Teo Ala-Ruona: Etiological Hydro Disruption Report (EHDR)
Image: Joey Holder
Tap water not only breaks the boundary between home and public space, but also the internal and external borders of the body. The audio play Etiological Hydro Disruption Report (EHDR) by Teo Ala-Ruona, originally from Kuopio, explores the intimate politics of drinking water.
EHDR connects the body to the water cycle, in which oil residues filter from lakes into groundwater and pass through purification processes all the way to our taps. The audio play travels with the oil as it transforms from an ancient seawater-infused liquid hidden deep within the earth into solid microplastic found all over the globe. It carries the listener alongside a creature floating in a womb seeping with plastic particles, out into a world where a range of biological definitions await it.
The refining of crude oil begins when it is separated from other materials in the soil. In the audio play, this process is juxtaposed to the way science categorizes human bodies according to a binary concept of gender. What happens if the newborn being challenges this division from the very moment of birth?
The work continues Ala-Ruona’s long-term artistic research into the connections between trans bodies and ecological discourses. He critically examines scientific claims that suggest petrochemical residues in water systems influence the origins of transgender identity.
Footnotes
Read Teo Ala-Ruona’s Footnotes text framing the work and some of its themes here.
Credits
Concept and text: Teo Ala-Ruona
Sound designer: Tuukka Haapakorpi
Artistic dialogue: Charlie Laban Trier
Sound actors: Jyri Ala-Ruona, Teo Ala-Ruona, Tuukka Haapakorpi, Heta Heikkala
Artistic mentoring: Simona Castricum
Proofreading of the text: Shelley Etkin
Production: ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival, C.U.T.S. (by Ruby Nilsson), i dolci, Teo Ala-Ruona
Residency: Bergen Kunsthall’s Live Studio
Supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Kone Foundation.
EHDR is part of Kuopio250 anniversary year programme and it has received production support of the anniversary year.
Waterways
Lilluminen is part of the multidisciplinary Vesireitit (Waterways) project, which features works exploring the mythical, ideological, and emotional dimensions of the waterways in eastern Finland. Vesireitit is curated by Riikka Thitz and produced by i dolci. More information about Vesireitit can be found here.
Listening sessions
ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival, Thu 11.9.2025 at 16:00 and Fri 12.9.2025 at 14:00
Location: Lecture hall SN 201, Snellmania, University of Eastern Finland. Yliopistonranta 8, 70210 Kuopio
Duration: 30 minutes
Language: English
Documentation photography: Akseli Muraja / ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival 2025