Saturday Hangout: Because, you say ‘I’ for me

Nocebo (2018), both illness narrative and auto-theoretical essay, follows Youden’s relationship and recovery from depression and CPTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder). While telling of her use of lucid dreaming as a form of treatment, she also toys with the misogynistic framing of these illnesses and the development of her sexuality as demonic possession. The artist further presents a timeline of diagnoses related to the changing perception of the femme body and mind, how it has been pathologised, controlled and abused, coinciding with the decline and erasure of plant-based and traditional medicine during the growth of monotheistic religions and capitalism in Europe.

Those stones which also express themselves at dawn (2021) is a sound piece by Youden in collaboration with Florian TM Zeisig. Its composition comprises the electromagnetic waves emitting from the Emma Kunz Grotto. Kunz discovered the healing stone AION A on this site, and many visit today to experience its healing energy. The piece also includes a singing bowl and field recordings made in the grotto over a 12-hour visitation by Youden and Zeisig on 8 May 2021. This piece was originally exhibited with the installation Peering through a Half-Open Door (2021) in the exhibition Cosmos Emma Kunz. A Visionary in Dialogue with Contemporary Art at Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (CH), 2021.

During the listening session, mugwort tea (artemisia vulgaris) will be offered to the audience. In the Middle Ages, mugwort was said to be a plant that protected from evil possession. Today, mugwort is more commonly known as the ‘dream’ herb. It can enhance the remembrance of dreams, while it is primarily used to activate a lucid dreaming state or astral projection while in a meditative trance or when taken before falling asleep. Mugwort’s medicinal effects are particularly beneficial for the reproductive system. It is a powerful emmenagogue that eases menstrual difficulties, irregularity or a weak menstrual flow. Please note that the herb should not be ingested by anyone pregnant or breastfeeding due to this.

Lauryn Youden was jointly invited with Jette Büchsenschütz / TQW Research Affiliation.