Vappu Jalonen

Distress Run

with Elis Hannikainen

B-galleria, Turku, 2019

 

I am a running body and that body's nurser. I suck from a flask, I suck energy gels, I suck from a tube that leads to a hydration bladder on my back. One time I kneel down by a wet rock and lick a spot between the moss.

Distress Run is based on the artists' experience of endurance sports, personal writing processes and their exchange. The work is centred on moving bodies located somewhere between ability and inability.

The bodies are exposed to norms, able to feel enjoyment, depressed and in need of support. In the work, long days spent skiing are an attempt to survive depression. The runner requires care and support, kinesio taping, massages, salt and energy gels in order to keep going and not fall apart. The bodies are entangled in perceptions of health, ability and gender.

In B-galleria Elis Hannikainen and Vappu Jalonen presented an installation, a performance and a video work based on it.

Camera for video work: Camille Auer