about making a nest to leave anyway

Lesedauer etwa 10:45 Minuten

Nests come in many shapes and forms. Some animals nest inside trees or in the ground, using their natural sha- pe or opening their holes, some use organic materials like wood, grass and wool to build structures. Other creatu- res like to nest next to bodies of water like rivers or falls, they take refuge in cavities on the stone or build dam-like constructions over the current. Cup-shaped, round, shiel- ded or exposed, they are fabrications that provide them with shelter, communal benefits or intimacy innuendos. Some animals don’t make nests, they just take on the ones others abandon; other animals share their nests with multiple other species. Even after all the effort that finding a suitable haven im- plies, some animals surrender their original nests for mul- tiple reasons, weather, and lack of resources, some are forced to migrate because the conditions are too brutal and unkind. They go away leaving traces and affections behind, embarking on a journey only taking memories, stories and recipes as baggage. Confronted with new environments holding nothing but the knowledge they carry, they feel themselves being al- tered by the unfamiliar conditions. Tastes, smells, even touch doesn’t feel the same; and building a shelter, with all that it implies, becomes yet another experience of grief. They are intimately trying to navigate the dynamic flow between relinquishing and discovering, remembering and invoking, relating and learning. Despite all attempts, new nests never seem to be like old nests. Only after settling with this fact, can a fabric be rebuilt from composite identities that start branching out, unear- thing, connecting and problematizing the collective expe- rience of non-belonging, to root in a different way, resilient to seemingly all impulses, building with traces, working with suggestions, functioning with parts. With its intricacy and uncertainty, the act of nesting could be seen as an endless effort. However, while the tree mi- ght remember what it was like to be without a hole, other bodies now fill its nicks and cracks in search of warmth, whether permanently or temporarily. Nesting then beco- mes a mindful effort that grants humans the possibility to inhabit and share that which surrounds them, in the only way the world allows them to.

All Artists in order of appereance in the gallery: 

1 Elena Payer “anything everything everywhere we’ve ever been”
2024, drawing, installation

This ‘paper blanket’ is made up of drawings that represent things that are important to me, what it feels like to be human and to have a body, memories and growing new roots. It explores my experiences and those of the people I love, the places we have visited and even abstract thoughts that are difficult to put into words. Consisting of A4 papers, the works are stitched together with a white thread, imitating a patchwork blanket.

2 Chya Jamal Mohammed “ENT FREMD UNG”
2024, polarized paper, negative film

This work is part of my life experience as a stranger who has developed a sense of notbelonging. I spent my early adulthood leaving my country several times, studying in Europe and experiencing life as a refugee. Right now I am a stranger, I am fragmented, each piece contains a part of my memories and belongs to a different place.In a foreign country, homeland and the country of living feel the same. I am a stranger in both and sometimes this gives a sense of liberty. I am belonging to this place that I move to or belong to the earth or to the idea of the entire universe, but again sometimes my love for my country and childhood memories make this feeling dis- and reappear in my work. You can see that tearing in my self portrait through polarized paper. Also you see that meaning depends on perspective. It‘s like the word Entfremdung. You either see the pieces (Ent) = take out, (Fremd) = strange ... which is “becoming familiar“. Together (Entfremdung) it becomes alienation. 

3 Leila Keivan “Shores of the body”
2024, video installation

“Birds construct nests for laying eggs and nurturing chicks, not for living. They abandon nests if disturbed or if the eggs are nonviable. Surprisingly, they don’t rest in nests except during egg incubation, preferring roosting spots, often the same nightly.”....as leaving somewhere and returning, the urge of leaving again. Returning and nesting, enjoying the orientation, remembering random habits, using the same old mug, going somewhere without knowing the address, hoping to run into someone who died two years ago... we nest too. ‘Shores of the body’ is a video installation made from the artist’s childhood photos, projected onto the fictitious corner of the home where the artist was born, which is now defunct.

4 Jovan Turčinović “How to Fall Asleep”
2024

zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz zzz #9 #insomnia #hypnagogic

5 Eunji Lee “Stroke by Stroke”
2024, performance
“The Room”
2023, Video documentation, 01:26:27 min

This work revolves around the idea that every individual possesses a personal room. The room, perhaps, for anyone, is extremely personal and no one knows what the thoughts and things happen in it. One day, I decided to take my room out. This room was relocated to four distinct places 1. Schlosspark in Weimar 2. Charles Brid-ge in Prague 3. Goethe Schiller Denkmal in Weimar 4. Kromsdorfer Lake in Weimar, and I repeated the same act. This video weaves together these chronicles, with each locale narrating its own stories. Instruction: One stroke per person

6 Frieder Klamt “Priceless Ordinary”
2024, Digital Media

From a young age, I learned that our ancestors used to be hunters and gatherers. I have personally experienced that at least the second part still applies today. Collecting is something I have pursued all my life. Every time I moved, I found myself packing more and more belongings. It’s not solely about their material worth, but rather their utility or the memories intertwined with them. Yet, what value do these possessions hold for you?

