In early 2022, I discovered that the Prinzhorn Collection in Heidelberg had a fascinating new acquisition, an object donated to the collection by its maker, Annegret Schrempf. It is a large, wearable crocheted net. Ms. Schrempf calls the net her ‘shelter,’ and I wondered about the process of making such a thing, as well as what it would be like to move in such an object. I also wondered what it would be like to need such a thing, and how such a strange, sock-like net could provide a sense of security.

Ms. Schrempf allowed me to borrow her net to create this video, staggering Mind, which is named after Emily Dickinson’s poem number 859. The poem is a brilliant analysis of what we think we know, revealing an uncertainty at the heart of knowing:

A doubt if it be Us
Assists the staggering Mind
In an extremer Anguish
Until it footing find.

An Unreality is lent,
A merciful Mirage
That makes the living possible
While it suspends the lives.

– Emily Dickinson, ca. 1864

I decided to imagine the net as a path to stability and security, rather than the self-deception that Dickinson’s poem suggests is necessary to overcome the anguish of uncertainty and live a stable life.