SUMMER GardeNs
Welcome to the website of author, archivist and cultural manager – Marc Wagenbach
„For many years, I have been working at the intersection of research, art and society – with a particular focus on dance as intangible cultural heritage and as a living repository of knowledge.“
Welcome to THE Wild Garden PROJECT!
The term wild thinking, coined by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, describes a form of knowledge that is intuitive, improvisational, and rooted in the sensory and symbolic — in contrast to structured, scientific reasoning. In the garden, wildness follows its own intelligence. I take this as both a metaphor and a method. But what do we need? Structure or chaos? Or both — woven together? New seeds? Parasites? Immersive species?
Let us begin. Let the garden grow! SUMMER PROJECT 2025
The Work
But how can we rethink old ways of thinking? The Wild Garden Project combines artistic research, cultural theories, and botanic practice: a post-disciplinary approach.
SEEDS
My idea of Wild Garden Thinking first took root in the soil of my long-standing practice in cultural heritage, dance and performance art – and in the notion of wild thinking introduced by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.
He described it as a way of knowing that is intuitive, associative and rooted in sensory and symbolic experience – a strategy for sensing the world.
GROWING
Through the practice of Wild Garden Thinking, I observed how things are framed – and unframed. Always situated in a particular context.
In this project, I search for answers, and for new questions, within the complex textures of everyday life. It is an attempt to find focus within the blur of the world. A new path through an endless garden
HARVEST AND COMPOST
The third step is to ask how these new ideas reflect the way we want to live.
What do we choose to harvest — and what do we allow to become compost? The garden becomes a site of artistic research for an ephemeral world.
A grounding practice. A foundation to stand on — and grow.
More than 20 years of experience in cultural theory, archiving and artistic research in dance & theatre.
Translate Fiction. Harvest Thoughts.
marc@marcwagenbach.com
How do you harvest your thoughts? THINKING DIFFERENT
What do you feel as you walk through a garden?
Memories of a summer#1, Nature
How do you think when everything around you is dark?
Memories of summer#2, Nature
What happens to you when structure grows wild?
Memories od summer# 3, Nature
MW 