2018 MAY–JUN
Laura Väinölä & Ezra Gould
Detail from Satu Maaranen presentation / Paris Fashion Week: Creative Direction by Laura Väinölä and Satu Maaranen. Photo: Ville Varumo.
Laura Väinölä and Ezra Gould are FCINY’s artists-in-residence from May to June 2018
Laura Väinölä, Altar of Attraction, installation, Flow Festival 2017. Photo: Lina Jelanski.
Laura Väinölä, the Young Designer of the Year 2016 in Finland, works with spatial installations and creative direction. Under the name Flora & Laura, Väinölä engages with a broad variety of clients and collaborators to design events and experiences in which plants and flowers play a central role.
"Even though my work is highly visual and involves tangible objects, it is still the idea, story, or perhaps a specific need within a space, that forms the foundation for the work process. These aspects determine the physical outcome of each project."
During the two-month residency, Väinölä will be collaborating with director, composer and sound designer Ezra Gould. Their project contemplates humans’ relationship with nature through an installation comprising of moving image, sound, objects and taste.
“Preparing for the project, we have studied the relationship between human and nature through historic behavior, as well as shamanism, and reflected our findings on the urban society that we live in. We’ve kept interest in rituals that work as pathways between humans and nature. We aim to create our own rituals and to share them with others.”
Still from Levels (Stream Fast, Die Young) by Gracias. Directed by Ezra Gould.
Väinölä and Gould are aware that researching contemporary humans’ connection to nature in New York might sound absurd. “At the same time it makes sense, since more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas. We want to see how New York’s history and culture will influence and shape up our project.”
Väinölä and Gould’s installation will take place at Triangle Arts Association in Dumbo in the beginning of June 2018.
Garden of Eden, 2017. Choreography and concept by Ima Iduozee. Costume design and flowers by Laura Väinölä. Film by Ezra Gould.