(Printed silk fabric, meditation cushions, incense diffuser, and sound.)
The room simulation explored the aesthetics of meditation spaces and the recontextualization of disaster imagery within meme culture. Images of human-made catastrophes such as the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia, the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal, the missing submarine Titan, and many others were combined into a mandala and printed on silk fabric. The mandala, traditionally a symbol of harmony and spiritual focus, was thus reworked into a visual archive of crisis, presenting disasters as a repeated pattern rather than singular events.
Objects from the mindfulness market, such as meditation cushions and a room diffuser, created an environment that on one hand promised relaxation and calm, and on the other questioned the relationship between spirituality and consumption.
A sound installation developed with composer Gabor Csongradi further shaped the experience. It initially mimicked meditation music and gradually morphed into sounds associated with catastrophe, creating a sonic transition that mirrored the shift from comfort to crisis. The work invited viewers to reflect on how images of catastrophe are absorbed, aestheticized, and circulated, and on how the promise of inner peace is often marketed alongside a constant stream of alarming news and spectacle.
The work was part of Alicia Agustíns solo exhibition Funny yes but not Funny Haha at Kunstverein Hildesheim.
https://www.kunstverein-hildesheim.de/ausstellungen/funny-yes-but-not-funny-haha/
Funny yes but not Funny Haha was conceived as a site-specific work and developed collaboratively.
Concept, Installation, Mandala: Alicia Agustín
Artistic collaboration, exhibition design, production management: Charlotte Rosengarth
Project collaboration: Polly Bruchlos
Sound design and composition: Gabor Csongradi
📸 Frederik Preuschoft
