> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.catapult-platform.art/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Joulia Strauss Invites Visitors to Sit Beside a Monster Made of Yoga Mats - URL: https://www.catapult-platform.art/colossal-land-animal-rotor-contemporary-graz/ - Published: 2026-11-15T03:44:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-15T03:43:59.000Z - Description: Explore The Colossal Land Animal at < rotor > in Graz, where a velvet monster, a raw wool cave and a seed library answer the myth of Behemoth. - Author: Dominique Catherina Foertig - Tags: Exhibitions, Myth & Folklore, Nature & Ecology, Sculpture & Installation, Mixed Media & Textile, Painting, Video & Moving Image, Graz ## < rotor > Contemporary Presents The Colossal Land Animal in Graz **At < rotor > Graz**, a white monster made from discarded yoga mats is waiting for company. Visitors can sit beside Joulia Strauss's velvet-covered creature, but touching is off limits. ![exhbibition graz, rotor Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz: installation view of A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don't Know Yet, Part 2 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-installation-01.webp) Installation view, A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don't Know Yet, Part 2: The Colossal Land Animal, < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz, 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. It's one of the more unusual encounters in *The Colossal Land Animal*, an exhibition about transformation, resistance and the things we don't quite know how to face. **A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don't Know Yet, Part 2: The Colossal Land Animal** **Artists:** Francesca Aldegani, Catherina Jarau, Anna Mora Moll, Laila Reichenpfader, Oskar Jocham, Ernst Koslitsch, Folke Köbberling, Consuelo Méndez, Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić, Frenzi Rigling, Barbara Schmid, Joulia Strauss, Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau, Ralf Hoedt, Florian Perl **Exhibition:** A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don't Know Yet, Part 2: The Colossal Land Animal **Venue:** [ < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art ](https://rotor.mur.at/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **City:** Graz, Austria **Dates:** September 26, 2026 – January 9, 2027 On view September 26 to December 23, 2026, and January 7 to 9, 2027 **Address:** Volksgartenstraße 6a, 8020 Graz **Curators:** Margarethe Makovec and Anton Lederer **Photography:** Thomas Raggam, Ernst Koslitsch Part 2 of the series at **< rotor >** in Graz brings eleven contributions by artists, duos and collectives together with the AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL around Behemoth, the colossal land animal of mythological narratives, a figure taken from the writings of Báyò Akómoláfé. [A Parable for Endings and Beginnings - Rotor GrazRotor Graz presents A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don't Know Yet, Part 1: The Giant Bird, with artists exploring mythological creatures, from 29 May to 1 August and 24 August to 5 September 2026.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/icon/catapult-9848455e-3bae-4486-bdab-f4c3c157b23c.png)Catapult ContemporaryDominique Catherina Foertig![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/thumbnail/ernst-koslitsch-echo-keepers-rotor-graz-2026-01-b6123b77-2654-44c5-811a-cdd91d8b9d81.webp)](https://www.catapult-platform.art/rotor-graz-contemporary-the-giant-bird/) Part 1 - Graz Joulia Strauss shows a four-part sculpture of a scaly white creature made from fragments of yoga mats covered in velvet, and visitors may sit next to it but are asked not to touch it. ![Frenzi Rigling, rotor Graz: detail of It's Morphin Time, textile objects with braids and fur hanging from the ceiling ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-frenzi-rigling-detail-02.webp) ![Joulia Strauss, rotor Graz: detail of the scaly white velvet sculpture Sitting With the Monster, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-joulia-strauss-detail-01.webp) (left) Frenzi Rigling, It's Morphin Time (detail), 2019 / 2026, textiles, braids, fragments of fur and hair toupees. Photo: Thomas Raggam. (right) Joulia Strauss, Sitting With the Monster (detail), 2026, four-part interactive sculpture made from fragments of yoga mats covered in velvet. Photo: Thomas Raggam. ![exhibition graz, rotor contemporary, Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić, rotor Graz: banners, poster and Spalaxulum replica in room 4 in front of DEWOOL 2](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-rena-raedle-vladan-jeremic-room-4-view-12.webp) Room 4 with Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić, You Won't Dig and The Legacy of the Spalax, 2026, in front of Folke Köbberling, DEWOOL 2, 2018 / 2026, < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Folke Köbberling has turned 350 kilograms of raw wool from Carniolan stone sheep into a walk-in cave, and Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić show textile banners inspired by