The Golden Blessing

The Golden Blessing – Golden Pomp, Sanctuary of Splendour is a celebration of the physical, a charmingly eccentric toilet where the sublime meets the human and winks at the viewer. With Aukko looming in the background, the space is golden from floor to ceiling. Can the sacred flow upward?

In June 2025, the portaloo outside Helsinki’s Lasipalatsi was draped in gold. The picture on the left shows the interior of the toilet, while the image on the right presents its exterior illuminated at night.

At its heart is a fully functional portaloo, clad in gold and transformed into an artistic space. An everyday toilet becomes a stage on which cultural meanings related to shame, physicality, and humour are revealed in a new light.

Materials: portable toilet, gold foil, lighting
Location: outdoor public space

Kun hän kuuli lumen
hiljaa lankeavan maailmankaikkeuden läpi

As he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe

Composition, costumes,
stage design: Iris Bernoulli
Pianist: Anna Kuvaja
Soprano: Tuuli Lindeberg
Mezzo-soprano: Inga Sauranen
Tenor: Aarne Mansikka

Quotation from The Dead by James Joyce, translated into Finnish by Pentti Saarikoski

Qualities of Light I–III

Visual score for a singer.

Photograph

The Golden Blessing

Kun hän kuuli lumenhiljaa lankeavan maailmankaikkeuden läpi

Qualities of Light I–III

Kun hän kuuli lumen
hiljaa lankeavan maailmankaikkeuden läpi