Chiara Schmitt

Angela, let’s share the experience of nature!

Going beyond the screen.

For this action, a selected word from the stretch selection would initiate going beyond the screen. For me and Angela it meant taking the word “Ecologically Literate” and thinking of how we can share the experience of being in Nature, even though we are not in the same place.

Ecologically Literate might mean exploring nature? Understanding nature? Feeling nature?

The central question that came up in our conversations was: How does nature communicate?

This action basically consisted of two parts. Influenced by one another. Relying on one another. One, was the idea of bringing nature to the place I am right now, even though I am nowhere near real nature. (I won’t risk to define what real nature is though, but speaking of the wild). The other one was sharing the space of nature over geographical and digital borders.

I tried to imagine being in nature. I tried to create an image in my head. What would nature feel like in a material I have at hand? The image of nature was firstly all in my head.

I thought of processes I wouldn’t see anyways in nature. But still these mysteries are there. Talking about cycles I tried to translate carbon, water and photosynthesis into fabric I had at home. How would these components look like in a material language?

carbon.

How would you see the carbon cycle in nature. Maybe you wouldn’t. But what come to mind by thinking of carbon is coal. The brittle, light, black and rough material that would leave dust on your hands, marks on your paper as everytime the material would scratch over a surface, pieces of it would remain. How could this scratching be translated?

water.

What about the water cycle, how can water be translated? Water is unpredicted and strong, yet sometimes almost still and delicate. It’s communicated with movements – tiny one that can scale up over time. With a “push-and-pull” movement of threads, this movement should be implemented in the fabric.

photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis is a complex cycle to translate. What the initial idea was, to find an own interpretation of it. I think of leaves, of organic structures, of reliances from one to the other when imagining photosynthesis. By using what I had left from the fabric, I tried sewing all round organic shapes together without any structure. The result reminds me a lot of a pile of leaves, a tree crown seesawing in the wind and combines the static and dynamic aspect of nature.

Making visible what is invincible.

When talking via the digital platform Zoom, Angela and me talked a lot about how nature makes us happy, how experiencing nature is all about using our senses. Angela literally took me to Mount Douglas and experienced with me nature. She would take pictures of things, you could only see by going close. By looking at those pictures I really felt like being in the woods, breathing the air and smelling the soil. Together with the previous explorations on fabric, the image of nature got more and more clear.

Yun, let me offer you a Zimtschnecke!

Terroir – an offering.

I love cooking and eating. So this action was an action I enjoyed so much. I was paired with Yun Xiao from China, and as an offering for her, I picked a sweet treat that actually originates from Sweden. It’s one of my greatest comfort foods. 

Why don‘t you tune in to some rain sound on YouTube and imagine that it is a cold, rainy autumn day, you had just cycled home from school and got soaking wet. But the moment you smell the cinnamon and butter in the air, you forget all your worries.

Enjoying Zimtschnecken is not just about eating them, it’s moreover about enjoying them with a coffee in some cozy place and overall: making them.

Zimtschnecke, Franzbrötchen, Kanelbulle, Kanelsnegle. There are a million words for this one simple treat I have so many personal memories with.  Zimtschnecken (Zimt = cinnamon, Schnecken= snails) as we commonly call them, are little treasures full of goodness. The soft texture of its dough, the sweet and warming cinnamon filling on the inside, and the insanely good smell make this dish a pleasure for the days when the temperature starts to fall. 

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the first Zimtschnecke. Probably I have simply eaten too many of them already. But I remember the mood that comes with the delight of a cinnamon roll. I cannot only remember a cinnamon bun imaginary. I can smell it while thinking about it.

You can get really creative with Zimtschnecken. There are tons of ways how to form a cinnamon bun but why not try to find new ways and finding the unique kind!

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Yun, let me cook some Jaijangmyun!

In return I received an amazing Chinese dish called Jaijangmyun – Fried Sauce Noodles! Yun described how this is a dish, she would make on her own when missing home while studying in the United States. It’s a feeling of comfort for her – cooking and enjoying this dish. 

I would sit down and write down which ingredients I would like to use, as Yun offered a lot of possibilities on that. I would go to the “Asia Supermarkt” in town and another grocery store. When I started cooking, my dad would suddently sneak into the kitchen and snack from the pan. The smell filled the air in our house and I really enjoyed the experience.

Pablo, let me explain what home means to me!

A conversation about home.

For this action I was paired with Pablo Mariano to talk about home. What is home? For both of us it was a pretty hard question to answer. Is it where our family lives? Is it where we connect the most? Could it even be a place we don’t know, yet? Pablo and I are both in a transit stage right know. I live “at home” right now, in my parent’s house but only since a few weeks – waiting to come to Vancouver soon. For me personally home is where I feel home.

Ge·bor·gen·heit /ɡəˈbɔrɡn̩ha͜it,Gebórgenheit/

We have a specific word in German that is used as a synonym for home, called “Geborgenheit”. There is no exact translation in English. What it implies is feeling secure and protected but at the same time being accepted of who you are and to be loved.

I do not believe you only feel home in the specific place where you live but there must be some kind of plurality of homes for everyone. Wherever we go we are probably adding another home, and leaving a place doesn’t mean losing a home. The feeling of home is probably for ever in our memories.

At first, I would show Pablo the landscape I live in via Skype. I took him to the vineyards and showed him around. Right now it’s actually the most beautiful time of the year as the onions and grapes are ripe and the owners and the locals help to harvest the grapes by hand in places, where the machines can not get through. Usually, you would then have the very first wine and some „onion-cake“ in the middle of the vineyards after you’re done picking. 

Further, I really wanted to share how to make an onion cake. It’s something I would only enjoy at home. In the setting of some new wine, friends and family around me and the sound of the regions awkward German accent.

After being more literal to the term „home“ we actually talked a lot about what we need to feel home and shared a lot about the culture itself, about food and drinks, gestures and ended up talking a lot about music. So we started sharing music on a Spotify list and talking about it. As music is part of Pablo’s work we shared our work and I feel we learned a lot about our countries, our cultures, our individual work, and our passions.

This action made me realize that my home is where I feel that I can be who I am and where I am accepted and loved for that. It’s not tied to a specific place but it is tied to people. My family and friends. But of course, to be who I am, my home needs to be a place where I can be creative and grow.