Kulturbeutel 2.0
Performative Installation on
Mental Hygiene and Body Culture
research
concept
text
multimedia
performance
exhibition
production
concept
text
multimedia
performance
exhibition
production
Kulturbeutel 2.0 is a performative exhibition that reimagines body hygiene as mental hygiene, using irony, care rituals, and visual storytelling to explore emotional wellbeing in a digitally overstimulated world. The title plays on the German word Kulturbeutel (toiletry bag) turning it into a symbolic toolkit for the mind.
Visitors pass through a cleansing ritual: phones and watches are sealed away, hands are misted with “happiness steam,” and time is symbolically paused. Inside, they encounter a meditation led by my fictional wellness persona Dalilama, who speaks in the surreal, seductive language of beauty product ads. This blend of parody and sincerity invites reflection on the aesthetics and expectations of self-care.
Illustrations throughout the space depict imagined “mental bacteria,” based on public survey responses: how might burnout or anxiety look if we could see them? Alongside these, I share part of my own process: the emotional labor behind the work, my struggles, and how rituals of body care became small acts of survival.
Created as my bachelor project at the University of the Arts Bremen, Kulturbeutel 2.0 was nominated for the university’s annual award and exhibited during the open house.
Visitors pass through a cleansing ritual: phones and watches are sealed away, hands are misted with “happiness steam,” and time is symbolically paused. Inside, they encounter a meditation led by my fictional wellness persona Dalilama, who speaks in the surreal, seductive language of beauty product ads. This blend of parody and sincerity invites reflection on the aesthetics and expectations of self-care.
Illustrations throughout the space depict imagined “mental bacteria,” based on public survey responses: how might burnout or anxiety look if we could see them? Alongside these, I share part of my own process: the emotional labor behind the work, my struggles, and how rituals of body care became small acts of survival.
Created as my bachelor project at the University of the Arts Bremen, Kulturbeutel 2.0 was nominated for the university’s annual award and exhibited during the open house.
