Sleepless (2008)

😵‍💫 The light is central and intense, almost like a spotlight that mercilessly focuses on the state of insomnia. It allows no escape into the darkness that one seeks when sleeping. The words "sleepless" repeated several times seem like a constant echo coming from the darkness. They represent the inner voices or the spiral of thoughts that are typical of people with insomnia: "Will I ever fall asleep? What if I'm tired tomorrow?"

🛌 If falling asleep is challenging, various mindfulness practices can help calm the mind and relax the body. Here are some effective techniques:

😌 Body-Scan Meditation

Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Gradually focus your attention on different parts of your body, starting from your toes up to your head. Notice any tension and consciously let it go.

👄 4-7-8 Breathing Technique

a) Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.
b) Hold your breath for 7 seconds.
c) Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds.

🔁 Repeat this 4–6 times.

💭 Thought Awareness

When thoughts arise, notice them without judgment. Imagine your thoughts as clouds drifting across the sky. Return your focus to your breath whenever you get distracted.

👂 Mindful Listening

Play a guided meditation, soft music, or nature sounds (e.g., rain or waves). Focus solely on the sounds and let other thoughts fade into the background.

💝 Gratitude Ritual

Think of three things you’re grateful for, no matter how small. Spend a few moments reflecting on each one and feel the gratitude deeply.

🏝 Visualization Exercise

Imagine a safe, peaceful place, like a beach or forest. Focus on the details: What does it smell like? What sounds do you hear? Stay in this imagery until you feel relaxed.

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A Cry for Survival (2007)

I often used photographs of myself in my early works. This meant I could freely choose the perspective and pose without having to worry about usage rights. At the time I was doing my technical vocational training and from afternoon to evening I created digital collages. Every two weeks I had a session with my therapist because of ADHD and at the time I was a student at Dieter Schiele's painting school, also about every two weeks. But he was never able to do anything with my collages and we mainly concentrated on realistic nature drawings on paper. However, I always liked to experiment and in the quick engagement with snippets of images, internal processes could be projected unhindered.

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Vincent, it’s important to rest. The world can wait!

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Just being there.

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🦥❄️ Winter is coming and it's time to dress cozily. I also want to let my beard grow a little longer again. And I need to eat a lot for hibernation.

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Like a fish in water, a sloth in bed,
Where the jungle's laws are timelessly wed.
Survival whispers through canopy's shade,
A dance of life in every glade.

I am dreaming.

No clock but hunger, no map but stars,
The wild, a canvas of nature's scars.
Here, instincts reign, and freedom's found,
A world where primal hearts resound.

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🌹 Black Mirror: Talisman

The word talisman was borrowed in the 17th century from the Italian “talismano”, which comes from the Arabic طلسم / ṭillasm and means “magic image”. The Arabic word in turn can be traced back to the Middle Greek “τέλεσμα (télesma)”, which means “offering, consecrated object” or in Byzantine “magic object”.

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🍂✨ When I look at the Ginkgo in its autumn colors, I see a story that reaches back much further than most other plants. Ginkgo biloba is a living fossil, a tree that has endured across millions of years. Yet it is more than a species frozen in time—its subtle adaptations to new environmental conditions remind me that even the oldest lineages of life can transform without losing their origins.

🌳💫🍂🦠🪱🪲☘️

The Ginkgo’s autumnal shedding of leaves is a beautiful example. A tree that sheds its leaves is constantly in dialogue with its surroundings, pausing and conserving energy for the year ahead. Its leaf, delicate and fan-shaped, becomes a bridge between ancient evolution and present-day adaptation. In letting go of each leaf as the season shifts, it seems as if the Ginkgo has long understood that real strength lies in release.

✨️🌌🌍🌦⚡️🌲🔥🐝🧘‍♂️🕯🏔💡💻🌐🛰🌌✨️

This thought brings me to a deep connection with the Ginkgo: its adaptability and survival are not mere relics. They are a testament to balancing past and present, to the art of adapting to conditions while remaining true to one’s core. The Ginkgo shows that evolution doesn’t necessarily mean losing our roots but rather creatively engaging with what was, and what could be.

