Tuure Leppänen

Warm Echoes

Made in collaboration with Josefine Ehs, Warm Echoes was a one-morning exhibition held in the summer of -24 in the bathhouse section of the culture space Sargfabrik, Vienna. The bathhouse is a semi-exclusive space located in the basement of the building, mostly accessible to the spaces’ sauna club members. The bathhouse features a sauna, a pool, a cold-water bath, foot baths and a jacuzzi. Moreover, a round room stands out from the middle of the space. The diameter of the room is precisely two times Josefine’s height, it has a steady temperature of 36 degrees Celsius and is noticeably humid. Its walls are slanted and tiled and a single skylight lights up the room from the middle, where the light evenly decays towards the room’s edges.

The space was accessed early in the morning after a baby-swim session when the bathhouse was at its quietest. The works were smuggled in inside tote bags, being small enough not to attract attention. The room necessitated no traces of the exhibition were left. Works were hung on the walls with water–kicking off a race against time as the warm walls started shedding off the pieces of paper. Having been photographed with cell phones, the falling papers marked the natural end of the show, first guests meanwhile arriving at the bathhouse as well. In and out quickly–all within an hour or so.