Aku Meriläinen
Biography
Aku Meriläinen (they/them) is a media artist who develops practices beyond the normative expectations in works that integrate digital technologies and performing arts. In their doctoral research project, Crip Sex Worker (Nakurampa in Finnish), they have started to do online sex work as a person living with multiple sclerosis (MS). The project aims to challenge the dominant male gaze in porn from a queer and anti-ableist perspective, and explore feminist, more ethical porn and the concept of porno-art, all while diversifying how disability and sexuality are perceived. Aku did their BA in Audiovisual Mediaculture at University of Lapland and MA in scenography at Aalto University.
Tuisku Lehto
Excluded
2025
Installation with 2 videos
Excluded consists of two videos created together with documentary director and photographer Tuisku Lehto and an installation.
The first video presents all media materials from Hypnos, a solo contemporary circus performance where I explored the concept of porno-art through collaborative performing arts. I was responsible for the media art, created using porno-art practices but excluding pornographic content as defined by the team.
The second video, shown in an age-restricted area, includes porno-art materials that were not used in Hypnos.
My research examines how to advance equality for people with disabilities in the context of pornography and sexuality. In Hypnos, I focused on:
• What defines pornography?
• Where is the boundary between pornography and art?
• How is sexuality expressed within agreed limits?
• How can invisible disabilities caused by multiple sclerosis be expressed non-verbally?
Content notes:
Work contains nudity. Age-restricted area of the work contains nudity and explicit depictions of sexual activity.
