Fuzzy Earth

Fuzzy Earth
The Belly Knows Before the Brain

Press interviews: on request on 15.10.2025 at presse@kunsthauswien.com

Press release

What our gut feeling tells us: long before our brain can grasp it, our belly already senses when something becomes unbalanced. Human metabolism is strongly linked to planetary cycles. Our body supplies itself with nutrients, stores energy and eliminates the indigestible. This continuous cycle sustains life. But how can we imagine a planetary metabolism?

The very ordinary and yet still mysterious process of digestion is a complex system that is kept in balance by countless organisms and in turns keeps our organism in balance. Our immune system, our mental health and even our cognitive skills are closely linked to digestive processes. The Belly Knows Before the Brain proposes a change of perspective on digestion and metabolism: from a purely human bodily function towards an ecological practice in which multiple species participate.

The exhibition is responding to the ecological crises that disrupt the metabolic flows of our planet, such as soil degradation, weakened nutrient cycles or the overexploitation of finite resources like phosphorous. It also addresses societal attitudes and emotional relationships to compost and decay, which are mainly characterised by discomfort and alienation. Fuzzy Earth approaches these notions with ecological understanding and emotional sensitivity.

They view decay not as a threat but as a natural part of life and as fertile ground for new beginnings. The exhibition envisions digestion as a reciprocal choreography between species and times. The site-specific installation is conceived as the belly of the universe. Within its gurgling, bubbling interior, digestion becomes spatially, sensorially and collectively tangible. Planetary digestive organisms, embodied as ceramic and wooden sculptures, inhabit the space. At once sculpture and tool, they encourage human interaction and support the flow of the collective metabolism. Woollen objects offer spaces of rest and, after human contact, they become hosts for new microbial life. A compost heap in the courtyard, maturing through nurture provided by visitors, connects the interior with the exterior. Shaped by fermentation, composting and nutrient cycles, the exhibition transforms into a living system – a space that is at once a kitchen, compost and multispecies commons.

The Belly Knows Before the Brain does not seek answers but encourages us to practice attentiveness. The exhibition hence creates a space where we can trust the knowledge of the body, the intelligence of microbes and the generosity of decomposition. Decay never signifies mere loss; it is always the beginning of new relationships.

Curators
The exhibition and the Public Programme were curated by Stephan Kuss and Veronika Hackl.

Biography

Fuzzy Earth (Tekla Gedeon and Sebastian Gschanes) take a research-based working approach and position their work at the intersection of architecture, design, art, agriculture and technology. Their practice combines material experimentation, ecological storytelling and speculative design to rethink human–nonhuman relationships.

Tekla Gedeon studied architecture at the AA School in London and is currently pursuing a PhD at MOME in Budapest on food and narratives in ecological art. Sebastian Gschanes is a gardener, landscape architect and researcher, exploring nature, ecology and agriculture, in both practice and theory.

Exhibition Publication

As part of the exhibition, an accompanying publication will be released on 13 November 2025. Designed by Extraplan, along with views of the exhibition, work-in-progress materials and research documentation, the publication features an extensive and detailed joint essay by Fuzzy Earth and the curators Stephan Kuss & Veronika Hackl. A many-voiced glossary augments the main essay, with contributions from Yeonwoo Chang (compost collective), Daniel Fernández Pascual & Alon Schwabe (Cooking Sections), Tekla Gedeon & Sebastian Gschanes (Fuzzy Earth), Veronika Hackl, Katrin Hornek, Adam Hudec (Dusts Institute), Stephan Kuss, Antonia Kollreider, Emanuel Mauthe and Bettina Riedl.
The publication is in English.

Opening

Wed, 15. October 2025, 19:00

Public Programm

The Table is Set for More Than Us

Workshop
With Fuzzy Earth (Tekla Gedeon & Sebastian Gschanes)
Sat 18.10.2025, 14:00-17:00

Artist Talk & Book Launch

With Fuzzy Earth (Tekla Gedeon & Sebastian Gschanes) and curators Stephan Kuss & Veronika Hackl
Thu 13.11.2025, 19:00

Licking Licking Stones

Workshop in coopation with Vienna Art Week
With Fuzzy Earth (Tekla Gedeon & Sebastian Gschanes)
Fri 14.11.2025, 17:00–20:00

Forum Gut Feeling

Discussion
Fri 12.12.2025, 18:00–19:30

Future Talk: Climate X Change

Are We All Compost?
Thu 22.01.2026, 18:00–19:30
In cooperation with Kurier.

Only Over My Decomposing Body!

Workshop
With Fuzzy Earth (Tekla Gedeon & Sebastian Gschanes)
Sat 24.01.2026, 14:00–17:00

Curator’s Tour

With Stephan Kuss & Veronika Hackl

Das Wissen im Bauch und das Wissen der Erde

Schoolworkshop on request kunstvermittlung@kunsthauswien.com

EXHIBITION VIEWS
Fuzzy Earth. The Belly Knows Before the Brain