Jere Suontausta: Peilipöllö (Bubo speculus)

Peilipöllö (Bubo speculus) is a fictive-dystopian bird species and a sculptural light installation that consists almost entirely out of found and recycled materials. The artwork is both an introverted fantasy and a statement: The owl hoots at the audience in an oddly melancholic manner, casting its stare on us on the verge of climate catastrophe and mass extinction.

The creation of the artwork was largely guided by stumbling upon some intriguing materials, starting from the museum light reflectors that became the eyes of an owl. I got interested in this idea of a dystopia, where only mechanical bird species consisting of thrash and mirroring metal would remain and wanted to offer a glimpse to such (near) future with a sculptural artwork. Gathering some more shiny-and-possibly-birdlike materials from thrift shops and such, I built a quite weird owl. The hooting sounds of Bubo speculus are made by playing and recording a door of a mirror cabinet in the toilet of my flat.