O-Jee

Viirus Teater

November 2022

Spatial and lighting design for contemporary theatre performance.

Versailles is inspired by the Sun King Louis XIV’s court and it allows for the values of the elite from the beginning of the 18th century to collide with our time. In the piece co-directed by Jussi Sorjanen and Sinna Virtanen the working group mirrors their own societal pain points in the sun-kings’s golden splendor.

Direction: Jussi Sorjanen and Sinna Virtanen
Performance: Maria Ahlroth, Martin Bahne, Iida Kuningas, Oskar Pöysti, Jessica Raita
Spatial and lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Sound design: Tatu Nenonen
Costume design: Janette Laakso
Make-up and hair design: Ari Haapaniemi, Riikka Virtanen
Production: Mirkka Maikola
Images: Ernest Protasiewicz, Jenni Pystynen

Zodiak
September 2021

Spatial and lighting design for contemporary dance performance.

BS/BF has been inspired by Morten Andersen’s photobook BLÅ SKOG/BLUE FOREST which depicts blue tinted images of Norwegian forests. The atmosphere of those photographs evoked us to create a landscape of contemporary dance of its own right.

Choreography: Mira Kautto
Spatial and lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Music: Timo Kaukolampi
Dancers: Sara Gurevitsch, Anna Torkkel, Emmi Venna
Images: Sanni Siira

Enter Helsinki as part of Helsinki Festival

August 2019

Silent Sea installation pays tribute to the vastness and majesticity of the sea as well as its delicate ecosystem. The starting point for the site-specific work was the special space of Terminal 2 in West Harbour, its daylight conditions and magnificent view to the sea.

The wave that is built of light-reflecting parts has stopped in the middle of its movement and gently sways in the air. The space is filled with reflections of eternal light of sunshine and echoes of a soundscape from before the age of machines.

Visual design: Jenni Pystynen
Design consultation: Erno Pystynen
Sound design: Timo Kaukolampi
Curation: Marko Ahtisaari
Production: Helsinki Festival / Helsingin Juhlaviikot
Technical production: Sun Effects

Zodiak - Centre for New Dance

November 2019



Spatial and lighting design for contemporary dance performance.


Choreography and performance: Janina Rajakangas and Neil Callaghan
Spatial and lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Sound design and live music: Miki Brunou
Costume design: Piia Rinne
Production: Ulrika Vilke
Images: Sanni Siira

Kiasma Theatre
November 2018

Spatial and lighting design for contemporary dance performance.

Canary is a piece about the hypersensitivities in people which make living and participating in the urban, everyday life challenging. Like the canaries sent to mines, these people can sense harm in a different level compared to the “normal”.

The lighting and the space are working with the theme in using reflection as a symbol of this phenomenon and rendering the dancers in an environment where bodies of the performers are amplified just the lack of oxygen is on a canary.

Choreography: Janina Rajakangas
Spatial and lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Sound design: Miki Brunou
Dancers: Mira Kautto, Karolina Krakovska, Fred Gehrig, Kaisa Iho
Images: Sanni Siira

Zodiak Centre for New Dance
September 2018

Spatial and lighting design for contemporary dance performance.

What is heroism and can it manifest itself on a day-to-day level? The solo work by Anne Pajunen parallels the hero’s journey (a term coined by Joseph Campbell) to the metamorphic stages of a moth. The lighting design is an ode to the heroes in all of us and the 1980’s aesthetics that first introduced the concept to me.

Concept and performance: Anne Pajunen
Spatial and lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Direction: Sini Pesonen
Costume design: Suvi Matinaro
Images: Kristiina Männikkö

Southbank Centre
April 2018

Lighting design for contemporary dance performance.

Within this desolate landscape, counter-cultural identities crash and frolic with the classic filmic iconography of the American West.

Soon the swaggering strut of the archetypal cowboy begins to morph into a new language of movement.

As the performers question contemporary sexual politics and connect outlaws and outsiders everywhere, the desert becomes the dance floor.

Choreography: Holly Blakey
Music: Mica Levi
Costume design: Andreas Konthaler for Vivienne Westwood
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen                                                        
Dancers: Becky Namgauds, Chester Hayes, Eve Stainton, Grace Jabbari, Jonny Vieco, Naomi Weijand, Ted Rogers, Valerie Ebuwa
Production: Georgina Harper and Ben Totty
Images: Daniele Fummo

Cowpuncher is a Southbank Centre commission.

Zodiak Centre for New Dance
December 2017

Lighting design for contemporary dance performance.

A teenager is a combination of chaos and grace, of injustice and harmony. The performance gives power outside the generation that usually does most of the speaking in our society.

"We want you to cancel all this right now, and then do it better." 

