Latent Accumulations

Residual and in-between solid and fluid — paraffin pollution is a recurring concern in coastal environments, yet one that is inherently difficult to detect and classify. The exhibition »Latent Accumulations« traces the elusive activity of paraffin in the context of spillage and debris accumulation on the Baltic coast of the Curonian Spit in Lithuania, a UNESCO World Heritage Site adjacent to the Russian border.

Paraffin is a waxy substance derived from the industrial process of refining crude oil and intended to be inert but ›upsets‹ in its infinite plasticity and movement. As a byproduct of fossil fuel extraction and transport, the paraffin washed up on the coast is not a main pollutant in this seemingly pristine natural environment. However, it is a latent, dispersed substance that, mixed with sand, easily evades our attention. The muddiness of measuring this material manifests itself at various thresholds: in the phase transitions between solid and liquid states, between temporal scales of slow and sudden, and between the events of pollution, their materialization and maintenance.

»Latent Accumulations« gives insights into the site-specific research process that connects material investigations with local experiences and memories of shifting landscapes on the Curonian Spit. It gathers different voices and knowledges from actors who witness these changes and maintain this environment in ways that tell us more about the present and future politics of material mixtures. We ask: What tools can we imagine for studying such materials at thresholds of sea and land? How to collaboratively engage with materials that are themselves in motion? How can their traces be recognized as markers of larger ecological and geopolitical tensions?

The exhibition unfolds through three provocations along material samples, video documentation, and conversation fragments: A material is never alone — stable, isolated — but part of the processes of world-making, encountered in the landscape, surrounded by industrial infrastructures, and ongoing communal efforts of cleanup. Water decides what and when a material is takes water and wind currents as crucial actors in the frictional border regime, emphasizing what is in motion and always dealt with in retrospect. Conducting research at thresholds calls for patchiness in storytelling, highlighting an ongoing search and inviting knowledge to unfold collaboratively through the senses and speculations of many.

Guest exhibition as part of muddy measures. when wetlands and heritage converse exhibition of the Centre for Advanced Studies inherit. heritage in transformation.

Credits

The project is conducted at the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as part of the ＿matter festival and is pursued in collaboration with Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts, supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

Dates

Vernissage: Fri, 9 May 2025, 8:00–10:00 pm
Exhibition: 10–31 May 2025
Opening Hours: Tue–Sat, 2:00–6:00 pm

Closed on public holidays
Free admission

Team Credits

Project Lead Latent Accumulations: Léa Perraudin and Iva Rešetar
Video Documentation Latent Accumulations: Anna Luise Schubert
Curation muddy measures: Yoonha Kim, Juliana Robles de la Pava, Margareta von Oswald
Scenography muddy measures: Caspar Pichner, Fanny Welz
With Assistance by Anne-Karla Luedtke, Emma Jelinski

Public Program

9 May 2025, 6:30–8:00 pm
Roundtable »Latent Accumulations«

Alice Jarry (Concordia University, Montreal)

Egija Inzule (Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts)
Rafico Ruiz (Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal)

Peter Fratzl (MPI of Colloids and Interfaces)
Iva Rešetar and 
Léa Perraudin (Matters of Activity)


Moderation: Yoonha Kim (inherit)

The roundtable approaches materials at thresholds from different disciplinary positions in environmental media, architecture, design, curatorial practice, and materials science. We inquire into the “muddiness of measuring”, opening environmental concerns to questions of phase transitions, material memory and residues, through practices of witnessing, collecting and maintaining.

followed by Vernissage, 9 May 2025, 8:00–10:00 pm

10 May 2025, 11:00 am–3:00 pm
»Residual Imprints: Mapping Tempelhofer Feld's Material and Spatial Histories«
Site-specific workshop
Conducted by Alice Jarry in collaboration with Iva Rešetar and Léa Perraudin

Tempelhofer Feld sits at the intersection of its multifaceted past, present, and future. How can its material, spatial, and residual histories materialize into textures and traces? This free workshop invites participants to explore and experiment with accessible biocomposites to create a living archive and a collective imprint of the site. Drawing on a counter-mapping approach—a collaborative, sensitive, critical, and participatory cartography that challenges human and more-than-human relations—the activity proposes accessible ways to engage with the site's tangible and intangible dimensions using biomaterials. As an open system, Tempelhofer Feld can be explored through the verticality of its milieu—air, water, and soil—as well as the horizontality of its surfaces, where gardens, airport infrastructure, animals, plants, construction sites, community, sheltering, and leisure areas intertwine. The workshop promotes an inclusive and speculative dialogue around these porosities. No prior technical knowledge is required; the workshop is free, materials kits will be supplied, and everyone is welcome!