I AM A C.A.T. – SHELTER – INVESTIGATION

CATASTROPHES IN PARTICIPATORY OBSERVATION
Coming to the woods I firstly pressured myself into developing some kind of artistic idea, asking myself what I could build out of the material that the forest, the dells and hills were offering.
Upon entering the glade on which we settled I asked myself: as what are you entering this place? What is your purpose or your goal? At first, I forced myself to think about something that I could build, for me as well as for the group. Apparently, I had left the city, but the urge to work and be productive still lingered within me. Over the whole time, I could not lose this; the forest did not, as might be expected, heal the wounds that a city-centred lifestyle seems to rip open in one’s perception of the world. So, again: who am I here? A city person dwelling in the open fields, between thorny bushes and rotting leaves, between trees and soil, between water and waste. But I am no Thoreau, I am not the Unabomber fleeing society to beat my own path, a grudge against civilisation encased in my thoughts; I am an alien, I am a Catastrophic Animal on Terra and yet I am an alien to this rooted world.

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*Extract of text by Maximilian Gallo as published in *C.A.T.: Catastrophic Animals on Terra – A guidebook to life elsewhere. This book can be purchased from the Art & Science office. Please contact us on artscience@uni-ak.ac.at.