What role does curiosity play in artistic research?
What is my relationship to it?
How does it manifest itself in artistic aesthetic processes?
Facts about the project:
a. an artistic research project on a plant on the Greek island of Santorini
b. Master’s thesis in Culture/Aesthetics/Media
c. Travel dates: September 2024
d. Presentation in progress
“In search of curiosity” is part of my ongoing artistic research into perception, attention, and social interaction.
Only a section is visible here:
On my search for curiosity, I learned about the history of a plant that was cultivated on Santorini more than 3500 years ago, before a volcanic eruption buried its traces. I set out to find these traces in 2024 and explored my curiosity about it. I wanted to learn more about this plant because I was fascinated by the fact that it was already being cultivated as food on Santorini during the Minoan culture. I recorded my search in 4 sketchbooks. How did this plant end up there again? What is its significance for people today?
I have developed my own evaluation strategy for this, which is based on Andrea Sabisch’s approach to recording.
From drawings, photographs and notes, videos and audio recordings of conversations, I was able to formulate important elements of my own curiosity. Encounters and irritation play a major role, as does dealing with ignorance, through which observations of things that are more on the periphery suddenly pop up.
How can such a large amount of material from aesthetic practice be evaluated and presented at all?
Something can be told from this research in many ways, with the focus on curiosity or more on the plant.
As an analogue summary, a leporello has been created so far, which shows the history of the pea on one side and the history of my search for curiosity on the other.
As part of the Photoszene Festival on the theme“Photography and Feelings”I invited people to my studio for a day on Saturday, May 17, 2025, spread out my material and talked to other people about their curiosity. There were many small details to discover and exciting conversations about curiosity and the pea.
I am currently applying for opportunities for an installation in public space (in Cologne, where the search began, and in Greece, where the search took me).
The interweaving between the representation of a search and a subjective narrative about a plant that is important for people on Santorini can perhaps only happen by trying out different contexts. I see a particular potential in public space, as the image of Santorini in the media, especially in social media, usually paints a completely different picture, one that is characterised by sunsets and masses of tourists. It could be an exciting impulse to put the examination of this old plant species, its significance for Santorini today, the challenges of agriculture with climatic changes and tourism on the island – all this into the analogue space.
I welcome tips and invitations to present the project.
I have written an article for the blog of the Montag Stiftung Kunst und Gesellschaft, which provides further insights into the process and my experiences with its presentation. The focus of the following summary was on the search for curiosity.
