Swamps & Ponds

The film Swamps & Ponds is loosely based on the speculative origins of the 19th century Styrian arsenic eaters, a collective of peasants known as the Toxicophagi who were written about by the physician and naturalist Johann Jakob von Tschudi in 1851. The Toxicophagi used arsenic regularly and were thought to have become immune to the poison due to regular doses. They ate the arsenic either to acquire a fresh complexion or to facilitate respiration when walking or working in the mountains. This poison was used as a symbolic starting point to explore the power of invisible substances or structures and the tolerance of an overlooked collective. By repurposing this compound, the aim was to explore the implications substances and ‘invisible’ toxic forces have on group formation and dissolution; hierarchies and power; and subcultures and intoxication.