The future of the young is the result of decisions made by earlier generations. They have been handed a world full of war and catastrophes to live in.

For one year, the workgroup of Teini (Teenager) suggested, adapted, pondered, observed, wrote, embodied, danced and built this performance. They assumed the position of the adults – and asked whether it has any meaning.

Choreography: Janina Rajakangas
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Sound design: Miki Brunou
Pukusuunnittelu: Kirsi Gum
Dancers: Ella Holappa, Mea Holappa, Kaisa Iho, Veera Kauppila, Petteri Rafols, Arina Tsinjonnaja, Roosa Törmä
Production: Ulrika Vilke
Images: Sanni Siira

National Museum of Finland
December 2017

Lighting design for permanent exhibition.

The exhibition told the story of the last hundred years of building the nation of Finland, marking the centenary of independence.

The different rooms marked chronologically significant milestones in the steps of the society forming to its current state from the civil war to establishing the welfare state.

Artistic direction: Juho Kuosmanen
Exhibition design: Kari Kankaanpää
Graphic design: Elina Warsta, Kasper Warsta
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Sound design: Viljami Lehtonen, Aki Päivärinne
Interaction design: Matti Niinimäki

Raasepori Castle
August 2017

Design for facade video projection together with Paula Lehtonen.

Light art piece for Raasepori Castle, commissioned by the Forestry Ministry (Metsähallitus) as the winning proposal for Lights on Raasepori lighting design competition.

The historical events of the castle, such as the golden era, battles and legends are reflected on the facade of the castle using projected light in the form of video.

Design and animation: Jenni Pystynen and Paula Lehtonen           Sound design and music composition: Miki Brunou
Production: Metsähallitus

Science Museum
June 2016

Lighting design for exhibition

Wounded: Conflict, Casualties and Care commemorates the centenary of the Battle of Somme and the huge medical and human impact of wounding during and beyond the First World War.

The visitors are taken through the gallery on a journey consisting of the interactive installation which is emulating the moment of wounding, followed by the chain of evacuation, returning home and the rehabilitation that the wounded would have required. The lighting is distinct for each part of the journey, simulating the light that would've existed in these different environments.

Exhibition design: Design Studio, Science Museum
Project management: Lorraine Ward, Charmaine Perrin
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Electrical contractor: SI Electrical
Fabrication: MER
Graphics: Echo House

Exhibition is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund and The Eranda Rothschild Foundation

Teatterikorkeakoulu
March 2017

Lighting design for contemporary dance performance.

Homage is the final artistic project of the dancers graduating to BA from Theatre Academy (Teak).

Homage investigates the embodiment of emotions, what we carry in our bodies, our own histories, the history of dance. It is a homage to those that gave us life, those that taught us, to lovers and haters. It is a suggestion for practicing an emotional body.

Choreography: Janina Rajakangas
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen                                                        
Sound design: Jouni Tauriainen
Costume design: Maria Sirén, Ingvill Fossheim
Dancers: Matilda Aaltonen, Ella Koikkalainen, Marika Peura, Aino Purhonen, Salla Rytövuori, Pauliina Sjöberg, Laura Sorvari, Anna Stenberg ja Jussi Suomalainen
Production: OPTE/Teak
Images: Sanni Siira

Sonja Jokiniemi
Dampfzentrale Bern
February 2016

Lighting design for performance art.

RRRRR is a solo by Sonja Jokiniemi investigating the schizophrenic aspect of our contemporary reality.

RRRRR is looking into hallucinatory, delusional and derailed structures used as choreographic starting points. This project moves somewhere between peripheral otherness, disembodied language, derailed threads of thoughts: virtual fantasy constructions, self-records, overlapping realities and confused truths.

Creation and performance: Sonja Jokiniemi
Set design and dramaturgy: Miguel Angel Melgares
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen                                                        
Sound design: Natalia Dominguez Rangel
Production: Riikka Thitz       

Janina Rajakangas Project
The Place, London

October 2015

Lighting and stage design for contemporary dance piece.

Dinosaur is a duet portraying the very human absurdity of a relationship between two people. 

Love is the dinosaur that we look at all over again, an ancient fossil whose authenticity is constantly re-interpreted. Dinosaur is not interested in the dramatisation of emotions, but in the search for true love.

Choreography: Janina Rajakangas                                                 
Performers: Karolina Kraczkowska and Robert Clark
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen                                                                                         
Music: Roberto Sassi, Benni Hemm Hemm, Amiina, Stars Of The Lid
Technical support with sound: Mishi Bekesi
Costume advice: Alex Watson                                                      

Dinosaur is commissioned by The Place. Supported by the Embassy of Finland, DanceEast, TripSpace and Greenwich Dance.

Disa Krosness company
February 2016

Lighting design for contemporary dance piece.

