Monday, September 19, 2016

Seminar: Living Systems | Aquatic Systems

with Robertina Šebjanič, Kat Austen, Regine Rapp (moderated by Christian de Lutz)
in the framework of the exhibition Aural Aquatic Presence featuring work by Robertina Šebjanič .

18 September, 2016, 2-6PM


 The current exhibition project artistically explores the interplay and intercommunication between animal and machine while focusing on the aquatic environment. Within this framework we want to invite you to our seminar which will theoretically explore these and other aspects about artistic and scientific methodologies on interspecies empathy and human-nonhuman companionship.
 


Regine Rapp
Art and Object-Oriented Perception. Reflecting Living Systems in Contemporary Art

Based on the concept and exhibition series Nonhuman Subjectivities the presentation will theoretically reflect several artists and their specific artistic interest in nonhuman agents. Different artistic strategies will be presented to discuss the manifold aesthetic approaches to the phenomenon of object-oriented perception. Be it narrative strategies, aesthetic strategies of immersion, bridging medical historical phenomena with gender issues, or combining scientific laboratory and art practices – it is challenging to explore a variety of artistic approaches towards the nonhuman. The counter-linguistic turn as well as the concept of cooperative actions can serve as a useful theoretical ground within the debate.




Robertina Šebjanič
Subjectivity and the Aquatocene

The most substantial aims of the audiovisual performance Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva sonification (2015) are to explore the phenomena of interspecies communication, sonification of the environment and the underwater acoustic/ bioacoustics. Her new installation Subaquatic / Aquatocene sound scape (2016) reflects about the immersion into the underwater acoustic environment and the sound and noise pollution produced there by human presence. The project explores the relationship between sound, nature and society and encourages rethinking the human impact on the (under)water habitat as well as the establishment and maintainance of safe audio environments for animals that live in the oceans and seas.


Kat Austen

Experiments in Interspecies Empathy: The Coral Empathy Device

We have a lot in common with coral. It builds shelter to protect itself, and lives in symbiosis with microorganisms, which – like our microbiome – help it to survive. Coral acts like a steward to much other marine life, providing a home for the algae with which it lives symbiotically, and creating reefs that are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Using stewardship as a common starting point, Kat will discuss her piece The Coral Empathy Device (2016) in the context of exploring interspecies empathy through artistic investigations into the marine environment and human perception. Drawing on an approach that melds together multiple knowledges, Kat will explain both the conceptual approach and her methodologies in the research and creation of a piece that challenges the audience physically to prompt a lived experience connecting human-in-air and coral-in-water.

Thursday, September 08, 2016

Seminar: Living Systems | Aquatic Systems

with Robertina Šebjanič, Kat Austen, Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz
in the framework of the exhibition Aural Aquatic Presence.

18 September, 2016, 2-6PM
Participation Fee: 12/ 8 EUR
Please Register: register@artlaboratory-berlin.org


Robertina Šebjanic, Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva generator, 2014, photo by Miha Frastion

The current exhibition project artistically explores the interplay and intercommunication between animal and machine while focusing on the aquatic environment. Within this framework we want to invite you to our seminar which will theoretically explore these and other aspects about artistic and scientific methodologies on interspecies empathy and human-nonhuman companionship.
PRESENTATIONS:

Regine Rapp
Art and Object-Oriented Perception. Reflecting Living Systems in Contemporary Art

Based on the concept and exhibition series Nonhuman Subjectivities the presentation will theoretically reflect several artists and their specific artistic interest in nonhuman agents. Different artistic strategies will be presented to discuss the manifold aesthetic approaches to the phenomenon of object-oriented perception. Be it narrative strategies, aesthetic strategies of immersion, bridging medical historical phenomena with gender issues, or combining scientific laboratory and art practices – it is challenging to explore a variety of artistic approaches towards the nonhuman. The counterlinguistic turn as well as the concept of cooperative actions can serve as a useful theoretical ground within the debate.

