The Golden Fog Collector — First Edition (2025)

The Golden Fog Collector is a golden net that captures water from fog and returns it to the pond it hangs on, exploring the entanglement of material, technology, ecology, and history. Installed in a landscape that was once the cradle of humankind, which has been scarred by gold mining and is now facing water scarcity, the installation transforms a tool driven by extraction into a gesture of restoration.
 
The net reflects one of the earliest human technologies: an ancient tool that extended humanity’s capacity to catch, gather and carry, providing the roots of a later-inflamed anthropocentric technological evolution. The gold threads used in the installation are sourced from traditional European manufactories that recycle gold circulating within Europe, originally extracted from various parts of the world and used in gold-decorated objects. By returning this gold to South Africa and building an unusual relationship between water and gold, the work invites reflection on the politics and enduring consequences of value assigned to materiality.

Supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [10.55776/V795], with additional support from the NIROX Foundation, the Austrian Cultural Forum Pretoria, the Africa UniNet project A Research of Doing, and BMKÖS (Austrian Ministry of Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport). Material research assistance by Miriam Daxl.