the resistance to mineral extraction in Serbia and designed to be carried at demonstrations. Barbara Schmid presses sunflowers into clay and fires them at 950 degrees. Below, < rotor >'s press information moves through the rooms, from the entrance to the atrium. ### Curatorial Words by < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art The exhibition is part of a thematic series focusing on mysterious creatures that appear across different eras and cultures. They accompany transformation, challenge the familiar, and can encourage us to embrace uncertainty and change. The second part focuses on a being that appears in mythological narratives as a colossal land animal. In Báyò Akómoláfé’s work, whose writings inspired the series of exhibitions, it is Behemoth. ![Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, rotor Graz: The Land Animal in the atrium, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-land-animal-courtyard-view-11.webp) Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, The Land Animal, 2026, performative object, atrium of < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The artworks in the exhibition navigate between heaviness and transformation, between grounding and oversaturation, as well as between order and carnivalesque dissolution. The land animal is conceived as a catalyst for pressure, inertia, and resistance, from which other forms of relation, action, and perception can be derived. As part of the exhibition, the AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL will also begin operations. And just outside, on Orpheumgasse, a parklet—a small green island—invites to pause. ### Ernst Koslitsch Ernst Koslitsch has created two sculptures, each over three metres tall, for the entrance to < rotor >. They stand in front of the ivy-covered columns, which are over 150 years old, and welcome both local residents and, of course, visitors to the exhibition series A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don’t Know Yet. Following the literal translation of the title, these are two “keepers of the echo”. They could also be seen as bearers, totems, or simply as markers or technical relics. ![Ernst Koslitsch, rotor Graz: Echo Keepers 1 + 2, two tall formwork panel sculptures at the entrance](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-ernst-koslitsch-echo-keepers-entrance.webp) Ernst Koslitsch, Echo Keepers 1 + 2, 2026, formwork panels, screws, paint, entrance of < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The two figures, which are inspired by early cave paintings, particularly those from Asia, currently appear (still) to be fragments of an unknown reference system. [Ernst Koslitsch](https://www.catapult-platform.art/author/ernst/) is interested in the moment when a series of symbols gives rise to a ritualised narrative, a myth. The artist constructs the figures using a material he has been working with and experimenting with for several years now. These are formwork panels of the kind used on construction sites. In doing so, he uses both new and previously used panels; in the case of the latter, he respects the signs of wear and deliberately incorporates them into his design. Ernst Koslitsch lives in Vienna. ### *Entrance room -* Frenzi Rigling Six textile objects are hanging from the ceiling of the entrance space, telling a story of the abundance of life. A life lived by countless human and other-than-human beings, preserved in fragments of fur, hairpieces and braids made from various materials. This is particularly true of the colourful ribbons with which Frenzi Rigling’s life is interwoven in a very special way: ![Frenzi Rigling, rotor Graz: It's Morphin Time, colourful textile objects hanging in the entrance space ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-frenzi-rigling-its-morphin-time-entrance-03.webp) Frenzi Rigling, It's Morphin Time, 2019 / 2026, textiles, braids, fragments of fur and hair toupees, entrance space of < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz. Photo: Thomas Raggam. “’It’s Morphin Time!’ is the legendary transformation chant with which the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers started their transformation process in the 1990s. Even today, I can still hear my children shouting that phrase to transform themselves and the characters. During that time, I asked my mother to sew 3 cm-wide ribbons from the scraps of fabric left over from the clothes she had sewn for herself and for me when I was a child and a teenager. Ever since then, these ribbons have been a constant companion to me, evolving into various artworks and presentations.” Frenzi Rigling lives in Vienna and Obermarkersdorf. ### Joulia Strauss Sitting With the Monster Four-part, interactive sculpture made from fragments of yoga mats covered in velvet; mural, 2026 In the entrance space, we come across a scaly creature split into four pieces, which has taken its place on the seating areas just as naturally as visitors to < rotor > can do. Joulia Strauss developed this interactive sculpture following an in-depth study of Báyò Akómolafé’s lecture “May We Live in Interesting Times”, which is available online. She