How to Become an Island?
The Showroom, 2023
A new special editon of the project How to Become an Island? was created for DTAFA's solo show at Q21 Schauraum, MuseumsQuartier Vienna.
commissioned by
University of Applied Arts Vienna (Digital Arts)
part of
DTAFA’s solo show at Q21 Schauraum, MQ Vienna, 2023
supported by
University of Applied Arts Vienna (Digital Arts)
Bezirk Neubau
press
BLOK Magazine
ALL IMAGES © SARAH FRANZL (UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED)
"We become with each other or not at all”
(Donna Haraway)
What would it mean to provide our bodies to the survival and needs of another species? Hovering between distant curiosity and radical affection the Danube Transformation Agency for Agency (DTAFA) opened their bodies and hearts to a small Danubian bird species: the Little Ringed Plover.
For decades the Danubian river banks were shaped for the needs of humans alone. The loss of habitats made the birds’ population decline. By proposing to provide your body parts as breeding ground to the bird, DTAFA asks which role the individual could take in an age of man-made ecological change.
Put on some gravel, take a sip of the Bird Island Ice Tea and remain still as long as you can!
For this specific location, the project How to Become an Island? was transformed into DTAFA’s own showroom, teasing the 4-step-training-course to become an island for the Little Ringed Plover.
On 4 screens the different steps were demonstrated, while loveletters to the bird were flickering through an LED panel and the space was covered with an egg-like textile. In between, you could spot various props, like training eggs of the bird.
© DTAFA
A virtual-reality-station provided visitors a training possibility to learn how to spot the birds' eggs in the gravel.
