An exploration of our relationship to the relentless passage of time

Insomnia is a contemporary aerial solo at the intersection of circus and light art. The performance is inspired by our relationship to time—its unforgiving passage and the subjective ways we experience its flow. This theme is embodied through suspended movement on the rope, punctuated by the staccato rhythms of strobe lighting and carefully designed light installation.

The atmosphere evokes a surreal, otherworldly space where things are not quite what they seem. The audience is offered time and space to reflect on their own experience of time—its passing, its weight, and how they choose to spend it. This is not a lecture, but a contemplative environment detached from the outside world, inviting personal meditation on the themes presented.

The project is a collaboration between circus artist Jakob Jacobsson, lighting designer Teo Lanerva, and fellow rope artist Viivi Roiha, who acts as an outside eye. Together, they create an intimate setting that invites the audience to lose their sense of time and reflect on how it shapes—and is shaped by—their lives.

The theme is (almost) universally relatable: after all, we’ve all known the feeling of running out of time, or of something stretching on “forever.”