has decided to focus on the aspect of direct human contact with the monster. Here, a quote from Akómoláfé’s lecture plays a central role: “Could sitting with the monster be a cartography in itself? A politics? ![Joulia Strauss, rotor Graz: Sitting With the Monster, white velvet creature on the seating area, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-joulia-strauss-sitting-with-the-monster-detail-03.webp) Joulia Strauss, Sitting With the Monster (detail), 2026, fragments of yoga mats covered in velvet. Photo: Ernst Koslitsch. ![Joulia Strauss, rotor Graz: scaly white velvet creature with clawed feet, detail of Sitting With the Monster, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-joulia-strauss-sitting-with-the-monster-detail-02.webp) Joulia Strauss, Sitting With the Monster, 2026, four-part interactive sculpture made from fragments of yoga mats covered in velvet, entrance space of < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Visitors are invited to actually sit next to the monster (but please don’t stroke or touch it – the white monster is a bit sensitive). In psychotherapy, confronting the monster refers to the practice of facing up to painful emotions, fears or traumatic memories, accepting them and remaining present within them, rather than fighting them or shutting them out. Applied to society and the state of the world, in which we also encounter numerous monsters, this radical form of acceptance can lead here too to a different way of dealing with the monsters. That’s already laid out in Joulia Strauss’s monster’s sheds. These are cut out of yoga mats and covered in velvet. There are no more yoga mats; bodies cannot be healed in order to survive within the neoliberal system. Joulia Strauss lives in Berlin and Athens. Thanks to: Kristina Weiss-Busch, Lilian Müller, Vica Kravtsova, Helene Siegel, Syanda, Mats Neumann and Marc Müller Koehler Paper, Oberkirch Dmytro Khodorchuk IN:TRA WORKS, an employment project of the association Mafalda, especially to: Bettina Steigler, Lisa-Marie Seifert, Dorontina Veseli, Aleyna Gürbüz, Magdalena Baric, Melanie Rumpler, Asel Mina Boga and Katharina Buschek. ### *Room 2* Consuelo Méndez At the heart of Consuelo Méndez’s contribution to the exhibition is one of her artist’s books, a leporello. In it, she has drawn deities from various ages and parts of the world over a period of more than 14 years, including those from the cultures of the Maya, the Aztecs, the Yoruba, from India and from Greece. We come across some of the figures several times as we walk along the leporello. Take, for example, Artemis, depicted with numerous breasts, who went into the forest – an archetype of free women. The figures are accompanied by plants and animals, some of which also appear inside the body, symbolising motherhood. Throughout the leporello, the artist reflects various experiences from her life, such as her exploration of physical movement and performance art. ![Consuelo Méndez, rotor Graz: mural and installation All the Goddesses Within Me, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-consuelo-mendez-installation-02.webp) Consuelo Méndez, All the Goddesses Within Me, 2026, installation view with mural. Photo: Thomas Raggam. ![Consuelo Méndez, rotor Graz: second detail view of All the Goddesses Within Me, 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-consuelo-mendez-detail-04.webp) Consuelo Méndez, All the Goddesses Within Me (detail), 2026\. Photo: Ernst Koslitsch. ![Consuelo Méndez, rotor Graz: detail view of All the Goddesses Within Me, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-consuelo-mendez-detail-03.webp) Consuelo Méndez, All the Goddesses Within Me (detail), 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Consuelo Méndez has created a mural to accompany the Leporello, which shows some of the deities and figures once again on a larger scale. The image is divided into two spheres: an underground area and an above-ground area. From left to right, we see an Amazon with one breast removed, the Venus of Tacarigua, whose roots lead to her child, Eshu, the messenger of the gods, in the form of a mouse, a mandrake – a plant used for healing and in rituals since time immemorial – and, on the far right, the goddess of the wind. In between, intertwined bird-headed snakes and earthworms symbolise permanent transformation. Consuelo Méndez lives in Graz. ### Francesca Aldegani What Lies Behind Time when the Scissors Cut? Copper-plated branches and other objects, historical lengths of fabric with appliqués and embroidery, copper chains, balls of yarn, 2026 ![Francesca Aldegani, rotor Graz: installation with copper-plated branches and historical linen, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-francesca-aldegani-installation-03.webp) Francesca Aldegani, What Lies Behind Time when the Scissors Cut?, 2026, copper-plated branches, historical lengths of fabric, copper chains. