A Sour Place:
Embodied Metabolisms &
Fermented Narratives
Performed at SKOGEN, 2024A Sour Place: Embodied Metabolisms and Fermented Narratives, is a performative investigation of lactic acid production across different worlds. The work is presented as a durational performance-installation in collaboration with DJ and artist Jamie Hudson who is composing and remixing live soundscapes for the duration of the piece. Lactobacillus Acidophilus are acid-loving milk bacteria and instrumental in lacto-fermentation of food and beverages, they also play a pivotal role in several beneficial microbial processes in the body. A type of anaerobic respiration is carried out by the L. Acidophilus bacteria and by your own muscle cells when you work them hard and fast. That an identical chemical process can take place in these different contexts, in our muscles and in a pickle jar(!), opens up thoughts about bio-political aspects of non-anthropocentric relations between human and more-than-human spaces.
DJ: Jamie Hudson / Recovery Drink: Kristin Bergman & Andreas Engman / Costume: Annie Johansson / Scenography: Annie Johansson & Andreas Engman / Light Design: Fabian Roos & Andreas Engman / Performance: Andreas Engman / Photography: Hendrik Zeitler
Duration: 3 hours
The installation incorporates the following works:
The Cucuscle, 2024
Styrofoam, cucumber, postcard with illustration by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1864)
The Harness and The Leaky Vessel, 2024
Jacket made out of handwoven fabric (metal thread and mercerized cotton), harness
Musclecumbers, 2024
Cutting board, acrylic glass and collage
You Are What You Eat, 2024
High protein, low fat bar
Accelerationist Vaginal Flora, 2024
Fermentation jar, lacto-fermented peaches and 10 speed vibrating veggie
Shamanic Microbes, 2024
pickle juice flavored recovery ferment
Well, We're In a Real Pickle Now You and Me, 2024
Punching bag, metal chain, textile