GMU:Patterns/Xenia Günther - Revision history

XeniaGünther at 13:31, 20 April 2026

2026-04-20T13:31:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:31, 20 April 2026
Line 41:		Line 41:
	'''Who is allowed to show their body? Who is allowed to speak about it? And whose experiences are systematically excluded?'''		'''Who is allowed to show their body? Who is allowed to speak about it? And whose experiences are systematically excluded?'''

	Within patriarchal structures, the maternal body is often either idealized, controlled, or hidden and rarely shown in its actual reality. The last years i have seen more works and science about ~~menstruation and disseas~~, but sspecially processes like lactation, exhaustion, repetition, and care are not considered worthy of representation.		Within patriarchal structures, the maternal body is often either idealized, controlled, or hidden and rarely shown in its actual reality. The last years i have seen more works and science about female-coded bodys, but sspecially processes like lactation, birthing-exhaustion, repetition,menstruation and care are not considered worthy of representation. And my goal is it to bring some of those topics on the table of the artworld.

	My projects operates within the field of Artistic Research, combining personal experience with theoretical, historical, and scientific perspectives. I’m also interested in connecting to scientific research, for example through potential collaborations with the Universitätsklinikum Jena, where work on breast milk and neonatal care is already happening.		My projects also operates within the field of Artistic Research, combining personal experience with theoretical, historical, and scientific perspectives. I’m also interested in connecting to scientific research, for example through potential collaborations with the Universitätsklinikum Jena, where work on breast milk and neonatal care is already happening. Doing my own research in the BIO-Lab is also something i want to go deeper.

	'''The core artistic format of the project is a performance.'''		'''The core artistic format of the project is a performance in public.'''

	The performance is based on the rhythm of milk pumping. Every two hours, I enter a defined space and put on a custom-made textile piece inspired by a pumping bra. The costume includes tentacle-like extensions with integrated headphones.		The performance is based on the rhythm of milk pumping. Every two hours, I enter a defined space and put on a custom-made textile piece inspired by a pumping bra. The costume includes tentacle-like extensions with integrated headphones. (I love Octopuss, they are my most favorite animals and i feel comfortable with this decission + i guess 8 Arms/ 8 hearts / 8 brains are a nice metaphor what u need to do as a birth-giving person when you are caring for a newborn)

	I then sit down for 15 minutes, which reflects a typical pumping cycle. I don’t perform in an expressive or theatrical way. I simply remain in that condition of waiting, existing, passing time.		I then sit down for 15 minutes, which reflects a typical pumping cycle. I don’t perform in an expressive or theatrical way. I simply remain in that condition of waiting, existing, passing time.
Line 61:		Line 61:
	The space itself can shift between an intimate, almost domestic environment and a more analytical, research-based setting, including visual and scientific material about milk and the body.		The space itself can shift between an intimate, almost domestic environment and a more analytical, research-based setting, including visual and scientific material about milk and the body.

	This project also reflects a feminist stance. It resists the extraction and display of the body as a resource, and instead reclaims it as something relational and situated.		This project also reflects a feminist stance. It resists the extraction and display of the body as a resource, and instead reclaims it as something relational and situated. It also work as a empowerment for myself an other birth-giving people.

	Overall, the project aims to make visible what is structurally hidden. It brings together xenological thinking, feminist theory, and embodied knowledge to challenge dominant image politics and to open up space for experiences that are usually excluded from representation.		Overall, the project aims to make visible what is structurally hidden. It brings together xenological thinking, feminist theory, and embodied knowledge to challenge dominant image politics and to open up space for experiences that are usually excluded from representation.

XeniaGünther: Structure, Workflow

2026-04-20T13:22:29Z

Structure, Workflow

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 '''ARTISTIC RESEARCH IN MOTHERHOOD // PREGNANCY, BIRTHING & PARENTING'''
 _____________________________
@@ Line 51: / Line 67: @@
 _____________________________________
-SOURCES: // i have researched by now and will continue diving deeper
+The work in the field of BIOLAB and scientific reworking my Milk is something i want to develop in future and after getting into Biolab + into University clinicum Jena contact.

