Burden is a multi-channel video installation consisting of four videos and Icelandic lava rock. The work tells about the burden caused by society and how to let go of it. Society is a multi-threaded continuum, where the views, knowledge and skills we adopt have been passed down from one generation to another for hundreds of years. The internal models we learn can be in conflict with the self and difficult to get rid of. This conflict is like a heavy stone that is carried along consciously or unconsciously. The traumas of society, gender concepts, sexual identities or whatever the bearer feels as a burden make the life path more difficult. Some learn to accept them, some don’t. What happens when you let go?

The installation’s three-channel video tells about the journey of three people on the path of life and how the burden affects it. Although all three follow the same route, the impact of the burden is different. The work has been filmed in Iceland, e.g. on a glacier, a mountain landscape and a volcanic sandy beach. The soundscape of the work is inspired by Iceland’s harsh but beautiful nature. It is a mythological lullaby that lulls the listener. It combines motherly warmth, a plea for help and a lament and it whispers in the listener’s ear like a divine mother being.

The one-channel video work of the installation tells about the power of the burden. It paralyzes breathing, wraps itself around the victim like a strangling snake. In the video work, the burden has gained almost complete power over its victim, but the will to live and the will to fight can be seen in the gaze of the main character. He is looking for help and refuses to give up. Finally, he confronts the viewer and asks for help.

The installation is supported by the lava stone appearing in the videos, which is placed in the center of the space. The red bands wrapped in the stone are like roots that spread through the space and reflect how the burden is present everywhere in all forms.

The work was realized in Iceland with the support of the Etelä-Savo fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.