HIDDEN DIVERSITY - Dialogue between microscopic marine life and the world

Compressed Time is based on a sediment sample from the Baltic Sea bottom and the DNA material analysed from it. The sediment core will be used in the exhibition Hidden Archives at the Brinkkala Gallery in Turku from April to May 2024 to compose the piece, and the DNA score obtained from it will serve as a form for the performance. It is reportedly the first work composed by the Baltic Sea.

The performance is an underwater time, rhythm and history from droplet to ocean, from micro to macro, with a time span that stretches from the Ice Age to the present. The ticket sales from the performance will be donated to the nature conservation. 

Stepping through the first impression; Until now you never really seen the world you live in.

Several microalgae sink to the seabed as resting cells after blooming. Thus they can be found in sediment layers, and centuries-old buried cells have been resurrected in laboratory conditions. Analysing the DNA of microorganisms helps scientists to reconstruct the past and model the future.

The work reveals the invisible and unlocks the ghosts of cells; the underwater sediment core is a note, a score, a composition - a symphony of diversity. The sediment core is compressed time and contains more information than the annual rings of a tree. It is repetition, regeneration and time travel, where the nature of time becomes visible.

Compressed Time is a celebration of DNA and how everything is connected to everything: it turns the collective memory of the seafloor from the Baltic Sea into stage. The performance combines elements of contemporary dance and circus, light and sound art and contains hidden secrets.

Working Group

Collaborators

Fern Orchestra, Regional Dance Centre of Western Finland and Turku City Theatre