PIRJETTA BRANDER

1970 | Helsinki | sculpture
www.pirjettabrander.com

MENTAL BALANCE VARIANTS

The Polytechnic Choir introduces an army of clay bird-whistles to the art of achieving mental equilibrium.

When I first heard this piece of music composed for a male choir by Maija Hynninen, I immediately thought of my collection of clay bird-whistles. I have been collecting them for years without any specific intent in mind. As I listened to the music, I imagined the clay roosters marching along in rows and pairs, moving smoothly across a chessboard, dancing in a circle, and climbing up and down stairs, migrating from one mental state to another. The symbolic analogy between the male choir and the army of clay roosters was irresistible. The effect is heightened by excerpts from Encyclopedia, a poetic anthology by Janne Nummela.

MENTAL BALANCE VARIANTS 

Stop motion and 2D animation, 6 min, 2014

Pirjetta Brander

Music 

Maija Hynninen

Performed by

The Polytechic Choir

Conductor

Juha Kuivanen

Text

Janne Nummela

Direction, screenplay, animation, editing, set design

Pirjetta Brander

Camera, lights

Kati Åberg

Produced with support from

The Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation 

The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture / Elena Näsänen

Academy of Fine Arts

With thanks to

Ursula Mäki

Laura Palosaari

Harri Larjosto

The Distribution Centre for Finnish Media Art

Bird Productions

2014