The two conscious beings in ROOMS are a woman and a spider, in an intimate encounter. The director was inspired by her own lockdown experiences. In the absence of human contact, she was encouraged to think about the ways in which we interact with the other living organisms that inhabit our environment. The presence of the spider is not just a disturbance: the project brings an equal focus to both creations. It is the spider that exerts control over its environment, in contrast to the passivity of the woman, reading aloud from a text written by others, in surroundings of someone else’s creation. By reversing the normal power relations between human and insect, the project explores the ways in which humans have developed a desire for control over the natural world. This control has had many consequences. Human beings have moved beyond developing ways to live in different habitats to a society in which we aim to hold power over its forces
BY Patricia Detmering (DE)
Patricia Detmering (b. 1980, Germany) was born in the former GDR, she studied fine arts at the HfbK Dresden until 2015 and graduated with honours. Her work engages with critical topics related to society, particularly relevant to her life. In her practice, Detmering often relies on digital media, intertwining it with paintings and sculptures that are frequently part of her installations. Today, she lives and works as a media artist in Berlin. Her work has been exhibited in the Denver Film Society (US), the Chitose Festival, the Mujikobo Gallery in Tokyo (JP), the Wrong Biennale in Tel Aviv (ISR), and Valencia (ES). In Germany, she has exhibited at the Haus am Lützowplatz, Berliner Festspiele/the new infinity, Kunsthaus Erfurt, the Klosterruine, the Kindl Centre... She received the ‘Deutschlandstipendium’, the 2. Prize of the DKB VR Artprize, as well as various project scholarships from the Leinemann Stiftung, Talentschmiede Dresden, Kulturstiftung Dresden, and Bezirkskulturfonds Berlin-Mitte.
