In Bed with Others II

In Bed with ‘Others’ is reminiscent of times when belonging was not thought of in terms of separation, but in terms of interdependence. The archaeologist Marija Gimbutas understood the numerous female figurines she found during her excavations in the 1950s as a reference to the female-centered cultures of Old Europe and the belief in Gaia, the goddess of the earth and the primordial mother of all life.

In 1972, the microbiologist Lynn Margulis and the chemist James Lovelock formulated the Gaia hypothesis: the planet Earth as a living being, as a self-regulating system. In doing so, they combined prehistoric ideas of death and renewal with the questions about environmental destruction that were emerging at the time.

Today, Rosi Braidotti and other posthuman theoreticians call for binary opposites such as culture/nature, woman/man, or “us”/“the others” to be overcome. Against this backdrop, the prehistoric figures not only represent strong diverse voices in a patriarchal society, but also a celebration of “otherness” in all its forms.
The installation invites us to get closer to these “others”, to cuddle with them, to dream up new forms of coexistence – and to unlearn to think in divisive categories.

Text: Lena Fließbach

materials: second hand pillows, mattress, tracksuits, cotton covers, natural dyes, earth pigments, dimensions variable