Photo (c) David Ristic
Encaged Freedom
Exhibition and Performance at Ars Electronica in Linz 2025
Mehrta and David from the current class participated in this year's Ars Electronica Festival Linz.
Their work is called "Encaged Freedom".
The project centers on an abandoned clay tennis court beside a hydroelectric plant that becomes a site of slowness, where nature reclaims and layered temporalities emerge. The clay absorbs speed, inviting grounded movement and attunement. Through a hydrofeminist lens, the site is not past but ongoing—an entanglement where care, decay, and regeneration coexist. Energy’s freedom meets the court’s stillness; stories ripple beneath, whispering of water, memory, resistance, and quiet transformation.
Mehrta's performance: "We Are All Bodies of Water"
Every day at 12:00 PM vessels gather clay and metal hands and voices.
Water is poured splashed shared.
Plants drink.
Skin is watered.
Sound travels through liquid air.
15 minutes
A daily ritual of flow care and connection.
Their work is called "Encaged Freedom".
The project centers on an abandoned clay tennis court beside a hydroelectric plant that becomes a site of slowness, where nature reclaims and layered temporalities emerge. The clay absorbs speed, inviting grounded movement and attunement. Through a hydrofeminist lens, the site is not past but ongoing—an entanglement where care, decay, and regeneration coexist. Energy’s freedom meets the court’s stillness; stories ripple beneath, whispering of water, memory, resistance, and quiet transformation.
Mehrta's performance: "We Are All Bodies of Water"
Every day at 12:00 PM vessels gather clay and metal hands and voices.
Water is poured splashed shared.
Plants drink.
Skin is watered.
Sound travels through liquid air.
15 minutes
A daily ritual of flow care and connection.
This project was led by Julia Herzog (project coordinator/head of project) for "Arts of Change" and supported by Noor Stenfert
Kroese.
Encaged Freedom
September 03, 2025
Location
Ars Electronica, Linz
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Students
- David Ristic (Exhibiting artist)
- Mehrta Shirzadian (Performance and Exhibiting Artist)
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Team
- Noor Stenfert Kroese (Organizer)