Saline Circuits

The exhibition Saline Circuits explores salt as more than a mineral – as a shaping force within economic, neurological, and infrastructural networks. From ancient salt routes to contemporary information systems, salt has embedded itself deeply within structures of value, power, and knowledge. The installation channels these historical and contemporary meanings through a network of pipelines that connect, corrode, and reveal hidden circuits of exchange. Works by Nosh Neneh, Chaline Bang, Cecilie Fang, Katharina Busl, and Kurt d’Haeseleer approach the system as both a node and a rupture, rewriting the narrative of salt as a counterpoint to systems of control.

CURRENCIES
Currencies is an installation that explores how the circulation of salt shaped trade, language, and value, drawing from the Yangpu Ancient Salt Field in China and Dutch seawater. As the saltwater evaporates and crystallizes, it reveals slow processes of linguistic erosion and exchange, tracing how trade routes carried not only goods but also evolving systems of meaning.
Artist: Cecilie Fang

SALARY
A tiny video hut projects a hypnotic stream of images, while a mechanical voice drops words like salt—slow, persistent, and disjointed. This installation explores the tension between image and language, evoking salt’s deep entanglement with memory, trade, and meaning, and asking whether attention itself has become the new currency.
Artist: Kurt d’Haeseleer

JACUZZI OF DESPAIR
Jacuzzi of Despair explores deep-sea brine pools—hostile, high-salinity environments like the toxic “Jacuzzi of Despair” in the Gulf of Mexico—through deep-sea footage, eco-latex, and salt formations. Nosh Neneh investigates extremophiles that thrive in these conditions, offering a glimpse into how marine life adapts to rising salinity levels.
Artist: Nosh Neneh

192.168.2.70
192.168.2.70 is a video hosted on a Samsung Galaxy S III, edited with FFmpeg and shared via a local network, embracing permacomputing principles like minimal file sizes and repurposed hardware. The work reflects on invisible infrastructures and questions our reliance on extractive, unsustainable data systems.
Artist: Chaline Bang

Katharina Busl is a multimedia artist exploring the transformative impact of ICTs on our subjectivity, drawing parallels to spirituality and old belief systems. Her current installations examine the commodification of self-care within contemporary culture, questioning the boundaries between authentic experience and manufactured desire.