In a world of explained and intellectualised experience, Try Human longs for emotion and for a non-verbal bond between people – a bond from the inside out.

Try Human wants to relate through intuition and unravel a language that speaks directly to the viewer without having to be explained. It is the hope for communication through sensation, empathy and intimacy.

Choreography: Disa Krosness                                                
Performance: Emelie Wahlman, Elin Samuelsson & Moa Autio
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen                                          
Costume design: SaraLo Serra                                                    
Production: Alma Ericsson

With support from The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, The Swedish Arts Council & Stockholms Culture Administration. In collaboration with Danscentrum Stockholm

FIELD
January 2016

Lighting design for a kinetic sculpture.

Spectra-3 is a 3m tall sculpture surrounded by animated lights and spatialised sound. A mirror disc moving on two axes, Spectra-3 creates a choreography of movement, light and sound, and illuminates its surroundings with dancing reflections. Like a technological artefact from a different world, Spectra-3 celebrates humanity’s inexhaustible optimism to advance technology, all with the aim of understanding our place in the universe.

Premiering during Lumiere London at a King’s Cross location, Spectra-3 draws the audience into a mesmerising space, to experience light as message, matter and energy. Spectra-3 is the third piece in FIELD’s Spectra series of physical-digital sculptures that create sensory experiences with light, kinetics and sound.

Creative direction: Marcus Wendt
Project management: Maran Coates, Vera Glahn
Programming: Jonas Otto, David Li
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Sound design: Michael Fakesch
Fabrication: Studio Makecreate
Commission: Artichoke/Lumiere Festival

The Shard, London

December 2014

Lighting design and project management for temporary architectural lighting installation.

The lighting installation was commissioned by The Shard for the festive season 2014. A different show was created for every evening from 19th December till the NYE, which featured a lighting spectacle extraordinaire.

Powerful, moving searchlights in the spire provided a colour wash for the structure but were also able to reach out as narrow beams of light. The weather was on our side it being very humid so that moisture in the air revealed the search light beams beautifully. In addition to them, there were LED floodlights on each window of the spire and on some West facing interior floors that were used for the animated effects.

Design: Jason Bruges Studio                                                
Production: PRG                                                                              
Lighting sponsor: SGM
Show control and programming: dandelion & burdock, Flare Lighting                                          

Interactive installation
May 2014

Design to scheme design stage and project management of light based installation in Beijing.

The project was brought to Jason Bruges Studio by Foster+Partners who were the architects for this mixed use quarter in Beijing. The developers, Guo Rui, commissioned an exciting feature wall installation for the foyer of the main building.

After a long period of research we found the beautiful material properties of dichroic glass combined with animated lighting lent themselves to an aesthetic language of delicate beauty that suited the space well.  

The artwork consists of 92 nodes, built from clear and dichroic glass. The light sources are embedded in the wall and the beams are  directed onto the nodes using reflectors that pop through the wall surface like periscopes. The reflectors and node facets are carefully angled for the light to fall onto the wall surface through the node and to also reflect back, resulting as the two coloured light affect.

Client: Guo Rui development
Architect: Foster+Partners
Design: Jason Bruges Studio

Tartu Valgus Festival
October 2016

Site specific light installation

A - B (a.k.a. Struve's pride) is a site specific light installation for Tartu Observatory. The artwork celebrates the achievement of 19th century astronomer Friedrich George Struve who was able establish the exact shape and size of planet Earth. Struve conducted a series of geodetic triangulation measurements from Hammerfest in Norway to Staro-Nekrasivka in Ukraine, roughly following the 26° E longitude. He carried out most his survey in Tartu Observatory.

A - B renders visible that very line Struve was tracing, also called Struve's Arc. The installation draws a line of different colour for each country the Arc crosses over, recognising the remarkable political will and international collaboration required to do the work.

Designer: Jenni Pystynen
Structural design: Ben Tew
Curation: Karin Bachmann, Elo Kiivet
Festival director: Elo Liiv
Fabrication: JAA Disain
Production: Tartu Valgus

The work is kindly supported by Nordic Culture Point.

Science Museum
February 2017

Lighting design for art installation

Giles Walker's Last Supper is a weird and wonderful performance of animatronics where the characters engage in dark dialogue.

The lighting for the piece had to be modified from the original candle-lit scene to a more museum friendly solution. To keep the warm tone of the candles we chose to use old-school filament lamps, hanging down on wires. The use of electric lighting also allowed us to control the lighting and use it to support the performative nature of the installation.

Artist: Giles Walker
Exhibition design: Design Studio, Science Museum
Lighting design: Jenni Pystynen
Project management: Pippa Hough
 

Living Planet Centre
October 2014

Lighting design for WWF Experience zones.

