“hands on nails” concluded with the event “Starting point:Exploration” which creates ties to supposedly unrelated areas such as nature, technology and music. Revisit the site via a filmic insight and find information about the individual performances here.
The Moss Nail Project is based on a novel by Tomoyuki Hoshino in which people get plant tattoos on their skin and let vegetables grow on their head in place of hair. When Maharu Maeno tried to live with moss growing on her fingernails, she found it to be an incredible challenge. In Maharu Maeno’s moss nail performance, intrepid visitors could get their own nails “mossed” and enjoyed the unique experience of being connected to another living organism.
As co-founder of Cyborgs e.V. (cyborg = hybrid consisting of a biological organism/body and machine), Nadja Buttendorf is interested in how the relationship between technology and the human body can be reimagined without necessarily succumbing to the logic of continuous optimisation. In Nadja’s magnetic Nail Art Studio, visitors were able to have their nails “magnetically enhanced”. With magnetic nails, one can perceive electromagnetic waves and pick up small metal objects with one’s fingernails.
Creating a protected environment where people can freely express their individuality and practise self-care
Building on her experience in fashion design, Camilla Inge Volbert has devoted herself to nails and nail art for several years. Her meticulously designed nails are high in demand and often featured in avant-garde photo shoots. Despite her established position, Camilla is familiar with the downsides of the branch. In her performance, she offered insights into her artistic work.
For Thams, nails are a playing field where conventional gender roles are split asunder. At his private studio Thams Does Claws, he offers a safe space for Berlin’s queer, trans, Black and indigenous people of colour (QTBIPOC) community. His aim is to create a protected environment where people can freely express their individuality and practise self-care. In his performance “Object of Love”, Thams transforms objects of emotional value, which visitors have brought with them – jewellery, lucky charms, songs or poems – into nail art.
For bauhaus stories, we have captured some highlights of the evening in a short film.