Spruce as Phoenix

Lauri Lest’s spatial and sound installation Spruce as a Phoenix is one of the most poetic pieces in this exhibition. The artist takes broken and unused instruments and breathes new, electronic life into them for the show. Lest, whose work bridges music and installation art, often uses abandoned materials. Within the context of this exhibition, the concept of giving something a new life is highly significant. Both people and objects change, and being useless – or feeling useless – does not have to signify an end. On the contrary, anything and anyone can have a purpose.

Lest drew inspiration for his work from the acoustic properties of spruce, a material often used in the construction of musical instruments. The instruments in this exhibition have lived out their first life, but Lest revives them using vibration speakers and technology. These vibration speakers amplify the sound of the objects to which they are attached. The exhibition also includes other works where one can sense that the figures and characters they depict have built an impressive resonant chamber in their minds – a space where multiple voices resonate simultaneously, amplifying each other for better or worse.