In The Disbanded Eden

With texts by Pauline Doutreluingne, Julia Jost, Tine Rahel Völcker, Moana Vonstadl

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With this publication, this object made of stacked paper, which combines so many layers and facets of a project within the smallest space, Moana Vonstadl tying together lose threads, allowing an independent work to emerge. This multi-piece project has evolved over a long period of time, spanning various media and opening up thematically.
The book becomes a collaboration in which the authors and graphic designers retain the freedom to engage with the images in their own ways, while highlighting overlaps within the respective works.

This project began with research into female* hunger in various facets and fields of expertise. The research encompassed eating disorders discussed in feminist and scientific literature, alongside mythological figures and artistic approaches to the subject.

In the course of engaging with the biblical figure of Eve and her garden, Moana Vonstadl realized that this narrative is so deeply rooted within societal structures that it offers a suitable starting point for the continued repainting. Eve was undoubtedly a hungry woman. She imagined branches growing from Eve's own rib, allying themselves with the overgrown garden and transforming into it.

"Image by image, I draw a world that I'd like to be in. A conglomeration of signs and traces on paper. Each sheet referring to the next image or the next sentence. I am building landscapes around me like alternative habitats. It is a personal and fragile utopia of which I tell. Each page is a small window to the landscape in which the body simply exists, unquestioned. In this context, the motif of the wildernis has become an important analogy for me – to an environment that relativizes the critical gaze onto the body."