charmaine li

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ONEIRIC SPACE (2019 – present)⊹writing ⊹publishing ⊹gathering ONEIRIC SPACE is an independent research project that delves into the relationship between nightly dreams and waking life, both at individual and collective levels. 

After years of reflecting on personal dream experiences that seeped into daily life, I launched ONEIRIC SPACE as an online interview publication in 2019, in collaboration with writer Effie Efthymiadi and Studio Push. The project was initiated to spark dialogue and learn more about the myriad perspectives and approaches to engaging with these nightly phenomena. 

Since then, ONEIRIC SPACE has grown into experimental publications, collaborations, and gatherings for collective dream reflection. Gatherings have been held at ACUD Galerie, kwia, Trust, Callie’s, Haus am Lützowplatz, Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, Burg Hülshoff - Center for Literature, Insola, and the Museum of Architecture and Design Ljubljana. 

on: Are.na Editorial, 032c, Eye on Design, CLOT Magazine, METAL Magazine, It’s Nice That

the breath of water and wind (2024) ONEIRIC SPACE⊹writing  ⊹gathering
the breath of water and wind was a participatory reading presented by ONEIRIC SPACE as part of Naive Yearly 2024, a gathering organized by Kristoffer Tjalve held at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana. 

I contributed to the day-long event alongside Nathalie Lawhead, Agnes Cameron, Kim Kleinert, Daniel Murray, Reuben Son, Tiger Dingsun, and Kaloyan Kolev. During an outdoor session, I invited attendees to contemplate the more-than-human beings—both in dreams and in our immediate surroundings—through a grounding exercise, readings, and reflective prompts. Read more

Text: Charmaine Li with Dream Journal Fragments & Anonymous Participant Responses gathered from ‘Wading Thru Dreams, 2gether’ (ACUD Galerie, 2024)
Sound: Alexis Chan with the Ljubljanica River
Leaflet design: Daryn Roongrawewan

This project was initiated during my time at Est-Nord-Est Author’s Residency & supported by the Canada Council for the Arts

Dream Matter (2023) ONEIRIC SPACE ⊹publishing
Dream Matter is part-artist’s book, part-journal. Inspired by the sensation of wading through dream memories, the publication features a repeated image that slowly comes into focus. It is interspersed with prompts and excerpts from ONEIRIC SPACE interviews with artists, researchers, and practitioners, opening up space for voices to mingle and dialogue with the reader’s own experiences.

Published by ONEIRIC SPACE 
with guidance from Artist’s Book Workshop/Claudia de la Torre. 

Special thanks to Alexis Chan and Meg Miller.

20 x 14.3cm. 35 pages. Paperback cover. Glue binding.
Digital, monochrome on colored paper. Edition of 50.

25 EUR. Available at Printed Matter. Email for inquiries

Wading Thru Dreams, 2gether (2023 – present)
ONEIRIC SPACE ⊹writing ⊹gathering
Wading Thru Dreams, 2gether is a participatory reading that reflects on how nightly visions are enmeshed with our inner and outer worlds. Through a series of readings and guided activities, the session invites participants to consider dreams as both personal and collective phenomena by engaging the body and senses. 

Drawing on personal dream experiences and ONEIRIC SPACE research, the texts read aloud present a range of perspectives and approaches to engaging with dream life. The format, which is set to scent and sound by Alexis Chan, questions the conventions of traditional public readings—often directed at the brain while ignoring the body in space. It also examines how visual, auditory, olfactory, and spatial elements influence encounters with memory, language, and knowledge. Read more.

Held at: ACUD Galerie (Berlin, 2024), kwia x Vorspiel (Berlin, 2024), Burg Hülshoff - Center for Literature’s Denkfabrik program (Münster, 2023), Künstlerdorf Schöppingen’s CAP Program: Beyond Literature (Schöppingen, 2023)

This project started as an experiment in collective dream reflection during a residency at Künstlerdorf Schöppingen.

starlight speaks to stone ONEIRIC SPACE

⊹writing

starlight speaks to stone is a videopoem that meditates on what it means to dream with and of the earth in the midst of climate catastrophe. Inspired by the nonlinear, multilayered nature of the subconscious, the work weaves together everyday scenes of light, natural phenomena, and moments of perceived synchronicity with texts gathered from participants during a collective dream reflection exercise in Berlin, alongside fragments from the artist's personal dream journals. 

Through an interplay of image, text, and sound, the video poem explores dreams as a site where individual, collective, and ecological threads coalesce. It asks: What kinds of knowledge surface in dreams? How might sustained attention to nightly visions reshape the ways we attune to ourselves, to other beings around us, and to the Earth? 

Visuals, narration, and editing: Charmaine Li
Music: Alexis Chan
Text: Charmaine Li with Dream Journal Fragments & Anonymous Responses gathered from ‘Wading Thru Dream, 2gether’ (ACUD Galerie, 2024)

This project was developed and assembled during Est-Nord-Est’s Author’s Residency and was first presented in 2024 as part of an installation at the residency’s Open Studios.

Practicing Ecosensibility  Atmos

⊹writing

For an exhibition at Gropius Bau, artist Zheng Bo leads a series of exercises to help visitors move beyond a human-centered perpective of the world. Can these practices teach us how to bond with other natural life forms?

Read more on Atmos

Zoey Gong on the role of mushrooms in traditional
Chinese Medicine Mushroom People

⊹writing

For the inaugural issue of Mushroom People, I interviewed chef and nutritionist Zoey Gong about how edible mushrooms are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, why she loves reishi, and where to find “mushroom heaven” in China.

More about the issue

Iris Van Herpen: The Unknownness of Everything mono.kultur #47

⊹writing

Iris van Herpen has consistently created pieces that defy easy classification, combining exquisite artistry with sheer inventiveness. Her designs can be read as an idiosyncratic language, one that does not rely on clearly defined words and certainties, but filters the many currents that inform our everyday. 

mono.kultur #47 / Summer 2019 / English / 15 x 20 cm  
48 Pages / Pages trimmed to different sizes

Interview by me / Photography by Mathieu Cesar; Robert Clark; Bryan Huynh; Inez & Vinoodh; ioulex; Nick Knight; Luigi & Iango; Jean-Baptiste Mondino; Armin Morbach; Petrovsky & Ramone; Warren du Preez & Nick Thornton Jones; Ronald Stoops; Emma Summerton; Sølve Sundsbø; Juergen Teller; Ellen von Unwerth; Duy Vo; Michel Zoeter
 / Design by mono.studio

More about the issue
Featured on ShowStudio, Flash Art, Friends of Friends

 

𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝒷𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌?