OWLA @ Oulu Art Museum 24 August–26 November 2023
Sound Artist and Convener: Jaakko Autio / Composition: Anna Voutilainen /
Cassiopeia: Anna-Maija Multas, Eeli Antikainen, Henri Salin, Heikki Kuoppala, Jonna Nyrhinen, Katri Leppälä, Kirsi Valtiala, Lauri Tovinen, Laura Metsavainio, Linda Pyykkönen, Malla Säkkinen, Maija Huhtinen, Moona Hakkarainen, Oona Sakko, Peppi Virtanen, Sakaria Pouke, Sohvi Nopanen / Cantio Laudis: Olli Heikkilä (Conductor), Aino Puroila, Alisa Tervaniemi, Anna Joensuu, Emma Raappana, Henna Pärkkä, Helena Savolainen, Johanna Jaakkola, Katrina Jämsä, Lotta Heikkilä, Lotta Sippola, Meira Maaninka, Mette Hintsala, Pirta Pentikäinen, Saara Kolehmainen, Sanna Hautala, Sanni Myllyneva, Venla Katajala
Tuiran Chamber Choir: Satu Korpi (Conductor), Anu Kalliopuska, Pirio-Ritta Silven, Ella Suvanto, Vuokko Annala, Ulla Savolainen, Maarit Nurmela, Paivi-Ilona Airisniemi, Kaisa-Mari Paananen, Marjo Okkonen, Harriet Tervonen, Jonna Pienihäkkinen, Tula Kleemola-Laakso, Terttu Kortelainen, Juhani Miettunen, Antti Auer, Jyrki Okkonen, Jorma Pulkkinen, Antti Perttunen / Oulu Art Museum Team: Curator: Selina Väliheikki / Exhibition Builders: Mirva Ahmakallio, Mika Siekkinen, Mikko Vähä / Conservator: Kirsi Hyvärinen / Curators of Education: Satu Larivaara-Heikkilä, Hanna-Leena Ruottinen / Researcher-photographer: Mika Friman / Customer Service Manager: Tuija Ontero / Museum Assistants: Julia Pääkkönen, Valtteri Moilanen / Digital Media Specialist: Riikka Harjula / Communications Assistant: Lotta Sorvoja / Graphic Design: Anne Vähäsalo / Café Manager: Piia Niemelä / Administration and Finance Secretary: Saila Tönkyrä / Human Resources Secretaries: Riikka Pitkäaho, Amanda Varpu / Services Secretary: Päivi Lämsä / Translations: Antti Autio / Printing: Monetra Oulu Oy Print Services, Grano, Tarratalli / Work supported by: Taike, The Regional Fund of Northern Ostrobothnia / Special thanks: Hilla Väyrynen, Maija and Seppo Väyrynen, Pasi Pehkonen.
OWLA is an immersive multichannel sound installation by Jaakko Autio, inspired by the emotional flood of the overflowing Oulujoki river. The work invites visitors to listen, participate, and rest in a unique landscape of sound and water. Rooted in Oulu’s history and the language of the North, OWLA explores the shared potential of emotion, presence, and collective experience.
What does an inner flood feel like? Can it be held back or will it overflow? What kind of space might open up if everything were allowed to flow freely?
Owla, an ancient Finnish word meaning “flood,” is the starting point for sound artist Jaakko Autio’s (b. 1981) new multichannel sound installation. Oulu itself also gets its name from the overflowing Oulujoki river.
The flood becomes a metaphor for a person’s inner emotional storms and unshared feelings, for those moments when tears flow. Images of accumulation, flowing, swelling, and surrender shape the background of the composition. Might it be possible that, when shared, emotions are released and strengthened, binding us together?
The sound work, installed in the dim Tasku space at Oulu Art Museum, was composed in spring 2023 and recorded in Oulu in August 2023. All the choirs heard in the work are from the Northern Ostrobothnia region.
Visitors are encouraged to sit on the chairs placed around the exhibition space; you can also change seats to hear different sounds. You are welcome to touch the water basin in the center of the space.
You may rest in the presence of the work.
The sound piece unfolds as the visitor enters the space; both speech and singing can be heard. The total sound material amounts to 240 hours, from which the computer randomly selects the sections to be played.
Composer Anna Voutilainen’s Contemplation:
I begin all my melody-based compositions intuitively, either improvising with my own voice or on the saxophone. In this OWLA piece as well, I searched for variations of the main theme by improvising vocally. I recorded even the smallest melodic fragments and ideas whenever they appeared—sometimes in the most unexpected moments, such as in the middle of the night, at the grocery store checkout, or while walking down the street. Once I have enough fragments, I start piecing the compositional puzzle together, combining melodic and rhythmic ideas into a larger, unified whole. Before the overall structure was clear, I also painted a distinct visual arc and forms on paper, which I wanted to be reflected in the sound of OWLA.
Beneath all this is a deepening into the themes—and especially the core atmosphere—of the future work. What is the philosophy, story, and feeling at the heart of the piece? What do these themes sound like? The word “owla” means flood. In the work, the flood is a metaphor for a person’s internal storms and unshared feelings, for the moment tears begin to flow. I was also inspired by the flow of water—evoking, for me, the stream of generations. Guided by these themes, I ended up with a clear, beautiful, tonal, and somewhat traditional musical language. I wanted my composition to have repetition, beauty, sensitivity, and a certain gravity—qualities that lead the listener to the banks of the Oulujoki and the depths of an inner flood.
I experienced Owla, Jaakko’s work, at the Oulu Art Museum.
I was there for quite a while, perhaps an hour, until the museum closed its doors. It felt good to be there. At first, I felt like crying, and even considered falling asleep or drifting off as I lay on the platform at the back. It was a good moment. Overall, it was comfortable to be in the space, even as others arrived. It was interesting to share the space. Sometimes I was very aware of the others, greeting people as I passed—which felt a bit odd and human—and sometimes I forgot about it completely. The work itself is somehow similar; it shifts between the presence of other people and everyday experience (often those conversations in the recordings) and states of immersion or floating in the water (the feeling).
I wanted to sing too, to become part of that created flood as far as it would take me. I had many thoughts about the healing power of sound.
It was also nice to hear and recognize your voice; it brought a sense of familiarity to this moment, when so much around me was in flux.
I also felt like creating, though at the time I didn’t know what, and afterward I was also tired.
For me, this was a profound experience—right here, right now. My hands in the water blended beautifully with the sound.
Thank you.
Message from an exhibition visitor, 15.9.2023
For the installation, I handcrafted 20 individual speakers. I learned to use 3D software to create the speakers, acquired a 3D printer, and post-processed the prints by manually sanding, painting, and applying lacquer to the speakers. Each speaker is unique, just like the voice of each singer.
Jaakko Autio - Sound Artist 