Personal Information
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Given name: Sussu









Surname: Laaksonen









Email: susanna.laaksonen@uniarts.fi









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Your contribution
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Title: Third Eye Perception: Sensoception and composition space









Format: Workshop (3)









Main language: English









Abstract:
In micro-phenomenological interviews with seven Finnish artistic writers about their work, I identified a recurring somatosensory state: a bodily sensing of emerging meaning that guides composition without yet being articulable as thought. I call this state merkitysaisti, or sensoception — the perception of sense prior to linguistic form.

This workshop investigates sensoception alongside teoksen tila, or ("composition space", as best I can translate it): the felt spatio-temporal field writers inhabit during sustained creative work. Part of a doctoral research project on writers' embodied knowledge, this iteration begins with somatic preparation focused on non-visual orientation. The “third eye” is approached not as a mystical element but as part of developmental biology: in early vertebrates, the pineal complex functioned as a light-sensitive, image-producing organ. The workshop explores sensing space and meaning — attending to what precedes articulation. 

Participants then move through iterative writing cycles. The first of these is prompted with a sentence drawn from the somatic exercise, the rest of the writing emerges spontaneously. Participants are divided into three rotating groups: After each round, writers read aloud. (It is not necessary to write in a shared language.) Reflectors select resonant fragments and place them as notes in shared floor space. Cartographers reorganize these fragments spatially, tracing emerging relations and creating new fragments. After roles are rotated, new writers enter the field and the process is repeated several times. Finally, a co-composed “poem” is read out loud together.

Through this process, composition space becomes collectively visible — not as private interiority but as a dynamic field organizing itself between bodies. The workshop leaves no permanent shared artifact or text. What remains are traces: a live research encounter at the intersection of phenomenology, somatics, and collective creative practice.










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Short biographies of the presenter(s):
- Sussu Laaksonen is a writer, researcher and somatic practitioner, currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Arts Helsinki. Her research investigates the embodied dimensions of writers' skilled knowledge, focusing on felt awareness and the spatio-temporal conditions of sustained creative work. Sussu holds an MA in Film from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (now Aalto University) and a BS in Mass Communication from Miami University, Ohio. She is an award winning screenwriter and her professional background spans Finnish television and film, literary nonfiction, and language technology.










Previous presentations or iterations of the research:
This workshop is one iteration of the artistic component of my doctoral dissertation at the Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki. The project combines micro-phenomenological interviews with a six-part workshop series (Sept 2025–May 2026) exploring somatic preparation, iterative writing, spatial arrangement, and rotating roles. I propose score-based, improvised co-writing as an independent art form without a final artifact. The conference version adapts Session 4: Senses and Space.














Requirements
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Additional information:
180 minutes. Somatic preparation (30 min), writing rounds with spatial arrangement (110 min), closing reflection (25 min), discussion (15 min). Participants randomly assigned to rotating roles: writers compose and read aloud; reflectors select spoken fragments and place them as written notes in shared space; cartographers rearrange notes during writing periods. All roles require full engagement. Maximum 18 participants. Pens and paper provided by presenter. No prior experience required. Comfortable clothing recommended.










Spatial and technical requirements :
No technical equipment is needed. A comfortably sized room with no desks, where chairs can be moved aside so that participants can move around, not be too close together, arrange fragments in clusters, take a seat on the floor or a chair to write and listen.










Potential risks or ethical concerns:
The workshop can be designed to be accessible to hearing impaired people if sign language interpreters are available, and sight impaired people as well. Wheelchair use can be accommodated. The workshop requires full participation to succeed, so observers will not be permitted. Participation constitutes consent to write, read writing out loud, listen supportively without criticism, and participate in the relational field.










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