In “RETE MIRABILE (counter-current)” biological bodies, fantastic figures and points of light flow together. The work is based on the idea that dynamic movement serves as a prerequisite for an ecosystem to exist as such.

In her work “RETE MIRABILE (counter-current)” Zurich-based artist Monica Ursina Jäger creates a multi-layered environment that appears detached from space and time. In the 7-minute video, biological bodies, fantastic figures and points of light flow together. The images are visually reminiscent of the optical effect created by a kaleidoscope. “RETE MIRABILE (counter-current)” raises questions about the interplay between organic and inorganic bodies. The artist focuses on the forces and counter-forces produced by these different bodies, as well as the currents to which the bodies are exposed. Through the work, it becomes clear that Jäger sees dynamic movement as a prerequisite for a system to exist as such. She is concerned with questioning the resilience of an intact ecosystem and making visitors aware of the vulnerability of our environment. Through the calm flow of movement, the camera work, and the accompanying music, Jäger creates a meditative character in her work.

Click here to see the video in full length.

On 11.11. at 18:30 the Research Talk “Fluide Resonanzen” will take place at Tanzhaus Zürich in the framework of Open Futures. This open conversation bringst together Monica Ursina Jäger with Lucia Gugerli (dance collective The Field, Tanzhaus Zürich) and Raphael Portmann (climate scientist at ETH).

Monica Ursina Jäger lives and works in Zurich and London. Her artistic work is characterized by a multidisciplinary reflection of spatial, landscape and architectural concepts. In drawings and installations she investigates how mechanisms of densification and interpenetration, of co-existence and co-habitation occur in living spaces; and subsequently, in what way this also shapes the imagination and the effective handling of landscape and urban development, nature and architecture. Interacting between the intuitive, the narrative, and the factual, the artist explores transformational processes of post-natural landscapes, natural resources, utopias, and dystopias, projecting her findings directly into the crises of the Anthropocene. Jäger studied at Goldsmith College in London until 2008. In 2007 she received the Swiss Art Award and had a solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thun in 2008. www.muj.ch