Omdrejningspunktet for Coordinates of Kinship er en række

institutionsgarderober, som benyttes i børnehaver og skoler. Dette

hyperfunktionelle møbel tildeler børnene et individuelt, afgrænset rum og er

en del af det første møde med institutionslivets disciplinering. Værket er

omgærdet af den særlige duft af jord efter et regnvejr, der kaldes geosmin.

Når vand rammer jord, frigives et organisk stof, som produceres af bakterier,

med en karakteristisk jordagtig duft. Disse luftbårne partikler bevæger sig ind

i kroppen og forener sig med den. Værket rummer også en anden invasiv

tilstedeværelse i form af en koloni af igler, der har indtaget garderoberne.

Igler er parasitter, der overlever gennem næring fra sin vært og på

bekostning af den. Visse igler indgår dog også i symbiotiske relationer.

Lægeiglen er i en gensidig afhængighedsforbindelse med en særlig bakterie,

der gør det muligt for den at fordøje det blod, den lever af. Winther er optaget

af de forskellige former for afhængighed, der betinger relationerne mellem

individer og systemer og er grundlaget for alt liv. Med Coordinates of Kinship

undersøger hun, hvordan de forbindelser af gensidighed, kontrol og

disciplinering, som vi indgår i, både er brutale strukturer og eksistentielle

nødvendigheder.

A series of cloakroom lockers like the ones used in kindergartens and schools

form the focal point of Coordinates of Kinship. This hyper-functional piece of 

furniture provides children with an individual, defined space, and is part of a

child’s first encounter with formalised discipline. The work is shrouded in that

special smell soil has after it has rained, called Geosmin. When water hits soil,

an organic substance produced by bacteria, with a characteristic earthy smell,

is released. These airborne particles move into the body and unite with it. The

work also includes another invasive presence, in the form of a colony of

leeches that have taken over the lockers. The leech is a parasite that survives

through nourishment from, and at the expense of, its host. Certain leeches

however also enter into symbiotic relationships. The medical leech enjoys a

mutually dependent connection with a special type of bacteria, which makes it

possible for it to digest the blood it feeds on. Winther is interested in the

various forms of dependence that determine relationships between individuals

and systems, and are the foundation of all life. With Coordinates of Kinship

she explores how the relations of reciprocity, control and discipline that we

enter into, are both brutal structures and existential necessities.

Text by Katarina Stenbeck 
Documentation by David Stjernholm