditation videos that encourage peaceful and relaxed experiences.
Pöllänen and Han have been collaborating since 2015 after recognising a shared thematic focus in their individual practices (politics and codes of public space in a globalised digital milieu, cultural othering of the feminine and emotional labour).
The work has been kindly supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland and Frame Contemporary Art Finland.
