A space can be built so that it listens.
I create spatial sound installations for museums, contemporary art institutions, public art projects and site-specific commissions.
Based in Oulu, Finland, I work internationally. My works range from intimate listening situations to large-scale multi-channel installations. They are developed in dialogue with a site’s architecture, acoustics, everyday use and the people who encounter it.
I work with breath, resonance, environmental sound, local voices, field recording and, where appropriate, generative video. These materials are composed spatially so that listening can move through a room, landscape or public setting.
Selected Works
INTER, Jurmo
In collaboration with the John Nurminen Foundation, Finnish Archipelago, 2026
A site-specific outdoor listening work situated beside the chapel and cemetery on Jurmo. Developed through conversations and recordings with people connected to the island, the work brings together voices, wind, weather, silence and distance.
RE-BIRTH
MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre, Helsinki, 2025
A 40-channel installation combining breath choir, spatialised piano, low-frequency sound and generative video. The work creates changing relations between proximity, intensity and rest.
RE DITUS
Möhkö Ironworks and Halkosaari Pavilion, 2025
A site-responsive choral installation created with Anna Voutilainen-Veijonen and the Sawotta Choir. Voices were distributed through architecture and landscape, allowing visitors to encounter return as a physical movement through place.
RE VERB
Aine Art Museum, Tornio, 2025
Acquired into the permanent collection of Aine Art Museum.
A spatial sound installation built around distributed vocal material, architectural acoustics and a central water basin that acts as both resonator and visual surface.
OWLA
Oulu Art Museum, Oulu, 2023
A community-rooted spatial installation created with 56 singers. The exhibition hall became a distributed listening field shaped by collective vocal presence.
ON THE BORDER
Developed at NART, Narva, Estonia; presented in Narva, Tartu, Porvoo and Helsinki, 2022–2023
A 40-channel installation developed with Estonian, Russian-speaking Estonian and Finnish singers. Distributed voices, breath and fragments of the Finnish and Estonian national anthems compose a field in which borders are encountered as lived conditions in language, memory and the body.
Full exhibition history and CV →
How I Work
Each project begins by listening to the conditions already present: the acoustics of a room, the movement of people, the social life and histories of a place, and its environmental rhythms.
I develop the spatial concept, composition and technical system in dialogue with the host venue and, where relevant, architects, landscape designers, technical specialists and local participants. A locally embedded work can include recording sessions with a choir or vocal community, spoken language, field recording or other material connected to the site.
My practice is informed by long-term contemplative practice and a background in theatre sound design and spatial dramaturgy. This shapes how I work with duration, intensity, peripheral listening positions and conditions in which visitors can move, sit, rest or remain still.
The work develops through three ongoing strands. The Border Series examines thresholds, displacement and collective identity. The RE Series investigates breath, voice and resonance as spatial forces. The INTER Works explore human presence, place and environment as a shared perceptual field.
Production and Technical Information
System
I provide a portable multi-channel sound system, typically configured with 20 to 40 loudspeakers. Playback, audio interfaces, amplification and patching are included.
Installation
A typical gallery installation takes 3 to 4 days, including spatial design, speaker placement, soundcheck, calibration and programming. Larger, outdoor or more complex site-specific works may require up to 7 days.
Acoustic conditions
For a fully spatial work in a group exhibition, a dedicated room or sufficient acoustic separation from adjacent works is needed. The acoustic relationship to the surrounding programme is assessed before a proposal is finalised.
Light, access and long-term operation
Generative video is optional. Where it is used, daylight and blackout conditions are planned with the venue. Room dimensions, ceiling height, power, access, cabling, operating hours and long-term maintenance are confirmed through a project-specific technical plan.
Preparation
New commissions are developed in dialogue with the host institution. Locally embedded works require several months of preparation for site research, recording and participant coordination.
Budget and logistics
A project-specific budget and delivery plan are prepared in relation to the chosen configuration, duration, travel, technical equipment, installation, documentation and any local collaboration. Freight, insurance and site integration are addressed in the same process.
Download Curator Kit and technical overview (PDF) →
Writings on Practice
Spatial Listening Architectures gathers methodological texts, field notes and working processes from 2008 to 2026. It describes the perceptual, spatial and collaborative conditions through which the installations are developed.
Download publication in English →
Contact
For current availability or to discuss an exhibition, public art project or site-specific commission, please send a description of the space, proposed dates, intended duration and any interest in local collaboration.
Jaakko Autio
Oulu, Finland
jaakkoaution@gmail.com
www.jaakkoautio.com
JAAKKO AUTIO — SPATIAL LISTENING ARCHITECTURES 