Drawing on a quote from the theorem of 19th-century Cosmist and space scientist Tsiolkovsky, “No Atom in the Universe Can Avoid a Difficult Life,” Anna Hoetjes (DAI, 2010-2012) explores both the poetry and destruction embedded within science via layered textile techniques, ceramics that push the limits of its material, and speculative video works. At the center of her exhibition at Gallery Fanny Freitag is the element neodymium, a rare earth metal that Hoetjes uses in her color-changing glazes. Neodymium is formed only in the most powerful exploding stars and is widely observed in astronomy. It has become one of the most intensively mined resources on Earth for the tech industry. Hoetjes connects the reactive materiality of this element to the social reality it is part of. She asks what it means to relate to forms of science and economics that have been shaped by patriarchal, capitalist, and colonial systems. Her works explore alternative kinds of relationships, in which female scientists and bodies always take center stage. On Sunday June 28 at 16:00 Anna Hoetjes and leading ESA astronomer Theresa Lüftinger will engage in a conversation around 'Planetary Breath'. How do rare earth minerals, magnetic fields and plate tectonics foster life? And how might we think of the crust of our Earth beyond extraction? "No Atom in the Universe can Avoid a Difficult Life" is on show till 11 July, 2026. Click to read more.