[dance-tech] nonhuman networks
- From: Johannes Birringer <Johannes.Birringer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "dance-tech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <dance-tech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2017 16:39:59 +0000
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Nonhuman Agents, Art Laboratory Berlin
Art Laboratory Berlin: Interdisciplinary Conference, November 24-26, 2017
Nonhuman Agents in Art, Culture and Theory
In cooperation with :
Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam
The conference “Nonhuman Agents in Art, Culture and Theory” is one part of the
interdisciplinary series “Nonhuman Agents“ (June- December 2017) at Art
Laboratory Berlin. As a theoretical addition to the ongoing series, Art
Laboratory Berlin, along with our partners, The Institute for Arts and Media,
University of Potsdam, will bring together international artists, scholars, and
scientists from different disciplines to discuss artistic, philosophical,
ethical and scientific approaches to nonhuman agency. Previous positions from
our “Nonhuman Subjectivities” series (2016-17) will also be included.
The series “Nonhuman Agents” takes into account recent philosophical approaches
which question anthropocentrism. These discourses emphasize the nonhuman
perspectives through object-oriented ontology (Harman and Meillasoux); discuss
nonhuman / human encounters (Haraway); postulate a posthumanism (Braidotti);
and examine various posthuman performative strategies such as intra-acting
(Barad). A new 'de-centring' lets us draw our attention to a reality that can
no longer be described in purely anthropocentric parameters
The conference will start with a reflection on post-anthropocentrism by
redefining intelligence (human, animal and plant intelligence), agency and
sentience. An in-depth consideration will include the role of fungi: mycelium,
the Internet of trees and yeasts. Microbial agency will be explored via the
phenomenon of quorum sensing and biofilms, proposing a micro-subjectivity.
There will be contributions on the microbiome and holobiome, taking into
consideration the human as nonhuman. We want to open up a discussion to
endosymbiosis and sympoiesis, reflecting symbiotic relationships, horizontal
gene transfer and the role of Lynn Margulis in 21st century Biology and Science
and Technology Studies. Finally, the conference will discuss nonhuman
perspectives under threat and propose an ethology for the techno-scientific era.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM:
(Tentative, as of 8 October, 2017)
Friday, 24 November, 2017
9:00: Registration
10:00
Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz (Art Laboratory Berlin)
Welcome and Introduction
10:30
Other Subjectivities. Redefining Intelligence, Agency and Sentience
Rahma Khazam (Aesthetics, Art Theory, Paris)
When the Sardine Can Looks back...
Desiree Förster (Media Ecology, Institute for Arts and Media, University of
Potsdam)
Environments of Shared Concern
Maja Smrekar (Artist, Ljubljana)
The Wolf-human-dog Continuum in Light of K-9_topology
12:30 Lunch break
13:30
Fungal Perspectives. From the Viewpoint of a Mushroom
Saša Spacal (Artist, Ljubljana)
Mycohuman Relationships. Fungi as Interspecies Connectors, Companion Species
and Human Symbionts
Mirjan Švagelj (Microbiologist, Aceis Bio, Ljubljana)
Mushrooms as Teachers. Mushrooms in Human Societies
Vera Meyer (Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology,
Technical University Berlin)
Fungal Biotechnology – What We Do with Fungi (and What Fungi Do With Us)
15:30 Break
16:00
Plant Intelligence
Špela Petric (Scientist & artist, Amsterdam/ Ljubljana)
The Vegetal, Intimately
Joana Bergmann (Institute of Biology, Free University Berlin)
Hand in Hand. Root Morphological Traits and Their Mediation by Arbuscular
Mycorrhizal Fungi
17:30 Break
18:00
Keynote
Monika Bakke (Institute of Philosophy, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan)
The Force of Radical Openness: Multispecies Alliances Beyond the Biological
19:30
Reception at Art Laboratory Berlin, on view current exhibition Nonhuman
Networks ( More information )
Saturday, 25 November, 2017
10:30
Microbial Agency. Proposing Micro-Subjectivity
Anna Dumitriu (Artist, Brighton)
Make Do and Mend
Regine Hengge (Institute of Biology, Dep. of Microbiology, Humboldt University
Berlin)
Biofilms - Invisible Cities of Microbes from the Petri Dish to the Human Body
Ingeborg Reichle (Media Theory, University of Applied Arts Vienna)
Identity/ Privacy in Public Spaces: Genetic Surveillance in Contemporary Art
12:30 Lunch break
13:30
Human as Nonhuman. Microbiome and holobiome
François Joseph Lapointe (Artist and microbiologist, Department of Biological
Sciences, University of Montreal)
Performative Microbiome Experiments
Tarsh Bates (Artist, SymbioticA, University of Western Australia, Perth)
On Being a Microbioartist: Making Art in a Microbiology Lab
Regine Rapp (Art Theory, Curatorial Research, Art Laboratory Berlin)
Nonhuman Subjectivities. Artistic Strategies for a Multispecies Performativity
15:30 Break
16:00
Endosymbiosis and Sympoiesis
Rachel Mayeri (Artist, Media Studies, Harvey Mudd College, Los Angeles)
Orfeo Nel Canale Alimentare
Heather Barnett (Artist, Researcher, Central St. Martins, London)
Many-Headed: Co-creation across Scales and Species
Daniel Renato Lammel (Institute of Biology, Free University Berlin)
Endosymbiosis and "Love Stories" between Plants and Microorganisms
Laura Benítez Valero (Institute of Philosophy, Autonomous University of
Barcelona)
Biosophy and Mutagenesis. Towards an Alien Sym_poiesis
18:15 Break
18:30-19:45
Nonhuman Agents. A report
Alanna Lynch, Margherita Pevere, Theresa Schubert, Sarah Hermanutz, Heather
Barnett and plan b (Sophia New & Daniel Belasco Rogers)
Sunday, 26 November, 2017
11:00
Nonhuman Perspectives Under Threat
Mary Maggic Tsang (Artist, Vienna)
From Molecular Colonization to Molecular Collaborations
David Sepkoski (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin)
Are We Experiencing a 'Sixth Extinction' and Does it Matter?
