To be Gaia’d
YEAR: 2026 I MATERIAL: Guided walk, the land art sculptures are made from Havdhem clay, hemp fiber, found wood, soil and sand fro the nearby area, and hay from Kullhagesbruk north of Tingstäde.
As part of the exhibition Träsket, kyrkan och fästningen Åsa Cederqvist presented the work To be Gaia’d (2026), in which the art becomes a way to encounter and explore nature. The work consists of several interconnected parts: Cosmic sensous walk [org. Kosmisk sinnlig vandring], a walk through the landscape (guided by the artist on September 5 at 10:30 a.m.), The Living [org. De levande] - a series of land art sculptures, and Sensuous Spa (guided by the artist on September 5 at 3:30 p.m.).
Through the walk and the sculptures along the path, visitors are invited to experience the landscape with all their senses. The walk, inspired by what is known as an “Earth Walk”, traces the history of the Earth and raises questions about humanity’s place in the ecological cycle. Based on Gaia theory—the idea of the Earth as a living, self-regulating organism—the work explores the boundary between the planet and our own bodies. From the beginning of all things to where we are today.
Cosmic sensuous walk [org. Kosmisk sinnlig vandring] is a walk guided by the artist. Inspired by a so called earth walk and cosmic walk, it’s meant to navigate through a landscape along with lifting pivotal points in the history of the beoming of our planet earth. My version in the work takes about an hour to walk, over a 600 meter long walk. The group walk under silence, and I only speak at eight positions to point out certain chosen points in the history in the life of planet Earth.
During the walk we also got to meet The Living [org. De Levande] six sculptures created specially in dialogue with material from the location, and clay harvested in the grounds of Havdhem on Gotland. It holds the same minerals and belongs to the ground in that sense. The intention is for the works The Living is that they stay in the location, and continue to form and maybe become erased, shaped by their surroundings. It is imporatant for me to work in the most delicate and organic way possible without leaving any negative impact on the ecosystem.
Later the same afternoon, towards the end of the opening program, Åsa guided a Sensuous spa [org. Sinnligt spa], which this occation was a guided Gaia-meditation, where we get aware of our body in relation to the larger body of nature, of Gaia.