Rainmaking Event

Applause after a concert often sounds like rain. The work celebrates sounds of rain with a participatory piece Vettä, räntää ja lunta (Rain, Sleet and Snow) composed by Tytti Arola. It consists of three movements; each dedicated to a different kind of downpour. The piece can be performed as a solo or by a group of people. Each performer wears a pair of gloves listed in the partition. At the closing event of the exhibition on April 5th, 2020, Vettä, räntää ja lunta was to be played by a local group of performers at the Beaconsfield Arch Space but the coronavirus outbreak prevented the concert from happening.

The work can also be exhibited as a silent installation which includes three music stands with gloves (made of nitrile, leather or wool) and stopwatches attached to the stands. The instrumentation of the piece is displayed on the stands flanked by cyanotype contact prints of rain.

The idea to generate “rain” by clapping hands together was conceived to create a spinoff from the Wing Beats sound installation (2019), the first collaboration between Arola and Närhinen.