Laura Jantunen

At the Saari Residence, I will continue my work on the Idiot Gardener project that goes back several years.  Idiot Gardener is a foolish character created in 2022 and a series of performances in which I examine various green spaces and create dance performances based on my interpretation of them. For previous performances in this series, I have explored the physicality of the old-growth forest near the Mustarinda Residency in Hyrynsalmi, Finland, and the forests and gardens of the Korso region in Vantaa, Finland. This time I am focusing my research on the gardens of the Saari Residence and the forests nearby. The character of the Idiot Gardener takes the audience from one extreme to another: from doing one’s best to failing, from hope to hopelessness, and from appreciating the miracle of growth to conscious destruction. The Gardener represents not only doing one’s best, but also the will to embrace nature, the hope it brings and pausing to enjoy the miracle of growth. The Idiot reflects everything we fail at, things we could do better, or things we have no awareness of at all. The character of the fool allows movement between the two, acceptance of imperfections and laughter at oneself and others.

When working with the Idiot Gardener, I try to capture the essence of the gardens and forests I explore inside my body. As a choreographer, I observe how the green spaces in question are organised in the space and ponder their timelines. The aim of the series is to explore how the effects of environmental change are reflected in the surrounding environment. I want to find out the kind of values that are behind the way the spaces are looked after and what is at the core of the relationship between the particular patch of nature and the people taking care of it. Without time- and location-bound know-how, this would be impossible, which is why I include discussions with gardeners and foresters in my work.

Laura Jantunen is a multidisciplinary artist, choreographer, performer and textile artist. In her choreographies, she explores ever-morphing strangeness and not knowing as an experiential space that unfolds through intimacy. At the heart of Jantunen’s work is always the human being as a sensual being and a part of nature. Alongside her artistic works, Jantunen is developing her somatic-phenomenological business practice, Somagics. Jantunen graduated from Uniarts Helsinki with a Master’s degree in choreography in 2023 and completed her dance studies at the North Karelia Vocational College Outokumpu in 2011.