Collective tent sauna
Collective tent sauna
2024–2025
Tent sauna building and sauna event program
Master project, MFA in Art and Public Space at Oslo National Academy of the Arts
Structure and tent fabric: tree trunks (birch, maple, alder, pine, goat willow), willow tree branches, sisal fibre rope, recycled sauna tent fabric (Saunacube), wool blankets
Interior: sauna stove (Saunacube), old floorboards, wooden board floating in the river, planks from a cargo load, willow tree branches, a recycled broomstick and lashing straps.
~2,5 x 2,5 x 3,2 m
The sauna and its surroundings are intended to serve as a meeting place for joint gatherings. I sent an invitation to all students at our school, and together we created a program of various events that were organized during the graduation exhibition. The program included open sauna, topping out ceremony, reading of the beneficial 8 shapes essay, water walking performance, steam dreamer’s sauna ritual, as well as tea offering, storytelling and soundscapes.
The basis of my artistic practice is the reflection on an alternative lifestyle in cooperation with nature. The collective tent sauna is made of only essential materials, either borrowed from nature or recycled. A large part of the materials has been found by taking long and regular walks in Oslo, such as willow tree branches and old floorboards. The structure was put up and down and sauna benches and chair were built with the help of friends.
Program hosts besides myself: Sigrid Vesaas, Piotr Chrzanowski, Elina Merilä, Marie Cole, Marea Vigesaa and Liselli Grunwald
Donators: Saunacube (used tent sauna fabric), Tøyenbadet (lost and forgotten towels)
Exhibited at:
BLI NOE ANNET, graduation exhibition 2025, MFA in Medium and Material Based Art and MFA in Art and Public Space, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, 6.-15.6.2025
Featured in:
Vallevik Borg, M., ‘Kritikk: Reisebrev fra Oslos avgangsutstillinger’, Billedkunst, Nr. 3, 2025, pp. 296-303.
Mersland Ørnevik, A. (Host), ‘Mimmi Koponen. Artist.’
Sauna Ritual
I worked on the tent sauna project for a year. The first version of the sauna was the Sauna Ritual installation, which I made inside a gallery space. I assembled a frame of a “stove” from bricks. I collected from the river round sauna stones under which was an orange spotlight, a diffuser with a smoke sauna scent, and a speaker that played the sounds of the stove that I had recorded. I guided a ritual in the installation, which included the elements of sauna bathing, such as s whipping with a birch whisk and cooling down.
Exhibited at:
Tree Witches: collective rituals, Liselli Grunwald, Marie Cole and Mimmi Koponen, Galleri Seilduken 2, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, 3.-5.10.2024