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Francesca Aldegani’s spatial installation brings together two materials which, at first glance, appear to have little in common: copper and linen. Yet there are connections between them. By using this metal, the artist alludes to the Copper Age, a period situated between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age which receives comparatively little attention. Yet this was a period in which there were clear indications of matriarchal structures, and it was only afterwards that societies became bellicose. The question underlying this is how the world might have developed had it been led by women. This is reflected in the lengths of fabric – historic linen, some of which is up to 200 years old – most of which were made by women. The central length rises like a totem pole; on the back, several pairs of eyes are staring at us, whilst on the front there is one large pair. Mysterious symbols appear in the pupil, a reference to the artist’s ancestors who worked with metal. ![Francesca Aldegani, rotor Graz: detail of What Lies Behind Time when the Scissors Cut?, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-francesca-aldegani-detail-05.webp) Francesca Aldegani, What Lies Behind Time when the Scissors Cut? (detail), 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. A long piece of linen, which runs the length of the installation, has been embroidered during workshops. And that is the second way in which the materials are combined; the branches, too, were wrapped in copper tape during the artist’s workshops. Finally, a pair of copper scissors hangs above the symbolic fireplace. When has the time come to make a clean cut, to draw a line under things and to make a fresh start? Francesca Aldegani lives in Vienna. ### Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau, Ralf Hoedt - *Room 3* Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking! Two-channel video, 8 min, photographs, embroidered rugs, stones, 2026 This piece in the exhibition explores the relationship between bodies and stones. The two-channel video Sa Perda Iddocca takes centre stage, a collaboration between Moira Zoitl and the Sardinian singer and composer Marina Pittau. It is inspired by a legend from the Nuragic culture (c. 1,900 – 730 BCE), during which over 7,000 stone towers were erected on the island. Iddocca, a Nuragic queen, turned to stone out of grief at her daughter’s death. Pittau uses a special diaphragmatic breathing technique to play the Hebrew mouth harp whilst singing. ![Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau, Ralf Hoedt, rotor Graz: installation view of Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking! ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-hey-siss-phus-installation-04.webp) Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau, Ralf Hoedt, Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking!, 2026, installation view. Photo: Thomas Raggam. ![Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau, Ralf Hoedt, rotor Graz: two-channel video Sa Perda Iddocca in Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking! ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-hey-siss-phus-video-work-02.webp) Moira Zoitl and Marina Pittau, Sa Perda Iddocca, two-channel video, 8 min, part of Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking!, 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The embroidered rugs featuring stones draw on ecological themes and narratives of fossilisation – both of a socio-political and mythological nature. Among other things, they refer to the stories of Aglauros and Niobe from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, an epic poem about permanent transformation. The photographs from Ralf Hoedt’s series Seelenloch (Ghost-hole) refer to a term coined by German-speaking archaeologists to describe a feature that recurs across different eras and locations: a small opening in a stone slab sealing off a burial chamber, which, according to the prevailing interpretation, serves as a point of contact between the living and the dead. ![Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau, Ralf Hoedt, rotor Graz: detail of the embroidered rugs in Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking! ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-hey-siss-phus-detail-06.webp) Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking!, 2026, detail. Photo: Ernst Koslitsch. This is consistent with the following overarching principle: Stones are not presented as something solid, but as porous and changeable; a threshold that preserves memories and enables contact to be establised across it. Moira Zoitl lives in Berlin and Bosa. Marina Pittau lives in Bosa. Ralf Hoedt lives in Berlin and Bosa. ### Barbara Schmid Barbara Schmid presents works from two series, both of which are made from the core material of her artistic practice: ceramics. And both look as though they might be fossilised remains. The Fassungen (Frames) form a series of experiments in which the artist embeds sunflowers in fields of clay and subjects them to a firing temperature of 950 degrees. Sunflowers can grow in soil contaminated with heavy metals. Although they absorb the pollutants, they can protect themselves from their toxic effects and store them in their roots, stems, flowers and leaves. Once the pieces have broken apart, the burnt-on paint residues, gaps and ash residues of various colours become visible. ![Barbara Schmid, rotor Graz: ceramic panels from the series Fassungen (Frames), 2023 - ongoing ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-barbara-schmid-fassungen-work-01.webp) Barbara Schmid, Fassungen (Frames) (detail), 2023 - ongoing, ceramic panels, metal frames. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The Selbstberührungsobjekte (Self-touch Objects), on the other hand, are created by Barbara Schmid shaping a very soft lump of clay by pressing it together with both hands. The resulting shape fills all the spaces between the fingers and touches parts of the hands in a different way each time. Through this mutual contact, the hands and the clay form a single entity – every touch of the clay is also a self-touch! The objects are fired in an open-air pit, which is how they acquire their colour. Barbara Schmid lives in Graz. ### *Room 4* Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić You Won't Dig Five banners: Bubbles, Disobedient Seeds, Let the Water Flow, Disconnect! (II), Combined Power, textile, acrylic, 2026 The Legacy of the Spalax Audio play in German language spoken by Alex Teubner, 25 min., booklet – English translation of the audio play, poster, replicas of a Spalaxulum and a Spalax stele, ink, paper, styrofoam, 2026 ![Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić, rotor Graz: textile banners of You Won't Dig in room 4, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-rena-raedle-vladan-jeremic-installation-05.webp) Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić, You Won't Dig, 2026, textile and acrylic banners, installation view; at left part of The Legacy of the Spalax, 2026, poster, replicas of a Spalaxulum and a Spalax stele, ink, paper, styrofoam. Photo: Thomas Raggam. In the exhibition, Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić present two works. The first one is a series of textile banners inspired by the resistance movement that has formed in recent years against the reckless exploitation of mineral resources in Serbia. They are designed in a way so that they can also be carried during demonstrations. Through nationwide protests, the movement succeeded in 2022 in securing a temporary halt to the lithium project being pushed forward by Rio Tinto – a corporation facing global criticism – in the fertile Jadar Valley. The lithium project was classified by the EU as being of high strategic importance, and in 2024—despite fierce protests—a partnership agreement was signed with the Serbian government covering sustainable raw materials, value chains for batteries, and electric vehicles. ![Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić, rotor Graz: detail of a banner from the series You Won't Dig, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-rena-raedle-vladan-jeremic-detail-07.webp) Rena Rädle & Vladan Jeremić, You Won't Dig (detail), 2026\. Photo: Ernst Koslitsch. The second work, The Legacy of Spalax, tells the story of a cult that emerged in connection with the invention of the Spalaxulum. The central figure of the cult is Spalax Imagilis, a representative of the blind mole-rat genus. Alongside the replica of a Spalaxulum, which enables the perception of magnetic currents, a recreation of a Spalax stele is also on display. Spalax steles were erected by followers of the cult at locations where they gathered for their choreographic manifestations. You can listen to the story of how the first Spalaxulum was developed, why it fell into obscurity, and why it posed a serious threat to neuro-extractivism at the audio station or online. Listen to the story The Legacy of Spalax or download the PDF here. Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić live in Belgrade and Berlin. ### Folke Köbberling Folke Köbberling often creates her works using materials that have virtually no practical value left and have been discarded. In this way, she helps combat the waste of resources and challenges the logic of consumer society. As with Aliz Farkas’s woolen world map in the first part of the exhibition series A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don’t Know Yet, Folke Köbberling’s installation DEWOOL 2 (the first version was created in Braunschweig in 2018), there is a contemporary backdrop: European sheep’s wool is hardly used any more for making clothes, partly because synthetic materials are used in the clothing industry and partly because the infrastructure for processing it no longer exists. ![Folke Köbberling, rotor Graz: DEWOOL 2, a walk-in cave made of 350 kg of raw wool, 2018 / 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-folke-koebberling-dewool-2-installation-06.webp) Folke Köbberling, DEWOOL 2, 2018 / 2026, 350 kg of raw wool, installation view. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The artist introduces us to the extraordinary qualities of wool – qualities that people have come to appreciate over thousands of years – in a different way. She has transformed a substantial quantity of unprocessed raw wool from Bovec sheep aka Carniolan stone sheep, in southern Burgenland into an organic cave – a walk-in sanctuary that radiates warmth and a sense of security. It is a lively, fragrant, soft and, at the same time, greasy cave that appeals to all senses. ![Folke Köbberling, rotor Graz: interior of the raw wool cave DEWOOL 2, 2018 / 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-folke-koebberling-dewool-2-interior-08.webp) Folke Köbberling, DEWOOL 2 (interior), 2018 / 2026, 350 kg of raw wool. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Folke Köbberling lives in Berlin. We would like to thank the shearer, Maximilian Müller. ### *Atrium* Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll ### Following the bird-like creature featured in Part 1 of the exhibition series A Parable for Endings and Beginnings We Don’t Know Yet, a land-dwelling creature has now arrived in the atrium, about which the artists wrote the following: “The animal of the meadows and woods, mountains and valleys. On its back it carries wicker baskets, embroidery from the clothes of deceased white men; on its head, a pitchfork for turning old grasses and plants, a cowbell, things worn by Perchten during the Twelve Nights, found objects, preserved items, things of the past, unchanged, pinned in place. ![Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, rotor Graz: The Land Animal in the atrium, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-land-animal-atrium-installation-07.webp) Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, The Land Animal, 2026, performative object made of wire, baskets, tubes, hoses, wood, plastic and found materials. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Customs and traditions that have, over time, been exploited by the Church, patriots and the patriarchy pinned in place. That now have a bitter aftertaste, as they remind us of terms such as homeland, body national or fascism. But where do these customs really come from, and can we break them down to such an extent that we can redefine and reinvent them? Is it possible to sew on traditional embroidery without thinking of the word homeland? Can customs serve a purpose other than marking boundaries? Does valuing the old always mean devaluing the new? Or is it possible to loosen the constraints of customs to such an extent that new elements can still be woven into them? ![Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, rotor Graz: The Land Animal seen from above in the atrium](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-land-animal-atrium-view-from-above-09-1.webp) The Land Animal, 2026, view from above in the atrium of < rotor >. Photo: Ernst Koslitsch. ![Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, rotor Graz: detail of The Land Animal with baskets, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-land-animal-detail-10.webp) Catherina Jarau, Laila Reichenpfader, Anna Mora Moll, The Land Animal (detail), 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The Land Animal rises, wandering through the streets and alleys; the cows’ bells are ringing out – a cattle drive, or perhaps the expulsion from the homeland; the unchanging is changing and the fixed may be set free; tradition is turned upside down and the stories are woven anew.” Catherina Jarau lives in Graz. Laila Reichenpfader lives in Linz. Anna Mora Moll lives in Vienna. Thanks to: Sigi and the second-hand bookshop, all the basket weavers, Collective B, and the entire entourage of the Keimling Residency. ### *Corridor* Oskar Jocham Unknown Spaces Painting, pigments mixed with coloured glue on unprimed linen, 2026 Oskar Jocham presents a series of new paintings inspired by his engagement with Báyò Akómolafé’s writings on Behemoth. Therein, the monster is described as ‘something that doesn’t quite fit’. This aspect, combined with the sense of uncanniness often associated with the unknown, led Oskar Jocham to conclude that monsters are often not recognisable as distinct figures. They can take shape from fragments of thoughts and feelings and manifest themselves in negative or empty spaces which we probably don’t know about yet either. ![Oskar Jocham, rotor Graz: Unknown Spaces, paintings on unprimed linen in the corridor, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-oskar-jocham-unknown-spaces-installation-08.webp) Oskar Jocham, Unknown Spaces, 2026, pigments mixed with coloured glue on unprimed linen, installation view. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The process of working on the artwork itself can be understood as a space of the unknown. As with many works of art, the creative process starts on an (almost) white surface; in this series of works, it is canvas upon which, piece by piece, previously unknown pictorial spaces build up. Every new element added either throws the structure that has been created out of balance or stabilises it, linking together separate areas. In this way, Oskar Jocham experiences the monstrosity of unknown spaces during the creative process. ![Oskar Jocham, rotor Graz: black pigment painting on unprimed linen from the series Unknown Spaces, 2026 ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-oskar-jocham-unknown-spaces-detail-10.webp) Oskar