TOWER

with Lea Schürmann

Lea Schürmann and Christian Holl have designed an object which only at first glance blends into the urban space. Once the view reaches into the enclosed Plexiglas container a hermetosphere can be discovered. This is an ecosystem that regulates itself through the metabolic cycles of the flora and fauna that live in it.(...) Inside the hermetosphere, small and large objects can be discerned amidst the greenery. In their hybrid design, the artists have taken their cues from naturally occurring topographical structures, such as rock formations, but also shapes of living entities that appear to have merged with one another. The artistic reference to the theory of symbiogenesis, according to which several organisms can merge to form a single new organism, becomes apparent. It represents an extension of the theory of evolution in which even the emergence of entirely new species is attributed to symbiotic relationships. One of the best-known examples are lichens - communities of one or more fungi that form veritable partnerships with green algae or cyanobacteria.

In this context, the sculptures can be understood as fictions of possible symbiogenesis. It is interesting to note that the fused objects also hint at human-looking body parts. This symbolic rejection of a still recognized human-nature dichotomy can be read as a clear statement against the positivist narrative of an Anthropocene in which humans assume the role of the saviors of the world.
The analogy is reinforced by the choice of material for the sculptures, which has fallen on an open-pored and water-permeable composition, so that they can serve as a breeding ground for the plants and animals native to the hermetosphere - the simulation of a symbiosis of artificial and natural things. The diffusion-promoting properties of the objects also help to regulate the humidity inside the Plexiglas container.
Interested parties can use the Open Worlds app to view logs written by other users about observations of and with the object, the hermetosphere inside and the surroundings of their location. In addition, weekly updated statistics on temperature and humidity can give an impression of the living conditions in the hermetosphere.

In this context, sensory monitoring tools can be rethought and not only serve to democratize and share power over nature conservation tasks, but can actually contribute to a neighbourly care between humans and nature. They can be tools of individual connection, through which an awareness of interconnectedness and dependency creates a willingness to help. Digital sensing creates human-animal symbioses that increasingly blur the boundaries between culture and nature. Even individual, seemingly independent living bodies are not completely separable perpetual motion machines, but are themselves biological systems made up of many participants.
Incidentally, the title of the work, Tower, goes back to the science fiction novel trilogy Southern Reach by the American writer Jeff VanderMeer, where it stands for a certain topography that, "laid out like an underground tower", forms the epicenter of a parallel world in which living beings form multi-layered and cross-linked symbiotic networks, which can be understood as a holistic concept of worldview.

Text: Felix Koberstein

> project handout

< back