Join artists Claire Morgan, Oliver Ressler and Jasmina Cibic for a special discussion of their work and some of the wider themes in the exhibition touch Nature.
Artist, activist, and filmmaker Oliver Ressler has produced numerous exhibitions, installations, outdoor works, and films addressing democracy, racism, migration, economic globalization, and climate change. In his video works, Ressler documents mass actions of civil disobedience and resistance against environmental destruction and resource exploitation. According to Ressler “society’s focus must shift from growth and profit to resource conservation, the preservation of livelihoods, climate justice, and global redistribution.”
Jasmina Cibic's Ideologies of Display (2008) refers to the zoo pavilions at Dudley and London Zoos created in the 1930s by the architect Berthold Lubetkin and his group Tecton. These new modernist, panoptic exhibition structures allowed the viewer to observe animals at any time and from any position. Following and extending the work of Michel Foucault, Cibic shows how mechanisms of power also target non-human beings, turning them into objects of human observation and enjoyment.
In her fragile, poetic installations Claire Morgan explores the fundamental conditions of human existence. Dialogues between human and animal bodies reveal the deep connections between species and the Earth, highlighting shared vulnerabilities and the ambivalence of life.
Claire Morgan learned the craft of taxidermy in order to personally prepare the animals included in her works with sensitivity and care. All creatures are ethically sourced, having suffered accidental or unavoidable deaths. Her recent work places the animal body front and centre, without romanticisation or obscuring the unique vulnerability of that individual being. It impressively visualises the problematic attitudes humans have towards other species, driven by our fear of the unknown and lack of control.
Artist Biographies
Jasmina Cibic (b. 1979, Ljubljana, Slovenia) is a Slovenian artist and filmmaker based in London, UK. She studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia (1998–2003) and earned an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College London (2003–2006). Working across film, installation, and performance, her practice examines the relationship between art, architecture, and political power. Recent exhibitions include Most Favoured Nations at Museum der Moderne Salzburg (2022), Stagecraft – Une mise en scène du pouvoir at Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon (2021), The Palace at Museum Sztuki Łódź (2021), and The Foundation of Endeavour at Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana (2020). She represented Slovenia at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013). Awards include the Film London Jarman Award (2021), B3 Biennial of the Moving Image Award (2020), MAC International Ulster Bank and Charlottenborg Fonden prizes (2016), and Best Artist’s Film at Aesthetica Film Festival (2024).
Claire Morgan (b. 1980, Belfast, UK) is an Irish artist based in Gateshead, UK. She studied Fine Art, sculpture, at the University of Northumbria, graduating with First Class honours, and completed Foundation Studies in Art and Design at the University of Ulster. Morgan’s work explores nature, human fragility, and environmental themes through sculpture and installation. Recent exhibitions include You will not stop here at Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (2024), Hold me tightly lest I fall at Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, Krems (2024), and I only dared to touch you once I knew that you were dead at Galerie Karsten Greve, Köln and Paris (2023). Other notable shows include A tentative strategy for a renewal… at Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris (2021) and Joy in the Pain at Saarlandmuseum Moderne Galerie, Saarbrücken (2021).
Oliver Ressler (b. 1970, Knittelfeld, Austria) is an artist and filmmaker based in Vienna. Ressler studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He works in installation, public projects, and film, addressing topics such as economy, democracy, climate emergency, civil disobedience, and societal alternatives. His recent exhibitions include Dog Days Bite Back at Belvedere 21, Vienna (2024); Hothouse Planet Breakout at Leeds Arts University, UK (2024); and Living Investment Risk at BITDB Space, Beijing, China (2024). Earlier exhibitions include Deadly Serious, Living Alive at Museo Espacio, Aguascalientes, Mexico (2023) and Barricading the Ice Sheets at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin (2023). He has received the ZKM International Media Art Prize, Karlsruhe (2002), and the Swiss Prix Thun for Art and Ethics (2016).