12.30 Break
13.00
Beyond the Animal as Machine. Ethology in the Age of Technoscience
Birgit Schneider (Media Ecology, Institute for Arts and Media, University of
Potsdam)
Through the Eye of an Animal. Uexküll’s Perceptual Worlds in 360°
Robertina Šebjanic (Artist, Ljubljana)
Sounds of Troubled Worlds = Songs for Serenity
Vivian Xu (Artist, Designer, Shanghai)
The Silkworm Project
15:00 Final Discussion - END
Current exhibition at Art Laboratory Berlin:
Nonhuman Networks: Heather Barnett | Saša Spacal, Mirjan Švagelj & Anil
Podgornik
Left: Saša Spacal, Mirjan Švagelj and Anil Podgornik, Myconnect, Installation,
2014, Damjan Švarc / Kapelica gallery photo archive;
Right: Heather Barnett, The Physarum Experiments Study No. 022, Film still,
2016
Exhibition runs: 30 September - 26 November, 2017
Fri - Sun, 2 - 6 PM and by appointment
Nonhuman Networks presents an aesthetics of new forms of communication between
human and nonhuman actors. How does the world's largest single celled creature
function as a computer? Can we tap into the so-called 'Internet of trees'?
Performative works act as enablers for the audience to engage in non-linguistic
forms of awareness and contact with several deceptively simple life forms.
Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj and Anil Podgornik combine art, biology and
cybernetics to create a platform for inter species communication. In Myconnect
the nervous system of a person and fungal mycelium are plugged into a
biofeedback loop. By entering the capsule a person is equipped with a heartbeat
sensor, headphones and vibrational motors that are placed on various parts of
the body. The heartbeat of a person sets the system in motion. The signal
travels through the mycelium where it is modulated in real-time. The modulated
signal is transferred back to the human body via sound, light and tactile
sensory impulses. The overwhelming stimuli that affect the nervous system cause
an alteration of the heartbeat. A new loop begins and the circle is closed. A
symbiosis of signals begins.
Heather Barnett is an artist, researcher and educator working with natural
phenomena and biological design, often in collaboration with scientists,
artists, participants and organisms. Utilising living materials and imaging
technologies, her practice explores how we observe, represent and understand
the world around us. Projects include microbial portraiture, systems modelling,
and an ongoing 'collaboration' with an intelligent slime mould, Physarum
polycephalum. As one of the world's largest single-celled organisms, the slime
mould possesses the ability to solve spatial problems and learn from
interactions with its environment. The exhibition builds upon Barnett's unique
combination of interdisciplinary research and participatory practice.
More information
Extended opening hours on conference days:
24/25 Novmber: 12 - 8 PM
26 November: 12 - 6PM
Upcoming Event at Art Laboratory Berlin:
Sarah Hermanutz | ill-at-ease seep: 28 October 2017
In her lecture “ill-at-ease seep”, Sarah Hermanutz discusses the relationship
between humans and wetlands, an ongoing theme of her artistic research.
Wetlands are one of the ecologically most diverse and important ecosystems for
life on earth, but in the last century more than 50% have been destroyed. More
information
* Credits, exhibition views:
Left: Theresa Schubert, still from the workshop The forestal psyche, August
2017, photo: Tim Deussen/Studio Deussen; center: Robertina Šebjanic: Aurelia
1+Hz / proto viva generator, Installation with living system, 2014, photo: Hana
Jošic; Right: Saša Spacal with Mirjan Švagelj and Anil Podgornik,
Mycophone_unison, Responsive installation: electronics, sound, and biological
material, 2013; Petri dish, detail of installation. Photo: Tim Deussen/Studio
Deussen
Address:
Art Laboratory Berlin
Theatre Hall, Prinzenallee 58, 13359 Berlin
(Across the street from the Art Laboratory Berlin exhibition space)
Registration required: register@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
3-day ticket: 40/25 EUR | 1-day ticket: 20/ 12 EUR
With the generous support of:
Media partner:
Cooperation partners:
Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam
Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz
Prinzenallee 34, 13359 Berlin
www.artlaboratory-berlin.org
info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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