Schwer im Magen (Hard on the stomach) approaches the issue of shark finning through an artistic video installation that highlights the waste of resources.

Sharks were modelled in clay and then destroyed by cutting off their fins and boiling them in a pot of water. The resulting 'clay soup' was then served in a restaurant scenario. Consumption took place in a group of three, with the fin soup being eaten by the spoonful. The gesture depicted is intended to draw attention to the repulsiveness of human treatment of animals and the acceptance of cruelty to animals in the context of the production of delicacies or other consumer goods.

“...Finning is a brutal practice used in fishing on the high seas. Sometimes the sharks are hunted selectively, but increasingly Finning is being practiced with the unwanted by-catch of tuna and swordfish fishing. Immediately after catching the sharks all the fins are cut off and the remaining carcasses thrown back into the sea. During this mutilation, the animals are usually fully conscious, and, no longer able to swim, sink to the seabed where they bleed to death or suffocate...” [1]

[1] STOP FINNING EU, Was ist Finning? (13.03.2025)