UNDER PRESSURE
exhibited at KMH Liechtenstein: HANDFest.
On the Significance of the Human Hand
Participatory Intervention / Installation by MUELLER-DIVJAK, developed within the framework of SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS, exhibited at KMH Liechtenstein: HANDFest. On the Significance of the Human Hand curated by Dr. Nadja Tomoum / Dr. Johannes Inama
Our hands are often our most important tools. With them we try to shape and to grasp the world and our lives. Yet these same hands, which so often throughout the day touch only the hard, smooth surfaces of smartphones and screens, are also the body parts through which we exchange the most touch and come into contact with other people and living beings. Everyday activities and psychological pressure repeatedly produce tensions we barely notice; under stress, we lose contact with ourselves and with others, and conscious touch falls short.
UNDER PRESSURE invited visitors to take a piece of clay into their hand, close it into a fist and press firmly – with a single instruction: to press everything that burdens them, in thought, into the clay. Over the course of the exhibition, the resulting pieces accumulated and were arranged as a spiral in the space: a potentially walkable installation that, in its fragility, could also be destroyed. The room was filled with the sound of a humming chorus.
Under Pressure is dedicated to the Australian Aboriginal artist Karen Casey (1956–2021), whose collaboration significantly shaped the artistic research project SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS
February – June 2026 – Küefer-Martis-Huus, Ruggell, Liechtenstein
SMARTPHONE FINGER MASSAGE
Participatory Performance / Intervention
What is a moment of analogue touch worth in a digital everyday?
The SMARTPHONE FINGER MASSAGE invited visitors to put down their digital device and, in a special atmosphere, to undergo an analogue, sensory experience. The massage was “paid for” with a photo stored on the smartphone – one that symbolised “connectedness” for the visitor.
The photo was temporarily projected onto the wall in the multisensory performance space. Scents and sounds created within the framework of SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS accompanied the intervention, a massage of the palms and fingers of the visitors, releasing tension and sharpening awareness of one’s own bodily sensations. It fostered calm, encouraged presence, and helped visitors experience the exhibition HandFest with alert senses.
May 2026
