Aquarian Gardens live SoundwalkAquarian Gardens live Soundwalk

The soundwalk invites you to explore the (bio) diversity and complexity of The New Garden through the sensorial; to engage with The New Garden through the body as a space to connect to the feminine qualities of receptivity and coexistence to access other, more-than-human, possibilities of knowing and being. With an introduction and Q&A with Annika Kappner.

"Other animals, in a constant and mostly unmediated relation with their sensory surroundings, think with the whole of their bodies."_ (_David Abram, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology)

A guided live meditation created by artist Annika Kappner invites the visitor to explore the (bio) diversity and complexity of The New Garden; to connect himself to his surroundings and experience the hybrid, seemingly conflicting elements of the environment through the senses. Combining elements of the urban and social soundscape with information on healing properties and the diverse history of the plants inhabiting The New Garden, a new experiential dimension is created. Juxtaposing and blending sensory layers that are associated with specific concepts (eg. scientific, esoteric, class, ethnicity, exotic, indigenous, plant, animal, human, natural, artificial) the work seeks to unveil unconscious emotions and mental representations related to predominant dualistic ways of thinking and experiencing (social) space.

Annika Kappner creates multi-sensory compositions in the extended field of painting, combining installation, sculpture, sound and performance to create glitches in perception. Prompted by her experience as investment banker, her work is interested in the evolution of consciousness, the shifting perception of (self) image in relation to mental patterns and the underlying forces that shape their systemic counterparts in nature, visual arts, technology and science. She seeks to add experiential perspectives to the contemporary relationship between human, nature and technology, addressing concepts of non-duality and otherness. She is a co-founder of the multi-disciplinary artist collective Elephants & Volcanoes.

Aquarian Gardens has been made possible with a contribution by Gemeente Rotterdam.

Annika Kappner creates multi-sensory compositions in the extended field of painting, combining installation, sculpture, sound and performance to create glitches in perception. Prompted by her experience as investment banker, her work is interested in the evolution of consciousness, the shifting perception of (self) image in relation to mental patterns and the underlying forces that shape their systemic counterparts in nature, visual arts, technology and science. She seeks to add experiential perspectives to the contemporary relationship between human, nature and technology, addressing concepts of non-duality and otherness. She is a co-founder of the multi-disciplinary artist collective Elephants & Volcanoes.