Tanja Tiekso

At the Saari Residence, I will work on my artistic research project and its three vocal performances that examine experimental composition, as well as the associated research article on silence. I will also work on my book of essays which will be published in February 2022 (Kustantamo S&S).

At the moment, I’m particularly interested in the possible histories of eco-feminist philosophy of art and the thinking related to it, especially the Renaissance concepts of the relationship between women and animals. I’m also fascinated by medieval bestiaries and herbariums, as well as by post-structural animal philosophies.

Both when writing and composing/listening, I explore the boundaries of knowledge. When writing, these boundaries are perceived in relation to things and beings seen and experienced, whereas when composing/listening, the search is directed towards internal experiences, the composer’s intent and what meaning composing can hold in general when human-centred thinking is abandoned.

Tanja Tiekso is a researcher and artist who specialises in the philosophy and techniques of experimental composition, as well as in avant-garde theory and history. Tiekso received her doctorate in experimental music from the University of Helsinki’s Musicology programme in 2013. She has a certificate in deep listening, a method developed by American composer Pauline Oliveros, from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY, USA, 2018). Tiekso has previously worked as a researcher at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and at Columbia University (NY, USA). Currently, she is a researcher at the Performing Arts Research Centre of Uniarts Helsinki’s Theatre Academy in a project funded by Kone Foundation, called Autiomaiden äänet: kokeellinen säveltäminen hiljaisuuden jälkeen(Desert Sounds: Experimental Composition after Silence, 2019–2022).