„Behind the mouth, the largest, all-swallowing mouth, there is nothing but the immense noise of the ocean.” [ Michel Serres, The Parasite]
Swallowing A Barbed Wire is a research into the gut and the different ways in which it can be parasitized. It’s an attempt to materialize and give a voice to what is unintentionally or subconsciously ingested and develops its own life in the gut. It deals with the effects of actual parasites or misplaced bacteria and the unwanted emotions caused by external conditions or events that lead to a disruption of the body’s functionality. It asks how to be dysfunctional and surrender to an uncanny gut feeling. During my residency at Kanuti Gildi SAAL this research will be worked into an exhibition and a voice performance taking place in it.
Mara Kirchberg [she/her] is a transdisciplinary artist based in Tallinn who works at the intersection of performance, installation and sculpture. Her work deals with the materiality of flesh and the fleshiness of material.
She is interested in boundary objects such as organs and negotiates the surfaces that simultaneously connect inside and outside. Her work opens interior spaces to the outside to reveal how bodies - human and otherwise - function or how their functionality is disrupted. Her practice commits to ways of composing through decomposition and often involves unreliable materials such as organic matter or unfired clay. She considers broken pieces a fertile ground for a new body of work that contains suggestions for how to do less and digest existent surplus.
On the 29th of November an exhibition will be open from 15:00-20:00. On the 30th of November performances will take place in addition to the exhibition – at 17:30, 18:30 and 19:30. The performances will be followed by an artist talk with Mara Kirchberg and Hanna Launikovich. Information about the showing!
Residency is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia
