A Third of Life / Concéntrico 11

The first iteration of ”A Third of Life” – a participatory garden installation and ritual – took place at the 11th edition of Concéntrico, Spain. The project was accompanied by a booklet outlining the concept and working as a guide to recreate the ritual anywhere.

 

A Third of Life is a travelling temple, in Logroño set in a secret garden planted and designed in the rooms of a derelict, roofless townhouse. The temple has a two-fold function: 1) locally, to establish a permanent, drought-resistant garden for local human and non-human residents in the historical centre of the city, which suffers from heat-island phenomenon; 2) to act as a stage for the travelling incubation temple, which aims to overcome the political polarisation and detachment from natural entanglements through a ritual of shared sleep and dreams.

Sleeping overnight in a group and discussing the dreams in the morning takes inspiration from the institution of asklepieia of ancient Greco-Roman world, the revolutionary Surrealist movements of the early 20th century and the philosophy of co-creation. The ritual establishes a shared space, where strict and habitual ideological positions are replaced by new solutions arising from collective and intersubjective subconsciousness. These solutions are needed in a world where the climate crisis forces us to act together, but political polarisation and social and global divisions prevent effective action.

The ritual comprises of a guided progression through the planted and themed rooms of the house. Visitors walk through poppies and water, meditate on the iron heart of our Planet, feel the connection to Earth and soil, thank the Earthworm, and finally arrive into the collective sleeping and dreaming chamber planted with sleep-inducing herbs. A wish planting ritual, evening tea and a lullaby is followed by overnight's sleep. The morning starts with a cadavre exquis workshop and ends with an open discussion about previous night’s dreams.

A Third of Life is designed to travel to new locations, accompanied by a manual and all necessary ritual objects. Each place and cultural environment provides the ritual the soil from which shared dreaming springs.

Credits:

Artistic concept and direction, curation: Patrik Söderlund (IC-98)

Architectural concept, artistic direction, garden design: Maiju Suomi & Elina Koivisto (Suomi/Koivisto Arch.)

Artistic advisor: Visa Suonpää (ic-98)

Wall hangings: Patrik Söderlund (design), Ilona Lehmusjärvi (realisation)

Ceramics: Alejandra Vera & Juan Sebastian Ruiz

Statuettes: Andrei Bakharev

Lullaby: Henriikka Tavi (words), Tiina Myllärinen (music)

Lullaby translation (FI-EN): Henriikka Tavi

Singer: Meeri Pulakka

Gardeners: Javier Pastor

Enactment of ritual: Luca Ramonda Sáenz & Miguel Carrera Juaneda  / Asociación Teatral On&Off

 

Publication:

Editor, texts, illustrations, graphic design: Patrik Söderlund

Herb vignettes: Elina Koivisto

Translation (EN-ES): Toni Ledentsa

Lullaby translation (EN-ES): Luca Ramonda Sáenz

 

Support:

Concéntrico, The Finnish Cultural Institute in Madrid as part of the pARTir initiative funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU, Niilo Helander Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Asko Foundation, Frame Finland, Finlayson

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