Abstract
“Song for the Unknown” is inspired by L’Inconnue de la Seine, the death mask of a young unidentified woman who lived in the late 19th century. The story tells that she was found drowned in the river Seine with a smile on her face. Her death mask became a popular fixture on the walls of artists’ homes and has inspired numerous literary works. Later the mask was used for the head of the first aid mannequin Resusci Anne. For this reason, she is also referred to as the most kissed woman in the world.
Her face and beauty has captivated numerous people throughout the years, however, nobody knows her story. She is mute. “Song for the Unknown” is an attempt to study poetic language as a means to communicate and to reach out to otherness. The installation is a part of Heta Kaisto’s Doctor of Art research, where she studies Maurice Blanchot’s demand of language — its calling-into-question. When language reveals it’s silence and ambiguity it reminds us of its impossibility, its madness and its ambivalence.
Her face and beauty has captivated numerous people throughout the years, however, nobody knows her story. She is mute. “Song for the Unknown” is an attempt to study poetic language as a means to communicate and to reach out to otherness. The installation is a part of Heta Kaisto’s Doctor of Art research, where she studies Maurice Blanchot’s demand of language — its calling-into-question. When language reveals it’s silence and ambiguity it reminds us of its impossibility, its madness and its ambivalence.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Helsinki |
| Publisher | MUU ry |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Feb 2021 |
| MoE publication type | F2 Partial implementation of a work of art or performance |
| Event | Song for the Unknown - MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre, Helsinki, Finland Duration: 7 Feb 2021 → 28 Feb 2021 |
Field of art
- Contemporary art
- Performance