Photo: Beniamin Urbanek
Porous Projections
05th of May till the 30th of June in Afro-Asiatisches Institut Graz
Maaijke Middelbeek’s “Other Mother” presents organisms in their growth. She states: You mothered me, so let me mother you. Radical role reversal takes place as the silent care we receive from the environment is addressed. Speaking from the other end of the archaic mother nature, a forever-mother, the artist refuses to stay in the naïve role of a child, a care- receiver, that we so often find comfort in when it comes to our relationship with nature. She recognizes the care that was previously taken for granted and actively proclaims to give back the nurturing. The work asks its viewers what kind of unnoticed care is embedded in your growth, and if you would join her in the giving-back.
The exhibition “Porous Projections” presents works by 5 international artists who shed light on the topic of mushrooms as an entity in their endless becoming. The presented artworks deal with the largely un-lit knowledge produced by those who were excluded from writings of historical narratives; namely women, migrants, bodies of queer and Caribbean diasporas, and non-human elements that we are too dull to listen to.
Curatorial text by Kyungrim Lim Jang
Photo: Beniamin Urbanek
Detail of
MY ARTIFICIAL WOMB
Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria & Yeast (SCOBY)
amniotic fluid, acrylic glass
tubes with fluids
Left: Other-Mother, self-portrait with baby SCOBY (Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria & Yeast), mother culture in glass
Right: MY ARTIFICIAL WOMB installation with acrylic glass, Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria & Yeast (SCOBY),
amniotic fluid, tubes, fluid bags with blood and urine of the artist, sugar, water, tea, mother's milk,
ultrasound of the artist as a foetus (Nov. 1979)
2021-2022
SCOBY (Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria & Yeast) in amniotic fluid,
acrylic glass, sunlight
2021-2022
BECOMING WITH
combining fluids
fluid bags with blood and urine of the artist, sugar, water, tea,
mother's milk, ultrasound of the artist as a foetus (Nov. 1979)
2022
For the publication I did an interview about culturing and cultivating, about motherhood, about symbiotic life, interconnectedness, contamination and the pandemic. Below a link to the interview in PDF.
Group show with other works from: Jason Evans video End of the season, Diana Policarpo video The Oracle, Kearra Amaya Gopee video installation How to break a horizon, Roberta Lazo Valenzuela sound installation Indoors.
Curated by:
Kyungrim Lim Yang & Huda Takriti
Publication design by:
Hannah Sakai
> CONTAMINATION <
When fungus grows and contamination occurs during an exhibition about fungi and contamination, based on Anna L. Tsing's book "The Mushroom at the end of the world". As Tsing’s book argues; "Every species requires liveable collaborations to stay alive. Everyone carries a history of contamination, the idea of purity is a myth."
Becoming with (detail): The fluid bag with fenchel & anis seeds - traditionally used for childbirth ease and milk production after giving birth - started to grow fungus after 2 months. The fluids appeared not to be completely sealed off in the bags, since some odours of the organic matter could evaporate and contaminate the room.
OTHER-MOTHER & MY ARTIFICIAL WOMB
Left: Other-Mother, self-portrait with baby SCOBY (Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria & Yeast), mother culture in glass
Right: MY ARTIFICIAL WOMB installation with acrylic glass, Symbiotic Cultures Of Bacteria & Yeast (SCOBY),
amniotic fluid, tubes, fluid bags with blood and urine of the artist, sugar, water, tea, mother's milk,
ultrasound of the artist as a foetus (Nov. 1979)
2021-2022