let me leak for you

let me leak for you
2019
textile, menstrual blood, leather cushion with ASMR sound (sound by Bang Geul Han), hourglass and shelf with sound (sound by Bang Geul Han)

The installation 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.

let me leak for you was first shown at CFEVA Philadelphia in 2019 as part of an exhibition with Bang Geul Han. 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). This is Han and Pöllänen’s third collaborative project.

The work has been kindly supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland and Frame Contemporary Art Finland.