Sprawl Here
2024
Wunderkammer NATURALIA I ARTIFICIALIA
Video performance (7:54 min), mirror coating, silkscreen print of the hornwort
A touch, unexpected, unplanned, a shock, a beating heart. In the exhibition of her work Grow Here, Stephanie Bothe is interested in the question of wheth-er humans are part of nature (monism, e.g. Guattari: humans are “in” and “of” nature) or outside of nature (dualism, e.g. Marx's metabolic theory - humans change nature through work, nature changes humans). Is art part of nature or not?
She is concerned with the increasing alienation from nature, the fear of losing control over nature (e.g. when swimming in a lake or reading reports on cli-mate change). Is alienation just a phenomenon of industrialization or also self-protection? In view of the human vulnerability in comparison with non-human actors (bacteria, viruses, poisonous spiders, sharp teeth of wild animals, etc.), humans are longing for their agency: Houses, cities, safety precautions that protect us from contact with the other. Have we gone too far in avoiding these touches?
The video performance shows a human body touching a water plant. The au-dio is based, among other things, on formulations taken from around 30 arti-cles in the German daily press on the occurrence of hornworts in lakes. Who shapes our aesthetic perception (Is a water plant beautiful or not?) and our reaction (Should I protect myself from touching a water plant?)?
Sprawl Here, 2024, Video performance
Installation view at Wunderkammer NATURALIA I ARTIFICIALIA
Audio translation
This summer, the overgrowth has become very extensive.
Now it's time to kill it.
Grow here
Wrap
Interfere
Become
Threaten
Stretch yourself
Touch
Push Me
Because of its mass development
Danger of drowning
Wraps around arms and legs
Obstructs mobility
Leads to panic attacks
Sailing courses have to be canceled
Electric boats cannot sail
Lifeboats are hindered
Sneaky creeper
Persistent creeper
Because of its mass development
Tragic accidents
It is unpredictable
It proliferates
Spoils the lake
A plague
It has grown because of too many warm days.
Lots of greenery has always been a problem.
Bad
Because of its mass development
Bathing and swimming are hardly possible.
It grows like the devil.
Is unpleasant to the touch.
Spoils the fun
Molests bathers
Is scary
A plague
Who suffers?
From weeds
