Downwelling Starlight

Pitted Dates 16.9.-29.10.2023, open by appointment.

Commissioned poem to accompany works by Shia Conlon, Liina Aalto-Setälä & Elina Vainio.

Full documentation at O FLUXO.

A squid can recognise itself in the mirror
But tonight it is standing in for one of us.

Vibrio fischeri, love—
Your acid sugar in exchange for good lighting.
Teeming bacteria in your mantle cavity
Each a luminous speck, a dupe
Of the downwelling starlight.

Disbodied for safe passage
           This is old news.
           30 light years apart, my
                                   3 hearts fit to burst.

Poster for Downwelling Starlight exhibition at Pitted Dates. Lilac text on grey.

Poster for Downwelling Starlight exhibition at Pitted Dates. Lilac text on grey.

Downwelling Starlight (2023), poem as above. Lilac text on grey.

Downwelling Starlight (2023), poem as above. Lilac text on grey.

Elina Vainio, Amass (2023), installation view. Dyed and dipped beeswax, squid-like, a compact head with long slender tentacles below. Image: Sakari Tervo.

Elina Vainio, Amass (2023), installation view. Dyed and dipped beeswax, squid-like, a compact head with long slender tentacles below. Image: Sakari Tervo.

Downwelling Starlight (2023), installation view. Mirrored text on white industrial tile.

Downwelling Starlight (2023), installation view. Mirrored text on white industrial tile.

Pitted Dates: Downwelling Starlight, installation view. A kitchen area, appliances removed, artworks on walls and floor. Image: Sakari Tervo

Pitted Dates: Downwelling Starlight, installation view. A kitchen area, appliances removed, artworks on walls and floor. Image: Sakari Tervo