Photo: Swamp_Matter
18 March – 18 April 2025
P74 Gallery
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The work of Swamp_Matter, a young collective formed by Eva Garibaldi and Ana Laura Richter, focuses primarily on ecology – specifically, on climate change and the impact of the Anthropocene on ecosystems. Their intermedia installation, Salinarum, aims to create a confrontation between bacterial organisms and humans. Extreme conditions that are escalating globally (rising temperatures, higher ocean salinity, climate change) call for reflection on how humans and other organisms will survive in the extreme conditions of the future. The point of departure of this project is a fascination with Halobacterium Salinarum, an extremophile organism that thrives in saline ecosystems (the picturesque photographs of the so-called pink lakes come to mind). In the project, the artists develop ecosystems populated by halophiles – organisms that thrive in extreme environments, specifically together with the salt mud Petola (a community of organisms) and the algae Dunaliella salina.
The production and decomposition of salt used in this installation illustrate a dynamic balance where life exists on the edge of survival. The artists conducted two experiments: the first plays with a gradual increase in salinity of the water populated by Dunaliella salina, and the second produces salt secreted by Petola, a layered structure of bacteria and archaea found in the salt evaporation ponds. As the salt concentration changes, this directly affects the extremophile organisms, revealing the limits within which life is possible – or is bound to collapse. This approach allows the artists to raise the question of how fragile ecosystems can exist and how quickly they can transition to a state where life is no longer possible while also emphasising the adaptability and diversity of life. The installation is complemented by video and audio elements: algae are magnified and projected onto the walls via microscopic video, with which the artists attempt to bring imperceptible processes in their size and tactility closer to the observer – when the algae are in lively movement and green tones, this signals rather favourable living conditions, but when they slow down and turn reddish-orange, the opposite is true.
The installation offers an understanding of the long-term consequences of anthropogenic factors – as a counterbalance to the seriousness of the topic and the aesthetics of the laboratory, the latter is complemented in the installation layout with the aesthetics of wellness, i.e. with a space created for humans to relax – and the ambient experience is created primarily with sound and lighting. Dunaliella salina, the algae used in this installation, is grown in laboratories primarily because it can accumulate high concentrations of β-carotene, an important ingredient in the cosmetics industry. Western mentality is permeated with the logic of comfort, whereby problematic facts that do not fit into our reality are overlooked – even when resorting to a »bubble of comfort«, the discomfort persists in the background. Such an atmospheric duality places the observer in a dilemma; instead of feeling at ease, one finds oneself in an environment that challenges precisely the perception of comfort and natural processes. What Swamp_Matter highlight in this project is that humans are not at the centre of all ecological processes; quite the contrary is true.
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The Swamp_Matter art collective was formed by Eva Garibaldi and Ana Laura Richter, who have been collaborating since 2022. They are primarily interested in ecological issues, climate change, and the impact of the Anthropocene on ecosystems. Their practice examines people’s relationship with environmental change, especially in the context of geological time running through marginal and capitalistically unproductive landscapes. They create spatial installations that intertwine digital media and speculative fiction. Their work has received support from the Aksioma’s U30+ 2024 programme, the Škocjan Caves Institute, the Creative Industries Fund NL, and the Cultural Euro #intermedia 2024 call of KinoŠiška.
Eva Garibaldi (1996) is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and researcher who lives and works between Rotterdam and Ljubljana. She graduated in Industrial Design from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana and completed the Master of Interior Architecture: Research + Design in 2021 with distinction from the Piet Zwart Institute (NL). Her work has been presented in numerous publications and exhibitions across Europe, including BIO27, Milan, Berlin, and Netherlands Design Weeks, Soapbox Journal, Art Rotterdam, and Garage Rotterdam.
Ana Laura Richter (1996) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher who graduated in Dramaturgy from the Academy for Theater, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana and completed her MA in Ecology Futures in 2022 at St. Joost School of Art & Design (NL). Her MA project was included in the The New Current 2023 exhibition.
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The exhibition is part of the Open Term for a Young Intermedia Artist series, which the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute has been running since 2016.
Sound: Klemen Brank
Thank you to: Ana Lokovšek, Eylem Atak, Marine Biology Station Piran, Brina Vidic, Gregor Stražar, Center Rog Metal Lab
