JOKE VDH
P004 → BIG SPLASH/ANEMANOS 2023
Ceramic Saltwater Garden with Videowork in the project SPHERE04-WATERWORLDhttps://www.sphere4.org
"What would it be like to live in a “ Waterworld”, how would we adapt, what does this imaginary stands for as a metaphor ?”
What is important for Joke Van den Heuvel’s interests and where she places the Ceramic salt water garden and her video work “ BIG SPLASH/ANEMANOS” is that it acknowledges the interconnectedness and complexity of ecological systems, the interdependence between plants, humans, and the underwater environment, highlighting the intricate relationships and entanglements that exist beyond traditional boundaries.
Emphasising the need to establish deep connections and reciprocity with the natural world, recognising that our existence is intertwined with that of plants, animals, and the land itself. By engaging with plants, animals and fungi intimately, we become active participants in the ongoing process of restoration, healing, adaptation and reciprocity, challenge dominant narratives and explore alternative ways of knowing and being.
The Ceramic Salt water garden was created to keep the imagination in the here and now. Talking to fisherman and local population that lives in close daily relation with the water and the sea, they adapt with the sea daily.
It aligns with Bayo Akomolafe's call to move beyond binary thinking and embrace the multiplicity and interconnectedness of life “to go into the forest to find the dark.” Advocating to embrace uncertainty and relinquish our desire for control over nature. Reevaluating dominant narratives, advocating for alternative perspectives, and promoting a more mindful and intentional engagement with the world.
As Teresa Castro writes in her essay ‘The Mediated plant” Van den Heuvel is interested in the metaphors and possibilities of creating new stories and ways of thinking plant intelligence can bring us.
Water is a powerful element that flows effortlessly, adapting to any shape and environment it encounters. The text of the video-work, with fragments borrowed from Joana Bértholo’s story “BIG SPLASH”, especially written for the Waterworld-project, combines water as an element with a self-invented imaginary of “Breathing hands” (aneMANOS/anemones, to be able to breath through your hands under the water) as symbols of human connection and agency. She explores the idea of Breathing hands, not only the act of respiration (to breath under the water) but also the capacity to offer hope and support to others. The idea of breathing in unbreathable spaces addresses the notion of finding resilience and strength in environments that are challenging, suffocating, or seemingly impossible to navigate. A translation of a Black Feminist Political context to a notion of being paralysed because of climate anxiety, originated out of reading “Undrowned, Black feminist lessons from Marine Mammals” by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. The hands stand metaphor for action, doing, to remind us of the importance of collective action and mutual support in the face of adversity. To invite to reflect on the transformative power of flexibility, resilience, and adaptation, to engage with the speculative and the unknown by diving into the realm of science fiction and imagining an Underwater-world.