Everything Moist Seems Alive

Leaky ecosystem

Inspired by Astrida Neimanis’ concept of hydrofeminism, the installation charts the movements of water in all living things. Moisture flows through tubes and membranes, collects in pools and waterfalls, and evaporates in the heat or freezes in the cold. These are processes that we as humans can all experience physically, for in essence every human being is also a body of water, consisting of approximately sixty per cent moisture.

With Everything Moist Seems Alive, we take this a step further by viewing the human body not as a self-contained entity, but as an open, leaky ecosystem that is inextricably linked to the planet’s water cycle. In doing so, we shatter the illusion of modern society, which conditions us to view our bodies as fortified, autonomous strongholds, detached from the natural world and divided by social hierarchy. Instead, we draw on the mythical Greek underworld, with its powerful rivers, and connect this to today’s ‘leaking saints’ and contemporary visions of the importance of water for the world of tomorrow.

Great equaliser

In Everything Moist Seems Alive, water is the great equaliser. It flows through us, becomes part of us, leaves us again and flows on/in to something or someone else. In the economy of moisture, people, plants, rivers and clouds exist on a level of absolute, radical equality. You may adhere to different ideologies, belong to different classes or speak different languages, but nothing and no one can escape the fact that they are a body of water. By following the flow of moisture and giving it a voice, the installation reminds us that we do not simply use our biotope; we are our biotope, and we constantly derive our existence from a shared, planetary water reservoir.