Tak Żyjemy / How We Live
HB55 Kunstfabrik, Lichtenberg
2025
How We Live was an open studio event in Berlin, focused on making the research and process behind my work visible and in its final presentation or activation, to bring the audience and participants more fully into the work, and as a type of resource-sharing and exchange.
Investigating horizontality, specifically in the form on non-hierarchical governing structures and organization, mutual aid, networks of support, and future world building, it combined recent studio work with related research on diverse subjects including utopian collective projects, Polish radical textiles of the 1960-80s, movement-based grounding pracitces, and collectives in Berlin.
The included projects are described below:
Unititled (after Rirkrit)
2025
After Rirkrit Taravanja’s Untitled (free) from 1992.
The Star
2025In this iteration, the work comprised an explanation of the project and some recent Star diagrams along with writing materials so that participants could make their own stars, several hula hoops, and a handful of playing cards referencing The Star tarot.
I developed “the star” excercise in a movement-based practice in Berlin, to help quiet my mind when I get overwhelmed by the great swirling mass of ideas, influences, projects, parts of larger goals, and core values and intentions that I want in my work. It is a mind-map and centering tool that relieves anxiety and helps me focus and feel more in control. It is intuitive, but fast. I picture myself grounded and hula hooping in the center of this star.
The hula hoop element in this work grew out of this vision, and is the physical, embodied extension of the star diagram. The hula hoops invite movement in several interesting ways; they necessitate an intentional, vigorous and reflective use of the body in moving the hula hoop and keeping it spinning, and invite a form of movement and play not usually present in an art space. The certain failure inherent in hula hooping, where the hoop inevitably falls to the floor, also forces the participant to move lower and touch the ground.
The Star tarot cards likewise address this attempt at stability and control Throughout my life, along with many of my female peers, I have turned to tarot in an attempt to find direction in periods of insecurity and difficulty. The Star is a particularly positive and reassuring card that focuses on connecting with the core self.
I developed “the star” excercise in a movement-based practice in Berlin, to help quiet my mind when I get overwhelmed by the great swirling mass of ideas, influences, projects, parts of larger goals, and core values and intentions that I want in my work. It is a mind-map and centering tool that relieves anxiety and helps me focus and feel more in control. It is intuitive, but fast. I picture myself grounded and hula hooping in the center of this star.
The hula hoop element in this work grew out of this vision, and is the physical, embodied extension of the star diagram. The hula hoops invite movement in several interesting ways; they necessitate an intentional, vigorous and reflective use of the body in moving the hula hoop and keeping it spinning, and invite a form of movement and play not usually present in an art space. The certain failure inherent in hula hooping, where the hoop inevitably falls to the floor, also forces the participant to move lower and touch the ground.
The Star tarot cards likewise address this attempt at stability and control Throughout my life, along with many of my female peers, I have turned to tarot in an attempt to find direction in periods of insecurity and difficulty. The Star is a particularly positive and reassuring card that focuses on connecting with the core self.
Card meaning / Biddy Tarot:
As The Star follows The Tower card in Tarot, it comes as a welcome reprieve after a period of destruction and turmoil. You have endured many challenges and stripped yourself bare of any limiting beliefs that have previously held you back. You are realizing your core essence, who you are beneath all the layers. No matter what life throws your way, you know that you are always connected to the Divine and pure loving energy. You hold a new sense of self, a new appreciation for the core of your Being. The Star brings renewed hope and faith, and a sense that you are truly blessed by the Universe. You are entering a peaceful, loving phase in your life, filled with calm energy, mental stability and more in-depth understanding of both yourself and others around you. This is a time of significant personal growth and development as you are now ready to receive the many blessings of the Universe. With The Star card, anything is possible and the magic is flowing around you. Your heart is full of hope, and your soul is being uplifted to the highest of highs as you realize that your dreams really can come true. Allow yourself to dream, to aspire, to elevate in any way possible so you can reach the stars. They are right here waiting for you.
Mattress Work iteration 2025
Dreams 2024
Portal (Maya) 2020
In this iteration of Mattress Work, participants were encouraged to rearrange and interact with the work.
Dreams is part of my ongoing series of textile collages from the series Tapestries.
Portal (Maya) is a framed A4 digital print
Dreams is part of my ongoing series of textile collages from the series Tapestries.
Portal (Maya) is a framed A4 digital print
Details can be found in the respective projects under Work : Studio work.
The Utopian Archive
2023-25 I conducted research on intentional communities, communes, and back to the land movements as a Prelinger library resident in the summer of 2023. My research was focused on best-known periodicals related to the subject, such as Communities (a magazine by and for communitarians), The Whole Earth Catalogs (pre-internet resources for practical matters such as solar technologies), and the Foxfire series, (how-to references for back-to-the-land skills such as wood splitting, planting, quilting, and natural medicine).
The presented materials span over a decade and were selected to show some of the different issues that come up when we intend to embody radically, live intentionally, and work together towards positive social change. How do we manage the issues of the old world, which inhabit our subconscious and thus complicate our desire to build a new reality?
The presented materials span over a decade and were selected to show some of the different issues that come up when we intend to embody radically, live intentionally, and work together towards positive social change. How do we manage the issues of the old world, which inhabit our subconscious and thus complicate our desire to build a new reality?
The Prelinger library is an independent archive of books, periodicals, ephemera, and maps, located in San Francisco, California.
Bibliography:
CoEvolution quarterly
Whole Earth Catalog
Communities
Almanac of Healing
Mother Earth Magazine
FoxFire
The Alternative
The New Settler
The Modern Utopian
Vocations for Social Change
Workforce magazine