XeniaGünther at 13:19, 20 April 2026

2026-04-20T13:19:06Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:19, 20 April 2026
Line 59:		Line 59:
	- (Feminist) Theory: Donna Haraway, Judith Buttler, Julia Kristeva, Bracha L. Ettinger, Foucault		- (Feminist) Theory: Donna Haraway, Judith Buttler, Julia Kristeva, Bracha L. Ettinger, Foucault

	- Artist Referenzes: Marina Abramovic, Adriana Knouf,		- Artist Referenzes: Marina Abramovic, Adriana Knouf, Patricia Piccini, Marni Kotak, Keirra O'reilly, ORLAN, VALIE EXPORT, Lisa Glauer, Irini Athanassakis

XeniaGünther at 13:15, 20 April 2026

2026-04-20T13:15:58Z

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-MILK
+'''MILK'''
 My project is called ''"MILK"'' and it explores the concept of alienation through the experience of motherhood.
@@ Line 44: / Line 48: @@
 Overall, the project aims to make visible what is structurally hidden. It brings together xenological thinking, feminist theory, and embodied knowledge to challenge dominant image politics and to open up space for experiences that are usually excluded from representation.

XeniaGünther: MILK - Intro

2026-04-20T13:03:51Z

MILK - Intro

New page

MILK

My project is called ''"MILK"'' and it explores the concept of alienation through the experience of motherhood.

For my Masters I’m interested in divers form of the topic Alien & alienation, based on my biography, scientific backgrounds and artistic researches.

One part of this biographical alienation-feeling happened to me during pregnancy, birth, and especially in the postnatal phase of feeding and pumping milk. I have experienced conditions where the body becomes both deeply intimate and radically foreign at the same time.

In that sense, I connect my work to ideas from xenology, the study of the foreign or the alien. But instead of looking at outer space or external others, I’m turning this perspective inward. The “alien” is not outta space, it emerges within the body itself.

At the same time, the project is grounded in feminist theory, especially in relation to embodiment and care work. It builds on the idea that knowledge is not only produced intellectually, but through lived, bodily experience.

Even though every human being is born from a body, and most have been fed in some way, these processes are still largely absent from art, public discourse, and even institutional archives.

So my project starts from a simple but urgent question

'''Why is something so universal so invisible?'''

To approach this, I also look at the politics of images and visibility.

'''Who is allowed to show their body? Who is allowed to speak about it? And whose experiences are systematically excluded?'''

Within patriarchal structures, the maternal body is often either idealized, controlled, or hidden and rarely shown in its actual reality. The last years i have seen more works and science about menstruation and disseas, but sspecially processes like lactation, exhaustion, repetition, and care are not considered worthy of representation.

My projects operates within the field of Artistic Research, combining personal experience with theoretical, historical, and scientific perspectives. I’m also interested in connecting to scientific research, for example through potential collaborations with the Universitätsklinikum Jena, where work on breast milk and neonatal care is already happening.

'''The core artistic format of the project is a performance.'''

The performance is based on the rhythm of milk pumping. Every two hours, I enter a defined space and put on a custom-made textile piece inspired by a pumping bra. The costume includes tentacle-like extensions with integrated headphones.

I then sit down for 15 minutes, which reflects a typical pumping cycle. I don’t perform in an expressive or theatrical way. I simply remain in that condition of waiting, existing, passing time.

Visitors can approach and listen through the tentacles to the sound of a pumping machine. What is usually private and hidden becomes a shared sensory experience. And also the topic of people connecting to a birth-giving body is there. If i want or not, if i am birth-giving i am availabe for comments, contact and critique if i asked or not.

In this moment, the body is not represented visually, but translated through time, sound, and presence.

The work engages with embodiment as a duration and as something that has to be endured.

At the same time, the situation is open and unpredictable. I don’t control how people react. Interaction, discomfort, intimacy, or distance all become part of the work.

The space itself can shift between an intimate, almost domestic environment and a more analytical, research-based setting, including visual and scientific material about milk and the body.

This project also reflects a feminist stance. It resists the extraction and display of the body as a resource, and instead reclaims it as something relational and situated.

Overall, the project aims to make visible what is structurally hidden. It brings together xenological thinking, feminist theory, and embodied knowledge to challenge dominant image politics and to open up space for experiences that are usually excluded from representation.