HD Video 03’06’’, 2026
“What’s in the Bag” draws inspiration from Ursula K. Le Guin’s radical approach to storytelling, articulated in the 1986 essay “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction.” Le Guin argues that the earliest, most pivotal human tools were containers—bags, baskets, nets—used to carry gathered food and materials, not just weapons to kill. The essay rejects the linear mode of the hero who conquers or destroys. Instead, it proposes a "life story" that holds, gathers, and connects diverse experiences and characters, much like a bag holds varied items.
The video work seeks to translate this redefinition of human evolution into a contemporary language shaped by online communication, social media, brand identities, subcultural codes, and memes; it focuses on bags in their present role and significance and explores the question of whether they have now found their place and recognition—as an indispensable object in everyday life and as the most desired and fetishized fashion item of our time.
written and directed by Hildegard Oehler & Stee Van Stark
based on The Carrier Bag Theory Of Fiction
starring Briggitte Appiah
narrated by Hildi
graphs inspired by Shumon Basar
production Soula Films & Studio MO
The video was first shown as part of the State of Fashion Biennale 2026
Disclaimer: This video is an artistic research project. There is no sponsorship or commercial affiliation with any of the brands or organisations depicted.