The Enabling Materialities of the Charcoal Suit: A Study of the Politicizing Capacities of Hanna Saarikoski’s Performance C

Abstract

<p>This article focuses on the artist Hanna Saarikoski’s performance C and the charcoal suit <br>that becomes a co-performer in this work. The title of the performance, C, is a symbol for the <br>chemical element carbon, which relates to 1) the main material of the suit, carbonized willow <br>branches, and 2) the human ecological impact on the planet, often called the “carbon footprint”. <br>In this performance, Saarikoski walked through the heart of the city of Turku wearing a bulky <br>black suit, laden with more than one thousand charcoal sticks. I argue that performance C <br>addresses the human-induced environmental emergency by sensually politicizing it and that the <br>charcoal suit actively contributes to this politicizing process by generating sounds, interacting <br>with the surroundings, and thus enabling surprising encounters. In this article, approaching the <br>topic from the perspectives of new materialism, political performance art, and costume studies, <br>I will analyze the ways in which the charcoal suit works as a co-performer and thus contributes <br>to politicizing the human impact on the environment.<br></p>