Ari-Pekka Leinonen is a Finnish artist whose current projects include performative sound art installations, carpentry, and exploring the interactions between sound systems, moving bodies and sonic storytelling. From October to December, Ari-Pekka will live and work in the spaces of Art Quarter Budapest (aqb), an independent and international art centre in the Budafok neighbourhood. The residency is arranged through the pARTir project, a collaboration among Finnish cultural institutes designed to promote sustainable and long-term internationalisation of the arts.

This fall FinnAgora visited aqb, and spoke to Ari-Pekka about listening in all senses of the word.

How did sound become the tool you work with most?

I became interested in experimental music during my bachelor studies. I studied audiovisual media culture at the University of Lapland's Faculty of Arts, where my interest in sound was sparked by a good sound studio and friends interested in experimental music. While finishing my Bachelor's studies, I applied to what was then the University of Art and Design, now Aalto University's Master's programme "Sound in New Media". There, sound was widely explored as an interactive medium, and we were free to create our own interests. Towards the end of my studies, I did a two-year internship as an assistant to Chilean sound artist Ariel Bustamante. Working closely with him pushed me into independent artistry.

What do you think have been the most important themes in your art?

I have called my artistic work the art of listening. It lies somewhere between experimental music and visual art, and I navigate between these using different, context-dependent ways of working, yet always through listening. To me, listening is a process where we don't know in advance what we will hear. What we hear right now is constantly being overtaken by the next thing, and what we just heard is already disappearing and we are left with a memory of it, which can be very faint and distorted. This idea informs how I approach my subjects, and it is reflected in my work since the very process of producing art involves a constant state of transformation where preconceptions of the outcome also change.

Different ways of listening for me have for example been listening through the heart, listening to memories, and embodied listening. Now I'm working on the idea of giving through listening. While these may seem like quite loose terms, speculative terms enable a certain playfulness, and can also be used to explore very specific and societal issues. It allows for storytelling freedom.

Your work also touches on political issues. Do you see art as a tool for social and political change, or is it something else?

At the moment I feel that there is no such thing as being apolitical. Our beliefs and ideas are always reflected in our work, because their application in artistic work affects choices that we make. But how visibly they are presented depends on each artist. Personally, I try to give symbols, clues, and ideas, but I don't feel that they are the final conclusion. I try to leave room for interpretation. I wouldn't want art to be just a decoration or to serve only one idea. I think there has to be a crack in it that makes us think in slightly different ways. It is very important that artists are allowed to express themselves politically without censorship or having grants taken away. On the other hand, it is also admirable when artists – or people generally – have the courage to risk their livelihood for exercising freedom of expression. Especially if you have only yourself to support. We must try to maintain integrity and artistic freedom.

During your career you have worked in many different places: not only in Finland, but also in Brussels, Athens and now Budapest. What is it about working internationally that appeals to you?

It has been quite natural for me. I feel that my generation has grown up with the idea that there are no borders. It's just been quite easy to go travelling when Europe is a single area to work in, and when there are so many open applications and opportunities for artists on the internet. In these applications, I usually express my own ideas and what I want to do, rather than think beforehand about whether people will like it or not. The idea is to try it out!

What might you not have learned if you had stayed in Finland?

I've learned that you shouldn't assume anything. What happens in place A may not happen in place B. Every day you have to put your own assumptions aside and listen. Every person and nation comes from a different starting point. There are different social classes, different histories, different structures from which individuals are filtered as they approach each other. When we meet, we should be prepared to listen to each other's ideas and to look at ourselves and our own agency from many different angles. It’s a constant transformation. Recently I have also realised that I have not built my own headquarters or castle in one place, but more like a caravan. This has changed the way I look at the world: you have to be flexible and ready for change.

What made you interested in applying for a residency specifically in Budapest?

I needed a place and time to work. I feel that residencies are good places to stop in between moving moments and bring together past experiences to create new works and new ideas. Budapest was a complete mystery to me, so I thought that in three months I might be able to get more than a glimpse of the city. The city you are in will always influence the final work, and I look forward to seeing how this city will influence mine.

How do you think Budapest as a city will influence your process and artworks?

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the Danube. It's a huge river that connects many countries and runs from Central Europe to the Black Sea. When I arrived here, the Danube had caused dramatic floods in Central Europe. Here, too, preparations for disaster were made. This was an extraordinary starting point: I came to a place where there is already a force so great that we humans are powerless to stop it. And I wouldn't separate the city from nature. The man-made environment is part of nature, since we have affected nature so much. So, the human impact on the environment as a whole is what will have a huge impact on my process.

What are you most looking forward to about your residency at aqb?

I've been dreaming for a long time to spend some time in one place, and to revisit my artwork eli-gi-eli. I want to do more artistic research and produce a new piece of sound art based on ele-gi-eli. And regarding material resources, they are always crucial to be able to create. Working artistically requires materials, time and space to experiment. If I didn't have those, I wouldn't be able to work at the level I can now.

 

Who: Ari-Pekka Leinonen

Place of residence: Helsinki, this fall in residency at Art Quarter Budapest

Occupation: Artist 

Education: Master of Arts

Hobbies: Swimming, walking

What artwork should everyone experience: The productions of the Belgradian gallery Remont, archives available at the gallery’s website.

 

You can check out the previous work of Ari-Pekka Leinonen on his website, or follow him on instagram @amigoismyfriend.

Read more about Art Quarter Budapest here, and about the pARTir project here.

Text: Cecilia Fewster