Jaakko Autio works with spatial sound as perceptual architecture, creating installations that redistribute listening in space.

He creates large-scale spatial sound installations for museums and contemporary art institutions, built as perceptual environments using 20–40 channel systems.

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.

While often framed as immersive sound, the work operates differently — it does not centre the listener, but redistributes listening across the space.

Each work unfolds as a durational perceptual field — a space visitors enter, remain within and gradually attune to.

They construct conditions for collective listening and extended perception.

Multi-channel sound installations are realised as durational perceptual fields, using breath choirs, low-frequency resonance, environmental sound and generative video as spatial elements rather than narrative content.

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

Selected Writings

A publication gathering methodological texts, field notes and working processes connected to the installation practice.

The writings move between spatial sound, perceptual structure, collective voice and non-coercive listening environments. Rather than documenting finished works, they describe the conditions and decisions through which the installations are built.

→ Download Publication (EN)

→ Lue Suomeksi (FI)

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 typically takes three to four days, depending on the architectural scale.
Technical requirements from the hosting venue remain minimal.
Designed for extended exhibition durations.

Locally embedded version
One or two recording sessions are realised 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 built using a portable multi-channel sound infrastructure that I design, build and travel with.

The core unit is a 20-channel audio cart with integrated playback, audio interfaces, amplification and patching. I operate three complete 20-channel systems, allowing installations to scale from 20 to 40 channels, with larger configurations possible depending on the site.

Typical installation schedule:

Day 1
Spatial design and speaker placement. The installation is organised around a central point, with cabling following 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. An optional headphone narration layer may also be 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 when needed.

Series

The work is informed by a long-term daily contemplative practice, extensive retreat experience, and a background in theatre and spatial dramaturgy. This shapes how the installations are built, how time unfolds, and how attention is structured.

The work has developed through three research strands.

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 elements.

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

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

Technical Overview

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

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

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

Invitation

If this approach resonates with your programme, please feel free to share a description of the space, 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