To the rottenness I say you are my father. And to the worms my sister and my brother

2025
solo show, Vorfluter, Berlin-Neukölln

Is history just a collection of archaeological speculations?
And how did human beings ever find it plausible that the world is neatly riven by an ontological divide?

In the work “To the rottenness I say you are my father. And to the worms my sister and my brother.” Toni Ehrhardt translates an ongoing research on the hierarchical relationship between humans and animals into an immersive performance, which is finally transferred into th exhibition.
The artist invents a story in the past that meanders between the latest scientific discoveries about the language of animals and speculative fabulations about a prehistoric civilization. In doing so, he uses a method that populist influencers actually use to make themselves heard.

What stories are we being told and what stories are we telling ourselves?

But the seeds planted in the past only appear to be past and are only partly fake. Through the performative language that Toni Ehrhardt uses in the project space, the content points to a future that can be shaped by all of us. It opens up perspectives that strive for a more hierarchy-free relationship with our animal relatives.Central to the entire work are three ceramics, which feed the story as archaeological objects and are also the main elements of the exhibition.

photos: Vorfluter