title
year
info
description
documentation

dominium terrae



Filed under:
Publication, Narrative, Digital World,  Architecture

2025

publication

funded by
Bundesministerium Kunst und Kultur
Land Salzburg
Land Steiermark
and LAB5550

additional texts
WAI Architecture Thinktank
Beste Ileri

publisher
Forum Stadtpark Verlag
“Dominium Terrae” is a powerful and unsettling exploration of humanity’s current trajectory and the futures we may be steering toward. Structured as a series of museums, each devoted to a distinct failure of the modern era, ranging from environmental collapse to economic inequality and social injustice, the book exposes the hidden costs of our systems and practices. Each exhibition serves as both a mirror and a warning, urging us to confront the consequences of inaction before they harden into disaster.

More than just critique, “Dominium Terrae” is a call to responsibility. It reminds us that the choices we make today will define the world of tomorrow. Through sharp analysis and strikingly imaginative storytelling, it challenges readers to envision and build a future that is more just, equitable, and sustainable. Thought-provoking, urgent, and deeply resonant, “Dominium Terrae” is essential reading for anyone concerned with the fate of our planet and the survival of our species.
Isometric view of two stacked copies of the book dominium terrae on black: the front cover with large white hexagonal lettering and the back cover with a barcode


dominium terrae movie



Filed under:
Movie, Narrative, Digital World, 

2026

short movie

awards
Honorable Mention
VAEFF 2026,
New York, USA

funded by
Land Salzburg

Written, directed
Wilhelm Scherübl

Sound:
Julia Just

Voice:
elevenlabs.io
Dominium Terrae is a short film based on the book of the same name. In a compact format, it brings to life the locations and scenarios from the book, offering a glimpse into a world shaped by absence.

WE travel across Earth after the wealthy have fled to space, leaving most of humanity behind. A collective voice, belonging to those who remain, speaks of what is left: fragments of data, buildings baking in the sun, silence where there was once noise. Not much survives. But something lingers.

Through images and narration, the film builds an atmosphere of quiet doom, inviting viewers to witness what remains when everything else is gone.


CCC



Filed under:
Object, Narrative, Publication

2023

publication
narratives
objects

funded by
Land Salzburg

Residency Merida
Universidad de las Artes de Yucatán
La Cupula
This project imagines a dystopian reality in which the unchecked rise of soft drink consumption plunges a nation into crisis. Diabetes, obesity, and shortened lifespans spread rapidly as corporations aggressively market sugary beverages, especially to infants and children. Government regulations collapse under the pressure of profit-driven campaigns, leaving society overwhelmed by products that erode its health. The work exposes this clash between corporate power and human vulnerability, revealing how deeply consumption shapes culture and survival.

The installation brings this narrative to life through a series of objects: oversized bottles holding 20 liters and 5 liters stand as monumental forms mirroring the everyday dominance of soft drinks in local life, while a baby bottle extends the narrative with chilling effect, pointing to the deliberate targeting of the youngest consumers. Bottle caps collected from the streets serve as silent evidence of environmental neglect, and a sculpture of the sea completes the ensemble as a symbolic piece suggesting how capitalism penetrates even the most elemental forces of nature.

>more
Three Coca-Cola bottles of different sizes against a white background: a large dark water-cooler jug, a two-liter bottle and a small bottle


Me, myself and (A)I



Filed under:
Digital World, Movie, Performance

2023

research
video
performance

funded by
Land Salzburg

in collaboration with
Bernadette
Flavia
Manuel

music by
Julia Just
This research project explores digital self-expression and identity, from the casual play of Instagram filters to fully fictional personas. Its focus is empowerment: giving marginalized communities, especially those who don't identify with their biological bodies, tools for authentic representation. Using tracking suits, participants merge their Real Self with a Digital Self, creating new "bodies" to embody, test, and transform in virtual space. Avatars, often enhanced through AI, become vessels of desire, emotion, and imagination, reflecting identities as they could be, not just as they are.

Performers & Process
The project collaborates closely with performers, particularly transgender, non-binary, and gender-fluid individuals, who step into their digital doubles. Their gestures and emotions are translated into fluid, shape-shifting avatars inhabiting virtual worlds, raising questions about identity, embodiment, and how digital self-discovery echoes back into lived reality.

Outcome
The process culminates in a video work documenting the creation and evolution of these digital selves, a cinematic reflection on the interplay between body, technology, and identity's infinite possibilities.

>more
Video still for Me, myself and (A)I: a few people move under a tall wooden lattice structure on terracotta ground, with the title in white letters across the top

OENORM B5335



Filed under:
Exhibition

2019

installation
video

exhibited
AKT 1: Europa

in collaboration with
Philippe Jans
Therese Leick
Charlie Rauchs
“I still believe that the principle is that the law has to follow politics and not politics the law.”
Herbert Kickl, FPÖ, 21.01.2019

This absurd statement serves as the starting point for a spatial installation that embodies its inherent contradiction. At the center stands a door, designed to defy convention and expectation. The entrance becomes both a literal and symbolic threshold, reflecting the distorted logic of populism, nationalism, and bigotry.

Inside, the room unfolds under the theme of Europe. A video plays recordings of people sharing their perceptions of the European Union, revealing diverse opinions, misconceptions, and hopes. The interplay of space, imagery, and narrative invites reflection on the fragile balance between law, politics, and ideology in shaping our collective future.

>more
A narrow wooden door standing slightly open in a white wall, with a strip of bright blue visible through the gap and a brass handle on the right


ReAct



Filed under:
Digital World

2021

VR space
installation

funded by
Wirtschaftsagentur Wien

in collaboration with
Efua Jarvis Essandoh

The space has additionally served the Schwarze Frauen community as a venue for anti-racist workshops, creating a setting for education, dialogue, and collective action.
ReAct is a virtual space that confronts visitors with the realities of systemic racism and white supremacy. Through a personalized journey, participants are invited to examine their own privileges and biases, and to reflect on how they can contribute to building an anti-racist society.

Designed for those willing to question the status quo, the exhibition guides exploration through observation, understanding, and listening. A collaboration between two artists with differing experiences, ReAct combines powerful visual imagery, thought-provoking narratives, and interactive encounters to illuminate the pervasive effects of white supremacy on our world.

More than an exhibition, ReAct is a call to action: an invitation to engage in a long-overdue conversation and to work collectively toward a more equitable, anti-racist future.

>more
Orange-toned render of a curved white exhibition room with arched openings and the large letters ACT in the center

walking a city I have never visited



Filed under:
Digital World

2020

VR space
virtual exhibition

funded by
bmwkms

exhibited
between Vienna / Istanbul
This project challenges conventional notions of architecture and space by exploring the intersection between physical movement and our perception of urban environments. It investigates how personal experiences and memories shape our relationship with the spaces we inhabit.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it brought gave the project added significance: during periods of confinement, memories of past experiences and longing for specific places grew more vivid.

To capture these memories, I collaborated with Istanbul residents, inviting them to describe their favorite places or daily routes from memory. Drawing on audio recordings and 3D abstract reconstructions, I translated these descriptions into virtual environments. The result is a virtual city tour of Istanbul that fuses personal narratives with my own visual interpretation.

The project encourages visitors to reconsider their relationship with urban spaces and the personal meanings they attach to them. By highlighting the connection between movement, perception, and memory, it offers a more nuanced, human-centered perspective on architecture and urban planning.



© Wilhelm Scherübl