Berlin based art historian Regine Rapp curates and researches contemporary art at the intersection of art & science, and the phenomenon of art & space. She co-founded Art Laboratory Berlin in 2006, which she co-directs and curates together with Christian de Lutz since 2009. Exhibition and research topics: Time & Technology, Synaesthesia, macro/microbiologies and the arts. Recent publication: Art and the Biological Sublime in the 21st Century (2015).


Robertina Šebjanič
Subjectivity and the Aquatocene

The most substantial aims of the audiovisual performance Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva sonification (2015) are to explore the phenomena of interspecies communication, sonification of the envi-ronment and the underwater acoustic/ bioacoustics. Her new installation Subaquatic / Aquato-cene sound scape (2016) reflects about the immersion into the underwater acoustic environment and the sound and noise pollution produced there by human presence. The project explores the relationship between sound, nature and society and encourages rethinking the human impact on the (under)water habitat as well as the establishment and maintainance of safe audio environ-ments for animals that live in the oceans and seas.

Ljubljana based Robertina Šebjanič is an intermedia artist whose works address the relationships between art, science and technology. In recent years, she’s been focusing on living systems in particular. Her artistic exploratory processes result in audiovisual performances and sound art, as well as complex submersible configurations/ installations. http://robertina.net/


Kat Austen
Experiments in Interspecies Empathy: The Coral Empathy Device

We have a lot in common with coral. It builds shelter to protect itself, and lives in symbiosis with microorganisms, which – like our microbiome – help it to survive. Coral acts like a steward to much other marine life, providing a home for the algae with which it lives symbiotically, and creating reefs that are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Using stewardship as a common starting point, Kat will discuss her piece The Coral Empathy Device (2016) in the context of exploring interspecies empathy through artistic investigations into the marine environment and human perception. Drawing on an approach that melds together multiple knowledges, Kat will explain both the conceptual approach and her methodologies in the research and creation of a piece that challenges the audience physically to prompt a lived experience connecting human-in-air and coral-in-water.

Kat Austen is a succession of experiences and an assemblage of aspirations. She is also a person. She creates artworks and experiences that explore multiple knowledges, boundaries and authority in an environmental context. She has a studio in Berlin and lectures at University College London’s Arts and Sciences BASc, is Artist in Residence in UCL’s Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences, and part of the London Creative Network.


Moderated by
Christian de Lutz

Christian de Lutz, originally from New York and now based in Berlin, is an artist and curator. His artworks deal with social, political and cultural themes, with an emphasis on science, technology, migration and cultural borderlines. He co-founded Art Laboratory Berlin in 2006 and co-directs and curates Art Laboratory Berlin together with Regine Rapp since 2009. Exhibition and research topics of the last years: Time & Technology, Synaesthesia, macro/microbiologies and the arts. Recent publication: Art and the Biological Sublime in the 21st Century (2015).


Bio & Beers and Hands-on Bioluminesce

Hands-on Bioluminesce workshop with Dr. Mirela Alister at Art Laboratory Berlin on 7 September.

The Bio & Beers format is for everyone: it usually starts with a 20 minutes presentation, followed by discussions while having beers. On occasion there are workshops, like the one led last night by Miri Alister:

This week we got our hands dirty with culturing bioluminescent bacteria (yep, that glows in the dark). The late evening is the best time to see this little organisms glowing. We learned how to create a medium in a Petri dish and culture the medium with the bacteria (Photobacterium!) and even take them home with us. In a week or two they should be glowing!









Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Bio & Beers | every Thursday at Art Laboratory Berlin through 15 December

The Bio & Beers format is for everyone: we start with a 20 minutes presentation, followed by discussions while having beers.

Next meeting: Thursday 8 September, 2016 at 7PM
This week's topic: Bioluminescence followed by a hands-on workshop!

Presenter: Mirela Alistar, researcher in bio engineering

This week we get out hands dirty with culturing bioluminescent bacteria (yep, that glows in the dark). The late evening is the best time to see this little organisms glowing. You will nurture the bacteria and even take them home to see them glowing every night.
Join us and invite your friends too!

To help us with organization, please register. Meetings are usually free, but there is a fee when workshops are included:  This event costs 10 euro (includes drinks and workshop materials); