FeralAIR 2024

"Speculative realities." This is what Maria Nalbantova calls the narratives that she wants to inspire through her work. When it comes to site-specific works, It is particularly important to her to include the socio-economic and historical context of the respective location. She is an artist in residence for the European Union's project WaterLANDS.

Maria's project aims to highlight critical issues in water treatment and conservation while speculating on our future access to water. How do changes in the composition of the water, for example due to pollution, affect the ecosystem? And how can this changes be made visible? Maria is also experimenting with plants from the banks of the Salzach and using them to make DIY biomaterials. In this way, the project highlights opportunities and risks in the relationship between humans and the environment in a variety of ways.

What Maria particularly appreciates about the FeralAIR residency is the exchange with other artists. At Schmiede Hallein, people don't just work alongside each other; the focus is on collaboration and sharing. It is this approach, that makes truly interesting ideas emerge.

Luminous Touch is an interactive project that explores and redefines touch through two innovative suits covered with joysticks, combining technology and art. It explores human connection, offering new perspectives on intimacy, empathy, and communication, while creating a platform for creative interactions.

For Alexandra and Matthias, a residency like FeralAIR is an ideal opportunity for implementing projects like the current one. It offers time and space to take their ideas to a new level and create a prototype. But then again, Schmiede Hallein offers more than that: a place where people work together lovingly and respectfully. In the spirit of a shared interest in exchange and networking.

Do materials like salt, commonly referred to as "dead," have their own rhythm, their own beat, their own chronology? And what changes in our view of the world when we ignore our typical division into living and non-living matter when looking at geological formations? Daniela's project at FeralAIR aims to challenge deeply rooted hierarchical structures in Western scientific thought through collaborative artistic and theoretical practices. The project seeks to dismantle oppressive systems and categorizations and to promote dialogue and collaboration between different forms of natural inquiry.

Although Daniela was only able to take part in half of the residency due to illness, she was fascinated by the open work processes at Schmiede Hallein. An important reason for her participation was the place itself. Hallein is known for its history in salt mining and the area became a real-life laboratory for the artist's work.