durational performance with Juha Tuominen: 2 hours
"New Performance Turku"; Theatre Bridge; Turku, Finland. 2012
A Finnish folk saying goes, ’Being in love is like feeling the sun from both sides’.
Having gathered real-life love stories from the citizens of Turku, a local actor, Juha Tuominen, and I committed them all to memory. Juha learned the ones submitted in Finnish, and I the ones in English.
The next day, Juha and I - standing between two sunlamps and under the bright summer sun - simultaneously whispered into the ears of passersby the stories we had memorized: Finnish in one ear and English in the other.
Each participant is bombarded with two different and equally captivating true love stories in each ear, whilst being roasted by the "suns" from all sides.
photos by: Marina Widén
photo above:
"When I saw her holding our friend’s newborn, I suddenly and desperately wanted to have a baby with her. I told her my feelings and it turned out she thought we were just friends." / "Rakatumiseen johti toisen ihmisen vilpittomyys ja pyytettomyys..."
"...a small and beautiful Arab man. I learned that he had robbed a bank, and had been in prison, but I didn’t care." / "...pienissa arkisissa asioissa ja muissa ihmisissa."
"...I could not take him home so we would meet at the refugee camp which was a disused mental hospital in the forest..." / "...pyytettomyys seka kyky mahda kauneutta..."
"I was crazy in love with her, but this small voice of reason inside me told me to say no. We never saw each other again and I have never felt whole again." / "Yhtakkia huomasin olevani tilanteesa, jossa toisen seurasta ei halunnut luopua..."
"He suddenly blurted out, ’I love you’. Even though I had a small crush on him, I was totally in love with this other guy." / "...hetkeksikaan. Huomasin olevani rakastunut..."
"I wanted to understand her better, so I started learning Spanish and went to Mexico as an exchange student. Eventually I moved to Costa Rica, but we never even..." / "...vasta kun yhtakkia olimme koko ajan yhdessa."
"One drunken night years later, he confessed that he had been celibate since he met me because..." / "Rakastumista edelsi kieltamatta toisen osapuolen sinnikas puritys..."