Mikko Niemistö: Glass Eyes

Glass Eyes delves into imagery referencing healthcare, mortality and exorcism, often obscuring who and what acts as the initiator of movement. Drawing inspiration from a time before and beyond the dominance of Western medicine, Glass Eyes channels the sterility of hospitals alongside traditional healing practices and spells.

By opening portals to mysticism, Glass Eyes challenges the idea of the human body as something solely explainable through science. Its corporeality shifts between the clinical detachment of the medical gaze and surreal, dreamlike states. At times, the piece ventures into the imagery of popular culture and horror films, with the performers moving as if possessed – manipulated by unseen forces and one another.

Visually, Glass Eyes transforms the stage into a mash-up of an anatomical theatre and a ritual site. Sofia Palillo’s spatial and lighting design, with its use of glass elements, conjures images of laboratory equipment, organic fluids and fragmented body parts. Siru Kosonen’s costume design interacts with the space and highlights the materiality of the performing bodies. On stage, performers Marika Peura and Mikko Niemistö join musician Elias Riipinen, whose autopsy of the violin oscillates between symphonic reverence and raw, tearing noise.

Bios

Mikko Niemistö is a choreographer and performer based in Helsinki, Finland. In his works, Niemistö explores the formulation of the self through silent knowledge and accumulations of bodily memories. His interests lie in the shattered realities of contemporary culture and things that linger in the background, like noise and the flow of consciousness. He currently focuses on the shadow zones of everyday reality, like dreaming, protesting and the supernatural. Niemistö's works have been shown at e.g. Zodiak (FI), Moving in November festival (FI), Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (FI) Inkonst (SE), far° festival (CH), CCN de Caen (FR) and ImPulsTanz festival (AT). Niemistö graduated as a Master of Fine Arts in Choreography from Stockholm University of the Arts in 2017.

Marika Peura is a dance artist based in Helsinki. She works interdisciplinarily in the fields of dance and contemporary performance art, working particularly from the emotionality, poetics, and politics that emerge from the experiential nature of the body. Peura graduated from the master's program in choreography at the University of the Arts Helsinki's Theatre Academy in 2020.

Elias Riipinen is a Finnish-Italian violinist, composer and music maker. He performs as Elia Lombardini in his solo practice, and in addition to the musical context, he works in a variety of production contexts, including film, visual and performing arts. In addition to music, Elias spends his time working on sound engineering and self-built instruments/equipment.

Sofia Palillo is a Helsinki-based visual designer who is inspired by spaces, atmospheres and landscapes. She works as a lighting and spatial designer in the field of performing arts. Palillo graduated from the University of the Arts Theatre Academy in 2020 with a degree in Lighting Design. She enjoys an egalitarian working atmosphere, courage and community spirit. 

Siru Kosonen is a Helsinki-based performance and visual artist. She works in a recycled-sorted way, relying on her intuition, focusing on the exploration of embodiment and the eternal play of material possibilities.