Jaakko Autio creates large-scale spatial sound installations that function as perceptual environments rather than musical compositions.

A space can be built so that it listens.

I create multi-channel sound installations for museums, contemporary art institutions and public space contexts. My materials include breath choirs, low-frequency resonance, environmental sound and generative video. Each work unfolds as a durational perceptual field — a space visitors enter, remain within and gradually attune to.

These works respond to a cultural moment in which sustained attention has become increasingly rare. They offer an architecture for collective listening and extended perception.

My practice is informed by more than twenty-four years of contemplative practice, over fifty meditation retreats, and a background in theatre and spatial dramaturgy. This shapes how the work is built, how time unfolds, and how attention is held.

The work has developed through three research bodies.

The Border Series
Examines geopolitical and cultural thresholds and how collective identity is structured through separation.

The RE Series
Marks a shift toward sustained spatial research. Breath, voice and resonance are treated as architectural forces rather than expressive gestures.

The INTER Works
Approach human presence, space and environment as a shared perceptual field where environmental rhythms gradually emerge through listening.

The installations are durational. Visitors may move, sit, lie down or remain still. The work does not instruct. It offers conditions for sustained attention.

I travel with a complete 20–40 channel spatial sound system and work either autonomously or in collaboration with local communities.

Selected Works

RE-BIRTH
MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre, 2025
Forty loudspeakers. Breath choir, spatialised piano, low-frequency resonance and generative video. The space expands and contracts like a shared organism.

RE DITUS, Möhkö Ironworks and Halkosaari Pavilion, 2025
Large-scale site-responsive choral installation created with Anna Voutilainen Veijonen and the Sawotta Choir. Voices distributed across architecture and landscape. Return examined as spatial re-entry rather than nostalgia.

RE VERB, Permanent Collection, Aine Art Museum
Architectural acoustics and a central water basin as resonant surface.

OWLA, Oulu Art Museum, 2023
56 singers. Local voice transformed into a shared spatial field.

ON THE BORDER
Large-scale multi-channel installation. The border as lived condition rather than a line on a map.

Production Model

Touring installation
A complete 20–40 channel spatial sound system is provided by the artist.
Installation period typically three to four days, depending on the architectural scale.
Technical demands from the hosting venue remain minimal.
Suitable for extended exhibition durations.

Locally embedded version
One or two recording sessions with a local choir or vocal community.
Local voices are integrated into the spatial composition.
The venue provides coordination and a quiet recording space.

Spatial Production Model

My installations are realised using a portable multi-channel sound infrastructure that I design, build and travel with.

The core unit is a 20-channel audio cart containing the playback computer, audio interfaces, amplification and patch system. I currently operate three 20-channel systems, allowing installations to scale from 20 to 40 channels, with larger configurations possible depending on the architecture of the site.

Typical installation schedule:

Day 1
Spatial design and speaker placement. The installation geometry is organised around a central point and cabling follows the same spatial logic so the technical infrastructure visually recedes within the space.

Day 2
Soundcheck and spatial calibration of the distributed speaker field.

Day 3
Temporal dramaturgy and programming in dialogue with the room. In many installations an optional headphone narration layer is also integrated.

Day 4
Documentation.

The installations are designed for long exhibition durations and autonomous operation, with automated startup and shutdown aligned to venue opening hours and remote maintenance access when needed.

Technical Overview

Channels: 20–40 depending on architectural scale
Complete multi-channel sound system provided
Installation period: 3–4 days typical
Core team: 1–4 members depending on scale

Budget includes artist fee, travel and accommodation, technical equipment when required, and local collaboration where applicable.

Technical rider and spatial diagrams are available in the Curator Kit (PDF)

Invitation

If the work resonates with your programme, please feel free to share a description of the space, the proposed dates and exhibition duration, and whether local collaboration may be of interest.

I will be happy to respond with a tailored proposal and explore the possibility of a longer-term institutional dialogue.

Contact
jaakkoaution@gmail.com