We’re like one place
Online bedtime story service
We’re like one place is an online bedtime story service created by artists Katriina Kettunen and Olga Spyropoulou. This one-on-one performance offers a soothing experience of bedtime reading and the chance to be in the company of another person without feeling any stress to hold a conversation.
Each audience member selects the time and the book that best suits them. At the assigned time, each participant receives a video call from the performer who reads them a chapter from the book aloud. The duration of the call is about 30 minutes.
We’re like one place explores how intimacy and presence transform and manifest through new media. The performance delves into the loneliness that derives from not being able to share a physical space with another. As over a third of Finnish homes are single-person households, the performance offers a virtual space as a meeting point.
2020
The first iteration of the performance took place on the 21st, 28th and 29th of May 2020 during the Uniarts’ Feel Helsinki festival, and a state of emergency imposed by the Finnish government due to COVID-19.
2021
The second iteration of the performance took place April 2-5, 2021 with two additional performers, Diana Soria Hernandez and Lehmus Murtomaa. The performance was realized in collaboration with Catalysti ry and Uniarts Helsinki, with support from the City of Helsinki and Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
The third iteration of We’re like one place was featured in Vantaa Art Museum Artsi and Uniarts’ exhibition The Posture of Impermanence. The performance took place on Nov 25 and Dec 4 and was realized by Olga Spyropoulou and Katriina Kettunen.
Cover image: Olga Spyropoulou
Our participants said:
"The experience was very pure and natural (somehow bedtime reading seems to be one the most natural of all childhood acts) and delightful."
"I was surprised how simple and ordinary activity can feel so... close, in a way."
“Iltasatuhetki oli intiimi olematta kiusallinen.”
“Tunne oli kuin pienessä, intiimissä teatterissa, jossa sai olla mukana vaikuttavassa ja tunteisiin menevässä monologissa.”
“Oli niin kiva olla kerrankin se, jolle luetaan ️<3 Nukuin tosi hyvin, kiitos!”
"I like your project because of its intelligent use of the nowadays situation: not “limited to” but “inspired by” online contacting."