🌳🍂👣💭 As I contemplate this tree, I feel a reflection of myself in a world that demands constant change. Just as the Ginkgo has learned to thrive across climates and seasons, I too stand within a field of ancient influences and modern forces. The tree reminds me that my own self, with all its primal and contemporary elements, has a place here—one that allows not only survival but the possibility of flourishing.

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✨️🌌 I crafted this talisman myself back in 2006, the year I learned about my ADHD. Even before the diagnosis, I knew I was different. Due to my strong interest in nature, I had noticed parallels between myself and animals even before my diagnosis.

🐯 This is not a bad thing — indigenous cultures often seek their strength and abilities through a spiritual connection with animals. In fact, there is growing evidence suggesting that ADHD might have evolutionary roots, linked to traits that were advantageous in hunter-gatherer societies.

💀 This evolutionary mismatch hypothesis suggests that modern environmental factors, such as a sedentary lifestyle, mean that certain individuals are no longer optimally adapted, which may contribute to the difficulties we recognize as ADHD. Although this is still a hypothesis, I believe that in biology, nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution.

🤠 I have always felt a strong urge to explore nature, and there has never been anything more interesting to me than discovering. This intrinsic drive aligns well with behaviors observed in hunter-gatherer societies, where this knowledge is essential for survival. Animals, too, learn about their environment in similar ways.

🧬 I know that I inherited this passion for nature from my mother’s side, while my father is the one in whom I clearly see ADHD symptoms and behavior. My maternal grandfather also showed some ADHD characteristics.

🛖 When I consider that my closest circle of friends consists mostly of people with ADHD, it can be assumed that we have a similar interaction style, which probably also plays a role in our choice of partner.

🧫 Perhaps I am simply a unique combination of various prehistoric traits that complement each other.

🌱 Thus, it is understandable that I feel a strong connection to nature. This talisman represents value creation. The forked branch symbolizes creation, and the amber in between symbolizes value. Just as the branch splits and takes on a new shape, the amber was formed over time from resin.

🧠 You can now find scientific articles and studies on this topic in my broadcast.

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Strange? Neither an animal, nor a plant, nor a fungus— something entirely unique with astonishing capabilities. The slime mold Physarum polycephalum is the largest single-celled organism in the world. What you see in the images is the yellow plasmodium feeding on grains of rice. The rectangular piece of agar is the medium on which I acquired the slime mold in its dry dormant phase (sclerotium).

The life cycle of Physarum polycephalum consists of several phases. It initially begins in the spore phase, where the slime mold survives by forming spores that are dispersed in the environment. These spores are resilient and can endure for long periods under unfavorable conditions. When conditions are favorable, the spores germinate and develop into mobile amoebas known as myxamoebas. These myxamoebas are amoeboid and can actively move in search of food, such as bacteria and organic matter.

When multiple myxamoebas meet, they can fuse together to form a plasmodium. In this multinucleate phase, which is responsible for growth and feeding, the slime mold exhibits remarkable behaviors, efficiently navigating mazes and remembering pathways as well as negative experiences.

When environmental conditions become unfavorable, such as during food scarcity or drought, the plasmodium transforms into the fruiting body phase, in which it produces fruiting bodies that contain spores. It is important to note that the plasmodium also transforms into the fruiting body phase in response to light. These spores can then revert to the spore phase, completing the life cycle. Additionally, the slime mold can enter a dry dormant phase, during which it shifts into an inactive state and survives as a sclerotium until conditions become favorable again.

Moreover, Physarum polycephalum can split into multiple individuals and fuse with other individuals, merging memories as well. Not only does it serve as a model organism for science, but its capabilities also stimulate philosophical reflections on how to define intelligence.

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