Deixis & Needs

What if needs, rather than norms, shaped how we live together, form relationships and organize institutions? Ren Loren Britton’s first institutional solo exhibition, Deixis & Needs, combines sculptural objects, textiles and a sound work into an expansive, multi-sensory spatial installation.

Helium-filled balloons float slowly through the air as you enter the exhibition space. Some hover just below the ceiling, while others drift lower into the room, reacting to drafts of air or the movements and touch of visitors. Some of the balloons are covered with fabric on which embroidered fragmentary body parts have been embroidered: eyes, hands, mouths, individual gestures or touches. In a playful way, they speak of closeness, intimacy, needs and embodiment.

The balloons can be handled and held. In doing so, they become resonating bodies for a 10-minute sound piece that is played once every hour. Sound becomes a tactile experience through vibrations. This form of perception refers to the use of balloons by D/deaf and heard-of-hearing people in order to physically feel music and different audio frequencies. The sound work is based on recordings by Ren Loren Britton’s trans* voice training sessions – where they found and changed the resonance of their voice while transitioning. It consists of sounds, tones, repetitions and moments of searching for a different voice. Here, the voice does not appear as fixed, but as something malleable that can change collectively over time. The installation also changes throughout the exhibition, as the balloons gradually deflate, slowing altering their shape and position. Time is not concealed, but made visible, continually altering bodies, materials and relationships.

The title of the exhibition refers to the linguistic concept of deixis, which concerns words such as “I”, “you”, “here”, or “now”, whose meaning changes depending on who is speaking and from what position. Drawing on discourses of disability justice as well as queer, trans* and crip perspectives, Ren Loren Britton shifts the focus from questions of inclusion and access towards needs – understood not as individual deficits or fixed categories, but as fluid, situational and relational: we all have needs that can change depending on time, context and relationships. Access and participation are therefore never fixed states, but collective and ongoing processes that must be renegotiated time and again.

Despite its political dimension, Deixis & Needs also creates a playful atmosphere. The balloons are reminiscent of celebrations, of moments of light-heartedness and fervor. It is precisely this playfulness that carries an element of resistance within it. Ableism, social norms and notions of functionality are not only critically examined here, but also challenged with relish and joy. At a time of increasing social polarisation and the rise right-wing violence, Deixis & Needs creates a space for queer, crip, and trans* joy – for mutual care, interdependence and respectful forms of coexistence.

Accordingly, the exhibition did not begin with its opening. In the run-up to the event, a series of “Exhibition Doula Meetings” took place – jointly moderated discussions with colleagues and friends from the worlds of art, culture and academia, who accompanied and reflected the creative process behind the works. Some of the participants contributed their own texts, thoughts and references to the reader, which expands on the exhibition and extends it into digital space.

Exhibition Doula Meeting Participants: Alâ Taleb, Elif Saydam, Kate Brehme, Lieks Hettinga, Pernilla Philip, Petz Haselmayer, Simon(e) van Saarloos and Sylvia Sadzinski.
Permission Video Participants: Franca Lopez Barbera, Goda Klumbytė, Hank D. Wüstenberg, Jingyun Li, Layal, Yi-Lin Kao.

Thanks to: Alâ Taleb, Aziza Ahmad, Franca Lopez Barbera, Erika Bernabei, Kate Brehme, Egidio de Bustamante, Sel Capone, Dana Cermane, T. L. Cowan, Laurel Cunningham, Kerry Downey, Rosen Eveleigh, Moira Gatens, Leila Haghighat, Jack Halberstam, Petz Haselmayer, Day Heisinger-Nixon, Lieks Hettinga, Lili Hillerich, Marian Hudek, Emily Jones, Yi-Lin Kao, Jespa Jacob Kleinfeld, Goda Klumbytė, Alina Kolar, Layal, Sophie Lewis, Jingyun Li, Max Liboiron, Luce de Lire, CC McKee, Karl Moubarak, Joan Nestle, Nguyễn + Transitory, Pedro Olivera, Di Otto, Nina Paim, Melina Morr de Pérez, Pernilla Manjula Phillip, Helen V. Pritchard, Jas Rault, Robin Rutenberg, Simon(e) van Saarlos, Sylvia Sadzinski, Elif Saydam, Johanna Schaffer, simo_tier, Joy Mariama Smith, Alâ Taleb, Evelyn Wüstenberg, Hank D. Wüstenberg, Gillian Wylde and to all other dear friends, collaborators and colleagues present & future — thank you for being with me across timespace.

Events: In Conversation: Jack Halberstam, Ren Loren Britton and Sylvia Sadzinski, June 20th 2026.

Multi-Sensory Listening Session with ezri_dax, Jingyun Li, and Nguyễn + Transitory, July 9th 2026.

Text: Sylvia Sadzinski.
Images: Thomas Rusch, Monika Karczmarczyk & Galya Feierman.
Deixis & Needs is the sixth chapter of the ongoing project Becoming B and is organized in collaboration with the feminist art space alpha nova & galerie futura.