Wet [scape] (2024), performance with raw sheep wool and water, Systems of Support exhibition at Salzburger Kunstverein.
Wet[scape] explores the intricate relationship between humans and peatlands. It features a large-scale floor piece composed of raw sheep wool and water. Through the performers’ physical interaction with the wool, water is released. Trials suggest that sheep wool has the potential to be used as an environmental conservation method to restore damaged peatlands. Wool is thereby used to build dams, strengthening the structure of the bog and re-establishing healthy water levels.
The raw material is explored through slow, static movements, and moments of rest. The wool contains an archive of dried seeds, grasses, and other organic material. Lanolin gives the wool a waxy feel and a rather distinctive smell. The material itself is alive - it transforms and shrinks over the course of the exhibition, while the wool's soaked fibres interlace through repeated bodily interaction.
With special thanks to The National Botanic Garden of Wales & Amberwood Animal Sanctuary for their generous donation of sheep wool.