Swept Away by the Undertow is an immersive installation by the SINON collective exploring the cyclical relationship between water, the human body, and urban environments. The work invites viewers to rethink their relationship with the more-than-human by engaging with water as a shared, lived entity. What does it mean to grant agency to water? How might we listen to its responses?

The Limmat River serves as both source material and subject of reflection. By using its waters as material and motif—and combining them with human bodily fluids—the project underscores the entanglement of urban infrastructure, the river, and our own bodies. Rather than treating water as a passive resource, the installation seeks to collaborate with it, allowing it to take an active role in the creative process. Can water teach us to know and learn differently?

For the visual component, Anna-Tia Buss photographed the Limmat River over several months using analogue film. After exposure, the film strips were soaked in her own urine before development—a gesture that entwines bodily fluids with river water, foregrounding their shared cycles of transformation. The altered images are printed on textile and suspended within a wooden frame, forming an immersive space for reflection. Aesthetically striking images resulting from what is typically considered “waste” become the centerpiece of the installation.

For this installation, Leonie Fritsch composed an original soundscape that layers field recordings, spoken text, and melodic elements. Voices of water intertwine with reflections on their own relationship to it, weaving together different perspectives. Instrumental textures unfold slowly, inviting visitors to pause, listen closely, and drift with the movement of the composition. Through this experimental combination of voice, field recordings, and piano, the piece gently reconsiders how we relate to water.Visitors are also invited to share their own thoughts and reflections through an online form. These contributions are collected into a growing archive and woven into the soundscape throughout the exhibition’s duration. Each voice becomes part of a communal record of shared experience.