The educational installation is divided into four zones by themes of Wildlife, Forest, Marine and Freshwater. As visitors step inside the structures an audiovisual sequence starts  and the experience is supported by the atmospheric, animated lighting. Located in WWF's new head office in Woking the installation aims to educate people about conservation and the valuable work the organisation does.

Commission: WWF
Design: Jason Bruges Studio
Build: Millimetre, Fulford Sound and Communication Services

Victoria & Albert Museum
December 2011

Lighting for Studio Roso’s Christmas Tree at Victoria & Albert Museum.

The Christmas tree is made from 3.3 miles of elastic cord and stands over four metres high. A total of 1500 individual strands were combined in groups of 10 to create the outline of a traditional Christmas Tree. 

The tree was built in collaboration with James Shearer of Small Projects.
Lighting: Jenni Pystynen
Build: Georgi, Els, Pierrick, Hania, Natalie, Lee and Studio Roso

Janina Rajakangas Project
February 2014

Lighting design for contemporary dance piece.

A piece about the familiar and the unknown. About people and something else that remains alongside humanity. Devised in a residency on the mountains in North of Norway.

Choreography and direction: Janina Rajakangas                                                 
Co-director: Neil Callaghan                                   
Lighting designer: Jenni Pystynen
Music: composed by Roberto Sassi and Leo Koivistolainen, design Roberto Sassi with Janina Rajakangas                                                     
Costume designer: Gabriela  Ibolya Gerdelics                                                      
Performers: Disa Krosness, Said Dakash, Janne Aspvik and Neil Callaghan

Of family and deer was produced as part of Wilderness residency.

English National Ballet
May 2013

Lighting design for English National Ballet's ground-breaking performance combining ballet with street dance.

Choreographers & Creative Directors: 
Marlon ‘Swoosh’ Wallen, Jenna Lee & Flawless

Music Director: Danilo ‘DJ’ Walde
Costume Design: Marlon ‘Swoosh’ Wallen, Jenna Lee & Wizzy Shawyer
Set Design: Marlon ‘Swoosh’ Wallen,& Jenna Lee
Projection Design: David Gardener
Lighting Design: Jenni Pystynen

Maija Nurmio & Co.
January 2015

Lighting and video projection design for contemporary dance performance

A piece of condolence for all the bereaved.
At the same time -  a celebration is in preparation.

Departures (Katoamisia) is an absurd, visually strong and dark solo dance piece, constructed of physical statements. It is investigating the means to deal with loss and the comfort of imagination.

The method for the visual design was to use projectors as unconventional light sources that could animate light, project textures as well as to use the performer as a canvas for the imagery.  

Choreography and dance: Maija Nurmio
Lighting and video designer: Jenni Pystynen
Costume designer: Kirsi Gum                                                      
Sound designer: Jouni Tauriainen

Katoamisia was produced in collaboration with Routa.

Channel 4
March 2013

Lighting for Easter Eggs Live television set.

The hatchery was specially built for Channel 4's Easter nature programme.  The inspiration for the set and lighting was drawn from science fiction and had not only to set the right kind of scene but also support the detailed filming.

Set design: Jason Bruges Studio and David Gardener
Production: Windfall Films
Images: David Gardener

Television advert
March 2012

Design, build and programming of the illuminated names for the BBC Radio 4's Listening project television ads.

The concept of people speaking on the Listening project represented as their three-dimensional names was originated by Karmarama and the design worked in collaboration with them.

Director: Giles Revell
Camera: Andy Taylor Smith
Art direction: Jason Bruges Studio and Chris Williams
Production: Red Bee Media

Aircraft Circus
June 2014

Performance created for Aircraft Circus’ Foundation Course end of term show. The concept for the visuality of the piece was to create a sense of mystery, the music acting as the main source of inspiration.

Performer: Jenni Pystynen
Music: Bat For Lashes - Glass
Lighting and projection: Jenni Pystynen
Photographs: Robin Boot Photography
At Hangar Arts Trust

Somerset House
December 2011 

Design, build and programming of Hemline installation for Fashion in Film Festival.

The work is a homage to Loie Fuller, a famous "skirt dancer" who was a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. The dancers skirt is created with volumetric projection onto water and as visitors enter the room where the installation is located the dancer starts her performance. 

Design and production: Jason Bruges Studio, David Gardener
Commission: Inga Fraser/ Fashion in Film Festival
Images: James Medcraft 

Yota Space
December 2011 

Installation design, build and programming for Yota Space media arts festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The installation consists of four consecutive transparent boxes filled with even haze. Video feed of the visitors is projected onto the containers and people can see their ghostly extruded figures appear like passersby in the old London smog.

Design and production: Jason Bruges Studio and David Gardener
Commission: Yota
Images: Laura Pannack