How to Become an Island?
The Bootcamp
2024 I FORUM STADTPARK
A TRAINING SPACE TO PREPARE OUR BODIES AND MINDS TO BECOME A BREEDING GROUND FOR AN ENDANGERED BIRD SPECIES
© SILVIA HÖDL
production
six multimedia installations (video, interactive sound installation, textile, gravel, plant elements, branches, wood, metal, polyester, electronics)
in collaboration with
Danube Transformation Agency for Agency (di:fafa): Solmaz Farhang, Ege Kökel, Lena Violetta Leitner
Lena Weikhard (Makeup artist)
commissioned by
Forum Stadtpark
curated by
Markus Waitschacher (Forum Stadtpark)
on show at
Hall of Beef, Forum Stadtpark, Graz (AT), 2024
Gallery Days, Graz (AT), 2024
Like many other bodies of water, the River Mur has been shaped by conflicting interests of humans and other species alike. Decades of river regulations and touristic exploitation resulted in a decline of natural habitats for species like the Little Ringed Plover, a ground nesting bird usually breeding along gravel banks.
“We become with each other or not at all” says Donna Haraway, acknowledging the interconnectedness of our shared ecosystems. Thus, in order to survive and thrive together new relationships with other entities are to be imagined.
As part of the long term research How to Become an Island? the multimedia installation THE BOOTCAMP offered an experiential space to explore what it would take to make their bodies available for the survival and needs of another species. A series of physical and mental training units enabled visitors to transform their bodies and minds into a suitable breeding ground for tiny bird in trouble.
As heavy as my wristwatch, my glasses, my toothbrush. Four times lighter than my phone, my notebook, or my teacup. Thousand times lighter than me – Charadrius dubius, Little Ringed Plover, Flussregenpfeifer!
Let’s face the facts - there are many of us, not enough of you. What if we became a breeding ground for a bird threatened by extinction? Let’s work this out. Welcome to the Bootcamp!
THE RIVERBANK SIMULATOR HELPING THE HUMAN BODY TO ADAPT TO THE HARSH CONDITIONS NEXT TO THE RIVER
© SILVIA HÖDL
TRANSFORM INTO AN ISLAND, A YOGA-GYM LIKE ENVIRONMENT PROVIDES SPACE TO TRAIN YOUR BODY TO REMAIN IN DIFFERENT BODY POSITIONS
© SILVIA HÖDL
WEARABLE TEXTILE ACCESSORIES HELP THE BIRD TO CLIMB YOUR SURFACE MORE EASILY AND CREATE A FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT FOR LAYING EGGS
BIRD FRIENDLY MAKE-UP HELPS TO BECOME ATTRACTIVE FOR THE BIRD AND PROVIDES A PROPER NESTING SITUTATION
A PRATICIPANT BECOMING AN ISLAND
© REZA KELLER
"YOU'RE TOXIC, I'M BREEDING UNDER!" ... CARE~AOKE COMING TO LIFE!