7 António Leitão “Zimmer 201-01”
2024, installation

How can I connect with a space that I know I will leave someday? I arrived in one bedroom after 1 day of traveling . Aeroplane, train and a train. This is how far I am from home. In this bedroom I have a bed, a table and a closet. It’s hard to see myself in this space. Oh wait! I see my shadow on the ground, on the floor, coming out of my feet and hands. Now that I see, they fit together. Now that I feel lonely, I feel accompanied by my shadow. I guess it will be the two of us living here and I think she likes this space more than I do. She is already laying in the bed, resting on the table and looking at the closet. Now she belongs more than I do.

8 Anıl Aydınoglu “Silivri Soğuktur Şimdi”
2024 Installation, aluminium Venetian blinds, beadwork, and video

Installation explores freedom, incarceration, systemic injustice through Jeremy Bentham’s utopian(?) prison idea ‘Panopticon’ concept. Within this exploration, the blinds, a key element in the surveillance of the Panopticon, transforms into a symbol of the resilient act of nesting within the confines of a prison by using the tradition of beadwork originated with Turkish soldiers captured during WWI, which is still practiced in prisons across Turkey. While this very crafty beadwork is trying to break the rigidity of industrial aluminum blinds, the light disrupts the audience’s (observers) gaze by looking back threateningly. ‘Silivri Soğuktur Şimdi’ (Silivri is cold now) which was once-humorous phrase expressing youth hesitancy in dissent against government oppression, linked to Silivri Prison’s repu- tation(one of the largest penal facilities in Europe) for holding journalists and politicians, now representing self-censorship and self-control like the main intention of Panopticon, it lost humor and acceptability. Placing this tradition within the context of the Panopticon and Silivri, it draws attention to the intersections of power and control, urging viewers to reflect on the plight of those unjustly held in prisons.

9 Ana Ruiz de Santa Quiteria Blanco “Rooting not (nesting) ”
2024, Microscopic photography

“I refuse to believe that I don’t somehow stay in the places I inhabit. I think of myself as a species of plants who roots deep in the ground, and spreads their seeds to go to a new location. Then my consciousness goes into the new plant, and I grow again. I adapt and leave behind my former me, the life I created, that stays in the people, in the ground, in the air. I took pictures of the root of a plant I love, lentil, with a microscope, after growing the seed myself. I examine myself, the roots I created in Weimar, and that I will soon leave.

10 Emily Cheung “Sleep Marks”
2024, installation and photography

Building a nest in a foreign land is uncomfortable. The feeling of people talking in a languageyou don’t speak is uncomfortable. The silence in your room after a call ends is uncomfortable.Discomfort is universal. By compressing our skin, we feel uncomfortable. Only with time, the sensation fades as our body adapts to the environment. Detaching from the compression, leaves marks on our skin. To build a nest and leave but the memory of the nest stays with you.

11 Maria Anna Obermeier “this is not a homegrown rose”
2023, object

The work consists of a red rose standing in a pile of dirt. A metal sign in front of it with
the inscription: this is not a homegrown rose. The rose is literally cut off from its origin and now stands for a gesture. A gesture of love. More of these can be found at the University Campus.

12 Erphaneh Sadeghzadeh “Sunsick”
2024, photo installation

In a realm seldom touched by sunlight, where bodies, walls, and trees linger untouched, I dwell in darkness, bathed in a unique grey-blue light. Where may I craft a nest? At times, I trace the sun’s tender caress, capturing its warmth. Occasionally, I contemplate the stillness of bodies, limbs resembling motionless trunks, awaiting the touch of radiant light. In moments of enchantment, I gaze at the silhouette of a branch’s shadow on the wall, pondering a fleeting nest destined to vanish with the sun’s
departure.

13 Raisa Bosich “A game without a name”
2024, Painting and participatory performance

A passing loop of string that goes back and forth. The shapes consist of singular images
that come from interaction of movements between two players. A ‘story’ involving several
figures performed in sequence.

An encounter in which the symbolic act of weaving continues.

14 Yumiko Mita “Debris of Yesterday”
2024, metal sculptural installation

“Debris of Yesterday” is a sculpture composed of six sheet metal pieces, fashioned into a nest-like structure. The cold, industrial material takes on a new life as it symbolizes fragments of the past coming together in harmony. Each metal piece represents different elements of history, and their interlocking formation invites viewers to reflect on the passage of time and the cyclical nature of existence. The nest, both vulnerable and resilient,becomes a metaphorical sanctuary for the debris of yesterday. Through the play of light and shadow on the metal surface, the artwork explores the interconnectedness of shared histories and the potential for renewal that emerges when disparate elements unite purposefully, creating a visually compelling narrative and inviting contemplation on the beauty that can arise from the chaos of the past.