Jocham, Unknown Spaces, 2026, pigments mixed with coloured glue on unprimed linen. Photo: Thomas Raggam. Oskar Jocham lives in Graz. ### *Cafe* AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL A place of learning. A common good. A growing network. The AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL is now open in the café room of < rotor >. First and foremost, it facilitates the storage and distribution of plant seeds, but it also collects information and specialist literature on the subject and provides a space for studying seeds and for discussion. In addition, a library of the soils of Graz is currently being established. ![rotor contemporary Graz: the parklet on Orpheumgasse, a small green island outside the art centre ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-parklet-orpheumgasse-installation-09.webp) The parklet on Orpheumgasse outside < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz, 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The Seed Library for ALL is a place of learning that combines local adaptation with the conservation of plant varieties and is run on a community basis. Here you can obtain seeds of varieties that have already been tried and tested locally, take your time, share experiences and work together to develop them further. However, the Seed Library only works if more seeds are returned than are taken. Without seeds, there would be no food, no clothing, no raw materials – no life as we know it. Seeds are a contract we have entered with our ancestors – and also with all those who will come after us. For thousands of years, people have been storing, exchanging and propagating seeds – often as a matter of course in their everyday lives. Join in and become part of our growing seed network! ![rotor Graz: visitors at the parklet on Orpheumgasse during The Colossal Land Animal](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-parklet-visitors-closing.webp) Visitors at the parklet on Orpheumgasse, < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz, 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL was the result of a collaboration between Forum Urbanes Gärtnern, Andreas Motschiunig, who contributed his expertise on seeds in particular, Daniela Brasil, who was primarily responsible for the overall design of the space, Florian Perl, who mainly carried out the wall paintings, and Margarethe Makovec, who was primarily responsible for bringing everything together and coordinating the project. The following people have also contributed so far: Gunda Bachan, Dagmar Holzapfel, Josef Obermoser, Paula Vogt, and many more... Thanks to the Department of Earth Sciences of the University Graz. ### Florian Perl Xochitl Mural, 2026 Florian Perl has created a mural in the room that houses the AYOCOTL Seed Library; it covers an entire wall, with a smaller version on the opposite side. At first glance, the work may appear abstract, but the individual forms are derived from a wide variety of seeds that the artist studied in preparation for the piece. In terms of colour, too, he has drawn inspiration from the natural colours of the seeds depicted, using a palette of earth tones as his starting point. ![Florian Perl, rotor Graz: Xochitl, earth-toned seed-shaped mural in the café room of the AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-florian-perl-xochitl-mural-seed-library-cafe.webp) Florian Perl, Xochitl, 2026, mural, in the café room with the AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL at < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz. Photo: Thomas Raggam. ![AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL, rotor Graz: shelves with glass jars of the Earth library (Erdbibliothek)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/11/rotor-a-parable-land-animal-graz-2026-ayocotl-seed-library-earth-library-detail.webp) AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL, the Earth library (Erdbibliothek) with soil samples from Graz, < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz, 2026\. Photo: Thomas Raggam. The title of the work, Xochitl (pronounced So-tschil), like the title of the Seed Library, Ayocotl, comes from the Nahuatl language family, which belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language group. Xochitl is a girl’s first name and also the name of a flower. However, the term extends beyond the plant itself and comes to signify everything that is sublime and aesthetic. In his work, the artist combines local traditions, such as those surrounding the scarlet runner bean, with the core principles of the seed library as a place where issues of origin, transfer and cultural connection can be explored. Florian Perl lives in Graz. Part of the partner programme of: steirischer herbst \`26 The AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL is done in cooperation with the Forum of Urban Gardening --- **About the Artists** **Joulia Strauss** Lives in Berlin and Athens. Shows Sitting With the Monster, a four-part interactive sculpture. [Website](http://joulia-strauss.net/de/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/joulia%5Fstrauss/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Folke