Nose Ears Eyes, 2016

Pia Lindman
1965, Espoo, Finland. Lives in Fagervik, Finland

In her projects, Pia Lindman makes use of native methodologies and traditional knowledge. When investigating alternative modes of acting that overcome rigid patterns of knowledge, the artist seeks to rethink the conventions of behavior regarding how we feel, live, study or heal ourselves. Nose Ears Eyes (2016) shows the active relationship between different beings in a multisensory environment. The work is based on the Finnish Kalevala, an ongoing oral tradition, first recorded in the middle ages, but gathered into a cohesive epic in the nineteenth century. Kalevala brings together songs and popular myths, whose section on medicinals impart the knowledge of centuries-old practices of rural communities, including different healing techniques. At the 32nd Bienal, Lindman will give visitors a treatment focused on joints and bones while proposing that therapy be a collaboration between bodies and minds. The flow of energy is also present in the colors and shapes of the drawings in China ink and pastels based on the images appearing to the artist during the treatment. The potential for new relationships is expanded to the space thanks to the construction of a mud hut in bamboo and clay that literally branches out to a tree in the park and other floors of the Bienal Pavilion. By paving the way for real and imaginary circulation, the artist challenges our senses and ideas of reality beyond what is accepted or expected.