Siphon — Tuomas A. Laitinen

Siphon , a multimedia installation created by Helsinki-based artist Tuomas A. Laitinen, draws on more than a decade of research in octopus intelligence, sleep, and consciousness.

Developed in collaboration with neuroscientist Sam Reiter of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and produced with guidance and support by PALO, the exhibition centers on a multichannel, titular video work that ensconces viewers within kaleidoscopic, 8K imagery of the shifting camouflage patterns, skin textures, and colors of octopuses. The immersive video, which includes both original footage and recordings by OIST of octopus sleep patterns, depicts the cephalopod’s distinct shapeshifting habits as they progress between rest and transformation. Scaled dramatically and edited into a continuous visual landscape, it captures multiple octopus bodies merging into a single undulating, painterly terrain. As Laitinen describes it, the work is intended to be experienced not only visually but physically, something viewers "feel in the body."

At the center of the exhibition, water-filled tanks contain tubular, blown-glass sculptures, conceived by the artist as speculative proposals for octopuses. These sculptural forms are activated through site-specific arrangements by renowned 86-year-old Japanese ikebana master Kosen Ohtsubo, whose experimental compositions create an unexpected dialogue between marine biology, contemporary sculpture, and centuries-old floral traditions. Beyond the gallery confines, a “tentacular” spatial audio installation, titled 8Eternal , spills across the three-storied Main Hall of Pioneer Works. Intended to evoke the eight arms of an octopus, the work incorporates vocals by Kenyan composer Nyokabi Kariuki and is structured around an eight-note "octachord." Using advanced directional audio technology, eight ultrasonic speakers positioned throughout the space emit highly concentrated beams of sound rather than broadcasting uniformly through the room, creating the effect of creeping tentacles of sound. As visitors move through the installation, they encounter shifting fragments of the composition that appear and disappear according to their position in the installation.

More than ten years in development, Siphon began with Laitinen's investigation of the mythologies and geopolitics of copper, the conductive element that powers modern technological infrastructure. This research led the artist to explore circulatory systems across biological and technological scales, ultimately revealing an unexpected connection: octopuses rely on copper-based blood chemistry to efficiently transport oxygen in deep-ocean environments. From this discovery emerged a broader artistic inquiry into the octopus's decentralized nervous system, distributed intelligence, and unique sensory capacities, and led Laitinento connect with researchers studying the octopus brain in Okinawa, Japan. The research and footage collected during this time was then refined and edited during Laitinen’s Visual Arts residency at Pioneer Works in the Fall of 2024, in collaboration with Florenz.

These investigations have become a lens through which Laitinen examines larger questions intoneuroscience, consciousness, philosophy, and ecological interconnectedness. Bringing together scientific research, contemporary art, and Japanese cultural traditions, Siphon invites audiences to consider what non-human forms of intelligence might reveal about perception, awareness, and our relationship to the natural world.