Juha Rouhikoski: Swan Song

Swan Song takes the viewer to the mythological world of majestic swans, the underworld of Tuonela in Finnish folklore as well as to the world of Jean Sibelius and Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. In the work, viewers step to the edge of the Tuonela stream to look at a fragile being walking along a beam of light that dissects the air above them, trying to survive the dangers without falling to its death. The artwork plays with the idea of what is real and what is unreal. Without a smartphone or the app there is nothing to see unless the space is lightened up for the virtual artwork. Once we find the virtual content it will leave a mark to the space and the experience becomes real. The virtual content itself quickly humanizes as the light and fragile virtual creature looks and acts like a tightrope walking ballerina.  

The main challenge with the work is the technology. Problems can be user related or caused by outdated smartphone which do not support the AR content. This creates a communal aspect to the work. Once one sees that the other spectators have managed to find the virtual content, it must be there. Finding the content can lead to a realization: there she is. You are looking for something that isn’t there even though it looks so on your smart device. Here we can think more widely - is the content that we see every day on our devices real? Taking photographs of the artworks is commonly practiced in the exhibitions and art festivals. Swan Song challenges spectators with this – virtual content can only be captured by taking screenshots of the devices or recording the screen.  

Swan Song will be customized to the venue case by case. Venue can be indoor or outdoor. Additional lighting will be considered especially for indoor venues. The soundscape is an essential part of the work indoors and outdoors.