Ivy hazmat
2021
Digitally printed fabric hazmat suit
(film poster, and film stills of scenes for the collaborative film project curated by Kate Strain)
poster design by Sara Sadik featuring Elisabeth von Samsonow wearing the suit
Commissioned by curator Kate Strain for a film by artist and philosopher Elisabeth von Samsonow, as part of TULCA’s Unselfing programme for Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture, the Ivy hazmat suit was inspired by research at Trinity on the resilience of evergreens. The film project evolved according to the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, drawing initially from Samsonow’s research areas of eco-feminism, philosophy of the girl, Gaia mythologies, totemism, healers and water diviners, to search for answers underpinned by the question of the role of the contemporary goddess (or female figure in relation to the landscape) in Ireland today and in the context of climate change. The garment incorporates life-sized scans of pressed ivy and bears the names of endangered and vulnerable plants on the Red List of Irish Plants, epitaph-like and fading down the sleeves. On the back ‘She is Life’ is a reference to the Earth from von Samsonow’s text ‘The New Ecology’ in her Coronavirus statement on The Dissident Goddesses‘ Network.