• Riikka Latva-Somppi & Kristoffer: Läsnäolon Laboratorio
  • Riikka Latva-Somppi & Kristoffer: Ratsastussimulaattori
  • Riikka Latva-Somppi & Kristoffer: Ratsastussimulaattori

Kristoffer, Riikka Latva-Somppi

The Laboratory of Presence

Jätkä 1 3.12.-18.12.2016

Riikka Latva-Somppi & Kristoffer
The Laboratory of Presence
Galleria Huuto Jätkäsaari – Jätkä 1
3.12.-18.12.2016

Come and toast for the Finnhorse on the Independence Day the 6th of December! The Jätkäsaari exhibitions are open and the artist Riikka Latva-Somppi is present.

Through the means of art, Latva-Somppi examines a horse as well as the social relationship and interactions between a human and a horse. Her partner in this project is Kristoffer, a 16-year-old Finnhorse. In her work she processes chance, spontaneity and being fascinated by experiences in the moment they occur. What is also inevitably part of this is a human’s power over an animal and responsibility for the animal.

For a year I have been processing the experience of presence with Kristoffer. I have put myself face to face with an insurmountable task. It is impossible to transfer the experience of presence to be presented elsewhere, in a concrete form. For Kristoffer this has been a lot simpler. A horse is satisfied with the present moment. He is able to sense a person’s behavior and state of mind – nervousness, hurry, fear, joy and calmness. Studies have shown that even a horse’s heart rate is affected by the rider’s heart rate.

The works in the exhibition deal with experiencing a horse and the feeling of shared presence. In the world of visual stimuli, seeing is given priority over other senses. In an experience of presence, visual sensations are not so dominating. With artworks experienced through the sense of hearing, smell, touch and balance, presence occurs in our own body.

Riikka Latva-Somppi (MA) is an artist, curator and educator working in various assignments involving expertise in the field. She works at the intersection of fine art and craft and has exhibited widely nationally and internationally. Her public art work Satakieli/Nightingale was awarded The Certificate of Environmental Art 2009 by The Foundation of Environmental Art (Finland), and her public art work commissioned by Vantaa Art Museum has recently been published in Tikkurila, Vantaa, Finland.

The exhibition is supported by The Finnish Cutural Foundation and The Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Riikka Latva-Somppi
Tel. +358 41 519 9181
riikka(at)latvasomppi.com
www.latvasomppi.com