In the 4:15-minute animation, insects circle in a seemingly symmetrical composition. What begins as a few squeaky, distorted voices develops into an eerie chant that oscillates between cheerful and melancholic, unsettling—and yet carries something sweet within it.
The insects address humans directly: they ask them to save the climate, complaining about heat, floods, fires, storms, and drought, about the loss of their homes, their food, their air. Serious appeals are interspersed with an almost childlike “Tralalalalala,” as if they wanted to sing away the catastrophe—and thus make it all the more palpable.
The work uses this contrast between lightness and urgency not to lecture, but to evoke a feeling – one that echoes in the mind and calls for action.
LANGUAGE : English COUNTRY : Germany, Switzerland YEAR : 2025 DURATION : 4m ARTIST, DIRECTOR : Vera Leisibach
Director statement : My artistic practice works on two levels. I document inconspicuous, fascinating details of everyday life, creating an extensive video and photo archive. I capture these seemingly insignificant moments with my cell phone camera. Depending on the collaboration and context, I draw on this archive.
With the same attentiveness with which I roam through my everyday life, I also move through digital spaces such as YouTube and capture subtle, absurd moments there. This deals with the climate debate in the USA and Australia, as well as the mainstream media’s treatment of so-called climate critics.
In my experimental video portrait “Visions of Transformation with Luisa Neubauer“, about the climate activist Luisa Neubauer, the two levels of YouTube snippets and the aesthetic archive come together. Intercut with meditative, atmospheric landscape shots, water reflections, romantic sunsets, the observation of animals and insects; crawling caterpillars, fluttering butterflies, buzzing bees, beetles, funny ducks or quiet fish. Get excited with her, let yourself feel the urgency, in contrast to the atmospheric pictures.
In my project “Becky’s Garden”, I deal with the extinction of the monarch butterfly. With aesthetically exuberant collages, I reflect on the extraordinary beauty that is gradually being lost due to insect extinction. In the “Insects & Plants” project, I shed light on insect and plant extinction at a local level with photos from Central Europe. The photographic collages make a subtle appeal that this extraordinary beauty and diversity will soon disappear due to insect and plant extinction. The animated collages, which come across as humorous memento mori, make us smile sadly. In “If We Could Talk”, I let the insects speak, imploring us humans to preserve their world. They sing and dance—part playful, part melancholic, part humorous—offering a bittersweet reminder of what we stand to lose.
SONG: “If we could speak to humans, we would beg you — Save the climate. —- SAVE, SAVE, SAVE the climate. —- We have nowhere left to go! You are tearing down our homes. You are poisoning OUR air, OUR floor and OUR plants. Save us FROM the rising heat, Save us FROM floods, Save us FROM fires, Save us FROM storms, Save us FROM endless drought. Stop destroying our habitat. We cannot survive without your help. SAVE US. SAVE US. SAVE US. We have nothing left to do than sing: Tralalalalalalalaaa… Save the climate — begin today. — Tomorrow could be too late. We have nothing left to do than sing: Tralalalalalalalaaa… SAVE the bees, SAVE the trees, SAVE the clean air — SAVE us. SAVE US. SAVE US. SAVE US. Do not wait for tomorrow — the time is NOW. NOW. NOW. We have nothing left to do than sing: Tralalalalalaaaaaa… Did not Einstein once say: If the bees vanish, humans may follow? Soooo, you see: This is not only for us — it is for you too.
Bio : Vera Leisibach is a visual artist, curator, and art educator. Her multimedia practice spans collage, animation, photography, film, and research-based projects. She develops and teaches workshops and is active in the field of art education. Conceptually, her work is guided by pressing ecological and social issues—the choice of medium emerges from the topic at hand. Her artistic approach merges aesthetic strategies with political reflection, revealing processes of transformation and the fragile beauty of everyday life.
Vera Leisibach lives and works in Berlin. Born in 1987 in Fribourg, Switzerland, she holds a BA and MA in Fine Arts from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Her work has been shown in exhibitions across Europe, including Zürich (Switzerland), 48 Hours Neukölln (Berlin), Holy Art Gallery (London).
As an active member of Group Global 3000 – Gallery for Sustainable Art in Berlin, she contributes to jury decisions, exhibition concepts, and organizational work.
Pebbles Underground is focused on showcasing and promoting experimental, avant-garde, underground, and no-to-low budget projects by artist-humans from all over the world. Absurd, uncanny, witty, humorous, slow-video – all are welcomed, and loved.
Pebbles Underground is an independent project not funded by any government or corporation, and we intend to keep it that way. Main source of funding is personal donations from humans organizing the project, who are artists themselves, and the main drive of the project is formed by the energy and involvement of the organizers, and the public.
