Communal Dreaming with Chris Paxton

Eine solastalgische Koch- und Hörperformance

Solastalgia is a neologism, formed by the combination of the Latin word sōlācium (comfort, ease, solace) and the Greek root -algia (pain, suffering, grief), to describe a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental changes. The term was coined in 2005 by philosopher Glenn Albrecht, who described it as “the homesickness you have when you are still at home.” How do we experience comfort or pain together on a disappearing planet? Can we dream the future through the darkness of our present? What sonic ecologies can we bring to life by listening and dreaming collectively? Let’s stew on this together for a while…

A vegetable curry, perhaps a prime example of comfort food, will be prepared collectively with the ingredients and tools we have at hand as we share our feelings, desires and dreams for a disappearing Earth. Participants are invited to contribute to a soundscape while preparing the meal together. Sonic contributions can take the form of a poem, a dream, a text, or otherwise, so long that it resonates with the question: Now, what are our dreams for Earth?

Come as you are. All are invited to cook, share and listen. Silence is welcomed.

Chris Paxton

Berlin-based culinary artist Chris Paxton, host of the seasonal artist dinner-listening event Dreams at Kwia, also co-founded Lucky You Studios, curating unique dining experiences for clients such as Highsnobiety and Resident Advisor. As chef-in-residence at Nuova Atlantide in 2023, he explored movement, language, and landscape. His work, featured in Planetary Embodiments, includes “Recipes in Ruins,” a collaboration with Maia Magoga, blending magical recipes with dreams for the future. Chris’s immersive culinary art, rooted in cyclical time and local specificity, fosters collective visions through shared meals that transcend the table. His work challenges environmental (dis)connections and confronts the haunting of food cultures by capitalist and colonial histories. In a collaborative dreamscape, Chris weaves sound and food, proposing a culmination of desires expressed through commensality, collaboration, and listening.

Belia Winnewisser

Producer and DJ Belia Winnewisser lives and works in Zurich.
For the completion of her studies in music and media art Belia tried to combine sound art and pop music in her work. With her first album Radikale Akzeptanz,
released by Präsens Editionen, she succeeded in doing just that. In addition, the release gave her an international perception. On July 2nd 2021 Belia’s second album SODA appeared likewise on Präsens Editionen. With this album, the artist marked another milestone in her solo career and she solidified her approach to
sound production. The media response to the release showed that Winnewisser had not only found her own way with it, but also an exciting one. A year later the
EP Mother Earth Took Poison In Her Soil was released on the Frankfurt label Die Orakel which presented Belia’s refreshing approach to club music.
Besides her work as a producer, Belia is resident DJ at Kapitel Bollwerk in Bern and enjoys various bookings. Belia’s DJ sets are bursting with energy and emotion and are characterised by her sense of rhythm and tension.