War trauma and possibly all trauma can be seen as a particular set of scars shaped by memory, fear, identity and politics [Judith Herman, m.d., 2015]. A re-positioning of those scars can reveal not only how their intensity operates in the discourse but also sheds light on how the mechanisms of creating knowledge, identity and meaning are formed [Foucault, 1972]. Exploring the unspoken zone where memory, amnesia and trauma of war are embodied, preserved and circulated in different shapes, patterns and forms that create atmosphere. The effect of trauma is the opposite of linear time. The past is projected into the future coming back to create the present, creating a fluid environment that allows the living trauma to take shape and circulate [Pierre Klossowski, 1970] [Christina Sharpe, 2016]. The moment before is a term Wachsmann coined in order to work time, trauma and event in a different way than the linear time events we normally use. The moment before is a fragment, diffraction and the becoming of the unfolding event [Karen Barad, 2014]. The moment before is not only leading to the explosion; but also has the ability to change the event, change the shape or the way that the event/trauma unfolds and circulates.

In her work, Shira Wachsmann (Berlin, London) explores the multi-layered notions of 'land' as a natural and cultural habitat. She mainly uses organic materials such as earth, metal, coal, straw and plants and deals with their religious, historical and social content. Shira Wachsmann confronts the viewer with philosophical ideas and political ideologies, thereby addressing concepts of home and the construction of identity. In her most recent artistic research, Wachsmann deals with the perceptive capacity and memory of plants.