Köbberling** Lives in Berlin. Shows DEWOOL 2, a walk-in cave of 350 kg of raw wool, first made in Braunschweig in 2018. [Website](http://www.folkekoebberling.de/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/folkekoebberling/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Rena Rädle and Vladan Jeremić** Live in Belgrade and Berlin. Show the banner series You Won't Dig and the audio play The Legacy of the Spalax. [Website](https://www.raedle-jeremic.net/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram Vladan Jeremić](https://www.instagram.com/vladan%5Fjeremy/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Barbara Schmid** Lives in Graz. Shows the ceramic series Fassungen and Selbstberührungsobjekte. [Website](https://www.barbaraschmid.at/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Francesca Aldegani** Lives in Vienna. Shows an installation of copper-plated branches, historical linen and copper chains. [Website](https://www.thespacearound.me/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/thespacearound.me/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Consuelo Méndez** Lives in Graz. Shows the leporello All the Goddesses Within Me and a mural of the same title. [SFMOMA](https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Consuelo%5FM%C3%A9ndez/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/mendezconsuelo2/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Frenzi Rigling** Lives in Vienna and Obermarkersdorf. Shows It's Morphin Time, six textile objects hanging from the ceiling. [Website](https://www.frenzirigling.at/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/frenzirigling/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Moira Zoitl, Marina Pittau and Ralf Hoedt** Zoitl lives in Berlin and Bosa, Pittau in Bosa, Hoedt in Berlin and Bosa. Show Hey Siss Phus, Stone Speaking! with the two-channel video Sa Perda Iddocca. [Website](http://www.moirazoitl.com/de?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram Moira Zoitl](https://www.instagram.com/moirazoitl/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram Ralf Hoedt](https://www.instagram.com/ralfhoedt/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Catherina Jarau, Anna Mora Moll and Laila Reichenpfader** Live in Graz, Vienna and Linz. Made The Land Animal for the atrium. **Oskar Jocham** Lives in Graz. Shows the paintings Unknown Spaces on unprimed linen. [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/oskar%5Fjocham/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Florian Perl** Lives in Graz. Painted the mural Xochitl in the room of the seed library. [Website](https://seas.gallery/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/seasperl/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **Ernst Koslitsch** Lives in Vienna. Shows Echo Keepers 1 + 2, two sculptures over three metres tall built from formwork panels. [Website](https://koslitsch.com/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/koslitsch/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **About the Curators** **Margarethe Makovec and Anton Lederer** Curators of the series and co-founders of < rotor > in Graz. Their programme emphasises socially and politically relevant art and collaboration with art scenes in Central and South Eastern Europe. Makovec also coordinated the AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL. **About the Seed Library** **AYOCOTL Seed Library for ALL** Seed library in the café room of < rotor >, created by Forum Urbanes Gärtnern, Andreas Motschiunig, Daniela Brasil, Florian Perl and Margarethe Makovec. It stores and distributes plant seeds and works only if more seeds are returned than are taken. Forum Urbanes Gärtnern: [Website](https://urbanes-gaertnern.at/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/zentralgartenbuero/?ref=catapult-platform.art) Daniela Brasil: [Website](https://danielabrasil.net/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/danielabrasil%5Fart/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **About the Location and the Press Information** **< rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art, Graz** Association for contemporary art at Volksgartenstraße 6a in Graz, founded by Anton Lederer and Margarethe Makovec. Publisher of the press information used in this article. The exhibition is part of the partner programme of steirischer herbst '26. [Website](https://rotor.mur.at/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/rotor.contemporary/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **About Catapult Contemporary** This is an exhibition review published by Catapult Contemporary, an independent editorial platform for contemporary art, based in Vienna. We publish exhibition reviews, artist features, interviews, and critical context, with a focus on emerging and mid-career practices from Europe and beyond. [catapult-platform.art](https://www.catapult-platform.art/) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/catapultcontemporary/?ref=catapult-platform.art) Want to be featured? [Submit your work →](https://www.catapult-platform.art/submit/)