Sini Henttu
Alien Desire
25 April–19 May 2024
30 April the exhibitions are open until 4 pm.
May 1 and on Ascension Day May 9 the gallery is closed.
I want to desexualize my body. I want a mane reaching down to my ass. A continuous shiny flow waving in the air. (Eating hair leaves a toxic taste in my mouth.) I want to face you even though I want to be left alone. I want my body to be flexible enough to do a split and I want to be able to ignore such nonsense. I want Tamara Aladin’s candleholder and a week without migraine.
(… my desire changes with the algorithm.)
My desire is passed on to you.
Social philosopher Rahel Jaeggi writes that even though social roles can help you find and form yourself, you may also get lost in them. For a body stuck in a role, days turn in to distant loops where it may not recognize its desires as its own. According to social psychologist Devon Price, in a neuronormative environment, a neurodivergent body has to diminish its needs and desires. Constantly ignoring one’s own body especially in the hyperaccelerating and multimaterial time is alienating. The experience of alienation can be described as a process through which one loses touch with oneself and one’s body and which ultimately disconnects the body from the environment.
Alien Desire explores the experience of alienation in the desire-filled era and also desires in an alienated body. How desires are clingy, numbing and sticky, but also inviting, stimulating, and polishing. A desire imposed through normative environments can drive an individual further away from oneself. On the other hand, a curious desire can act as a driving force for change towards finding oneself and one’s community.
Sini Henttu’s practice moves on the cross-sections of video, installation and performance art. She is interested in bringing the body and other materials together and examining bodily experiences with various objects and by camera movements. As a neurodivergent artist, she is driven by a desire to learn to listen and follow the needs and impulses of her body. Henttu’s works have been on display at several exhibitions, and in 2024 her works can be seen for example in Design museum and Vaasa City Art Gallery. In addition, she has worked as part of a working group as a video and performing artist for example at Zodiak and Ateneum.
Thank you
<3 Sound design and recording: Pääsky Piikkilä
<3 Coding and technical support: Sofia Haapamäki
<3 Voice acting: Isa Lumme
The exhibition has been supported by the Kone Foundation and Finnish Art Society.
Contact information
sini.henttu(a)gmail.com
www.sinihenttu.com