15 Giuliana Marmo “Breakup Soil”
2024, installation, single channel video, sound

Recalling the tradition of road graves, used not to bury the dead but to remember the place they passed on, the installation builds imaginary memorial sites for migrants crossing the forest as birds fallen in need of burial. Much like bird houses built by witches’ magic, using elements of Latin-American religious and esoteric syncretism that call upon mystical encounters and superstition, they aim to trace emotional routes of migration through fantasy and storytelling. Intertwining personal and intimate experiences with the collective struggle of engaging with memory in the means of an ongoing migrational movement.

16 Dania González Sanabria “The Migrants’ Cabinet”
2024, installation

The piece is guided by experiences, anecdotes, and statements from Cuban migrant people, to make me trace tissues, organic nets, fibers, and compositions, using the molds as a metaphoric image for migrant communities. I aim to re-draw the traces of displacements, branching, and disgregation shaped by the Cuban migrant collectivity through expeditions detonated by necessity, hostilities, and utopias, representing interconnected social, political, and ethical networks in the same way in which microorganisms grow.

17 Jodie Luk “Pigeons Out!”
2024, single-channel video, colour and sound

The mockumentary delves into the relationship of humans and pigeons, tracing from prehistory to the present day, which remarkablyresonates with the way migrant workers are treated.

18 Stefan Ralevic “On the Edge of Humility, Trials and Tensions of a Moved Thing”
2023, phography and mixed media installation

The work examines daily photographs through a practice of observation and affect theory. Going through changes of Place by positioning the subject in a state of discomfort, hunger, excessive and incessant walking, the objects — bodies — presented to the subject are all lost and unusable. The autonomy coming from the lost objects is a space for contemplating what is currently missing. A negation of intersubjectivity is tested as the everyday is seen as the wrong Place. By extension, the self — made up of non-self parts — is reevaluating, as well as filtering its parts and their relationships, always in search of the right Place.

19 Yang Shen “Between Two, Never Whole”
2024, installation and analog photography

This photography series unfolds the street scenes stretching from Spain to Portugal. Graffiti serves as the concealed voice of the cities, a symbol of vitality and belonging. Quietly unraveling along the walls, graffiti weaves its presence through the walls. Tags, positioned amidst their peers, strive to assert their individuality, while some yield to the brushstrokes of newcomers, painted over in a constant cycle of transformation. [Vida] [life] [生活] — between two and never whole, embodies the constant flux and unsteadiness of an artist; like a nomad navigating the ever-shifting landscapes, life unfolds in
a series of fluid transitions, never settling, always in motion. This existence between two
points captures the essence of a journey, where instability becomes the canvas embodying unpredictable changes and experiences.

20 Negar Kablou “Our souls are woven together in an unbreakable knot”
2024, installation of photography

The greatest challenge in life for me is experiencing loss, whether it be losing someone or something. I have faced numerous losses throughout my life, and during those times, I would desperately try to hold onto everything, even if it meant forcing it. When I left my homeland and parted ways with my family and friends , I would constantly strive to keep them in my life and prevent losing them. I would wait anxiously every day and night, analyzing their words as if they were a lifeline. Knots are an inseparable part of me. I internalize every word they speak, using them as a means to hold onto them and keep
them close to my heart.

21 Enes Alba “Herzlich Wilkommen”
2024, performance/installation, notes on found object (lexicon)

Making a nest”                                                         “Mit alles”
2024, video loop, 6:46                                              2024, photo print in album case, CD

Alba’s works offer an approachable portrayal of a queer migrant, blending pop references and queer aesthetics. “Making a Nest” is a video work intertwining concert footage of Turkey’s diva, Bülent Ersoy, with an intimate visual diary and recited poetry. In “mit Alles,” Alba transforms into a fictional girl-band from their childhood, exploring iconography and language in a self-portrait venture. The interactive “Herzlich willkommen” lexicon performance delves into the language of a minority, incorporating playful and kinky notes from the artist’s attempt to learn German on dating apps. Through these works, Alba captures the essence of intimacy, queer culture, and the quest to preserve childhood roots.

22 Kitman Yeung “Resuscitation unanswered 00:18:28”
                              “Visits to resurrect, 00:18:21”
                              “Flow with the blow, 00:10:30”
                              “Respire at 80, 00:30:47”
2024, video installation with audio, mattress, metal, plastic, latex

A series of breathing performed by a temporary support mattress. The air holds its rejections at sites of local bureaucracy, inhales ideologically charged fumes and exhales into snowfields. Through cycles of usage, the mattress lives through the transformation of a bed. Exhaustion synchronises itself with its migrational context. Repetitive inflation echoes the routine of making the bed every morning, the routine of adapting. There is an exchange through the air, the dialogue in rhythms of pumps, in the performed locations,in our everyday encounters, in this room.

23 Yaman To’meh “Hayat”
2024, video essay, projection

Reflecting on the dichotomy of life and death in Gaza, through symbols of life. Covering the singing of Journalist Wael Al-Dahouh with his recently deceased family members. Reminiscing on the archival films of agricultural fields & sea, with the love of music from Palestine.