Conspiring Timelines, Shimmering Temporalities

This exhibition, conspiring timelines: shimmering temporalities, was on view in June 2022 at The Institute for Endotic Research (TIER) Berlin, during their programme Aurora. A Platform on Ecology, Interdependence and Mutual Aid. It held space for multiple zeitgeber (time giver) experiments that changed over the duration of the exhibition. Zeitgeber are reactions of living beings to sensorial cues, for example plants to changing light conditions during climate change realities that are often described within shifting circadian rhythms. In the exhibiton we brewed Sun Tea with the Holunder/Elderflower blossoms sprouting at the time, shared a film that undoes the temporal linearity of their blossoms being cut on and off, and offered pillows fuzed with plastics holding time from extracted crude oil turned into quick throwaway plastics - cared for rather than thrown away. Engaging a politics of non-disposability, every material we worked with in the exhibition continues to transform in our practice to this day. All photos were taken by Benjamin Busch.

A gray building is seen in street view, there is a door on the left, a window on the right. On the right glass pitchers hang in the window from blue plastic bags that have been woven and knotted together. In the pitchers, elderflower blooms are brewed into tea from the sun. An exhibition view of Conspiring Timelines, Shimmering Temporalities is shown inside the exhibition space, TIER. Across the warm wooden floor are pillows covered in fused plastic pillow cases, piles of marbles and sand and a projection of a video showing elderflower leaves being cut together and apart from trees.

workshops

In this exhibition we held multiple workshops, where we engaged Zeitgeber as external cues that influence the timing of our internal clocks. Zeitgeber are co-conspirators that practice with us towards crip (meeting our bodyminds) and trans* (making cuts when needed) timelines. Working together with shapeshifting materials that give back time to us by modulating relations between our embodiments and sensorial environments, we engaged: sand, water, light, makeup, containers, video and impacts.

At TIER a group of people sit on the wooden floor holding sheets of paper, in the middle is a pile of sand, fused plastic sheets and marbles tumbling down the pile. At TIER onto the wooden floor, a video is projected showing elderflowers being cut from bushes. Near to the video are piles of sand, stone and marbles and a pillow to rest, watch and play.
Legs stretch onto a wooden floor covered in plastic. Sand, marbles and rocks cover one of the legs.
Elderflower tea sits from jugs in the window, their shadows brew over the warm wooden floor.
A pitcher holding elderflower sun tea is hung from woven plastic in front of a gently folded curtain.