School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Aku Meriläinen

Aku Meriläinen (they/them) is a media artist who develops practices beyond normative expectations, integrating digital technologies and performing arts.
A person lies on a bed of apples, reaching out with their hand. The apples are red, yellow, and green.

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.

www.akumerilainen.com
www.instagram.com/nakurampa
onlyfans.com/cripsexworker

Latest publications

AeRaTe (curation)

Elina Koivisto, Aku Meriläinen, Cynthia Blanchette, Alejandra Vera Monge, Montana Torrey 2025

AeRaTe: Excluded

Aku Meriläinen, Tuisku Lehto 2025

Hypnos (media design)

Aku Meriläinen 2025

Utopiakaupunkia etsimässä

Tuisku Lehto, Aku Meriläinen 2023

Tulevaisuuden Kansallismuseo

Tanja Bastamow, Aku Meriläinen 2021
More information on our research in the Aalto research portal.
Research portal
  • Updated:
  • Published:
Share
URL copied!