SCREENING NOW

Shine bright (like a worm)

By Camille Belmin in collaboration with Janina Weißengruber (2024)

Stream Now

Mainstream Western culture is saturated with an aesthetic of gloss and shininess that inherently opposes decay or dirt. The iconization of sleek bodies serves as a tool to attract attention and sell mass-produced consumer goods, holding promises of success and happiness.
What if living processes such as composting were idolized instead, using a language appropriate to the mass media? What if popular culture could
find an obsession with the feces of worms?
This speculative advertising campaign promotes decay and compost as critical components of life on earth - a rather obscure process for urbanized societies that should be brought back to the center of our attention. What are the potentialities and limitations of the language of capital to promote social and ecological transformation? Can the tools of aesthetic enchantment and the visual logic of selling be used in a progressive way to foster greater harmony and equality between different life forms?

TOUCHING GRASS (EXHIBITION)

We say nature heals. We say “touch the grass”. Nature softens the weight we carry, the invisible heaviness of anxiety, fear, sadness, feelings that we carry around. When you are feeling overwhelmed, down, anxious, or depressed, when everything feels too much, going into nature - touching trees and plants, swimming in the icy cold water, being away from people, disappearing - often brings relief, but it’s not just nature itself that heals and soothes us. In nature, there are no social expectations, no roles, no norms. There are no names, no pronouns, no right ways to behave. Nature offers freedom - from performance, from rules. It allows space to be who we are. Who we want to be. Who we are becoming. Who we imagine ourselves to be. A man, a woman, a person, a living body. Alone and in tune with oneself. No one needs to call a name and it’s enough to just be.

Can we become “one with nature“ again? Have we ever been separated? Do we want to be? Nature has long been seen as a healer, a parent, a caretaker, an infinite giver - do you remember the children’s story “The Giving Tree”? - but we are or can be a part of nature too - see it as our equal, a friend, a lover. Nature cares for us, can we take care of it in return? Can we meet it as our equal? 

Our one-day exhibition Touching Grass will take place in the woods. Woods and forests have long been filled with mythical creatures, spirits, monsters, fairies, talking animals, and magic. Are we allowed there? Fairytales and myths from many cultures take place in the woods. What’s nature’s role in the city culture today? Why are we yearning to go into nature? What do we feel in the woods? What can we experience there? Let’s go and find out.

The exhibition is a community-based, non-hierarchical event, taking place on August 29th, 14:00-19:00.

The coordinates of the location are: 48.206218, 16.440142 (close to U2 Donaustadtbrücke)

OPEN CALL

We welcome submissions in all artistic media. In particular, we encourage proposals for happenings, performances, lectures, and other experimental forms.

Please note that as the exhibition takes place outdoors, we unfortunately cannot guarantee the full safety of physical artworks. 

To apply, please send us a short description of your work or idea, along with photos or links if available. We strongly encourage all participants to be present at the event to help us find the most suitable placement for your work. If you're unable to attend, just let us know — we’ll do our best to find a good solution together.

Submissions are welcome until August 1st.

Please submit your application to: touching.grass.exhibition@gmail.com with the subject “Open call application”.

Warmly, 

Elias & Jona