Benedikt Terwiel explores the technological and methodical developments connected with the cultivation, appropriation and production of land. In his work he explores how these processes and their results are reproduced in images and he researches the cultural historical narratives the processes are associated with. An important reference for his practice are several long distance walks Terwiel undertook from 2005 to 2012 throughout Europe. The last route aimed at researching “the natural human habitat” and lead from Berlin to Rotterdam.

For his 2024 EMAP residency project LAND BEFORE LAST Terwiel will return to Rotterdam and it's harbor and look at this area as a highly industrialized and densely populated environment with advanced technological infrastructures and an extremely designed landscape. LAND BEFORE LAST will deal with the way technology changes how we see the world we live in and how perceptions of natural and artificial can become fluid. Terwiel will explore the impact of industrialization and human intervention and the traces it leaves on our planet. He creates alternative perspectives on our civilization by looking at it through new scientific, technological and temporal lenses.

Terwiel will be collaborating on the text for LAND BEFORE LAST with musician and artist ANOHNI. ANOHNI is an artist and musician based in New York City. Her recent album, My Back Was A Bridge for you To Cross (2023) issues the challenge “It’s Time To Feel What’s Really Happening.” ANOHNI has had solo exhibitions at The Kitchen, New York; Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen; Kunsthal Bielefeld, Germany; and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. With her group Antony and the Johnsons, ANOHNI  performed with symphonies and in opera houses around the world including Sydney Opera House, Royal Opera House London, Teatro Real in Madrid and Carnegie Hall in New York.