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Art x Science Office

POROUS MATTER

A Performance by Anna Anderegg in collaboration with University of Zurich

© Theresa Maria Forthaus

What if we were to understand the body not as a closed organism, but as an open network of relations?

POROUS MATTER is an interdisciplinary performance that explores the permeability – the porosity – of the body and its relationship to organisms beyond the human.

Developed by Anna Anderegg in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of scientists and artists, POROUS MATTER conceives of the body as a living community inhabited by microbes, fungi, and cell colonies that shape our metabolism, our perception, and our very being. The body is approached as an archive in which evolutionary memories, fossil traces, and microbiological stories are inscribed.

The performance unfolds at the intersection of physical and virtual worlds. Through the interplay of video, mirrors, and sound textures, the performers’ bodies merge with digital structures, multiply, fragment, and oscillate between solid and fluid states.

Through the combination of movement, sound, and image, an immersive space emerges – transforming like a living membrane: layered, breathing, and in constant transformation.

 

PERFORMANCES
Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel
Sat, 6 December 2025
Sun, 7 December 2025

Uferstudios, Berlin (DE)
Fri, 30 January 2026
Sat, 31. January 2026
Sun, 1 February 2026

Bildstörung, Detmold (DE)
Fri, 22 May 2026
Sat, 23. May 2026
Sun, 24 May 2026

Additional Information

Team

Artistic Direction: Anna Anderegg
Curation: Dr. Katharina Weikl, Art x Science Office, Universität Zürich
From & With: Julia B. Laperrière, Lucia Gurgeli, Selina Shida Hack, Waylon D‘Mello
Dramaturgy: Nina Willimann
Scenography & Artistic Mediation: Szandra Tebbe
Sound Design: Marco Barotti
Costume Design: Antoniya Ivanova
Light Design & Technical Direction: Trécy Afonso
Video Editing: Milica Slacanin
Media Design: Rahul Sharma
Video Documentation: Swan Park
Distribution: Laurence Lang
Communication: Cécile Rey
Choreographic assistance & performed text: Laureline Richard
Textile printing: House of U
Scenography Realisation: Elie Peuvrel
Creative Engineering: Hémisphère
Metal Construction: Ferdi Hansen

Research collaborators

Prof. Debjani Bhattacharyya – Department of History, University of Zurich
Prof. Adrian Egli – Director of the Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich
Prof. Jan Fehr - Departement Public & Global Health
Prof. Helen Keller – Climate Justice, Faculty of Law, University of Zurich
Peter Müller – Zoologist
Dr. Gaetana Restivo – Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich
Dr. Claudia Röösli – Remote Sensing Laboratories, University of Zurich
Prof. Marcelo Sánchez – Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Zurich
Prof. Michael Scharl – Head of Gastroenterology, University Hospital Zurich
Dr. Maarten Schledorn – Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich
Camille Schneiter – Department of History, University of Zurich
Prof. Marcel van der Heijden – Agroscope

Partners

Bildstörung Festival, Detmold, DE
CCHAR, La Chaux-de-Fonds, CH
Hangar21, Detmold, DE
Kunsthaus Biel, Biel, CH
Tanzfabrik, Berlin, DE
Théâtre de Liège, Liège, BE
Uferstudios, Berlin, DE

 

With the generous support of
Stadt Biel
Kanton Bern
Ernst Göhner Stiftung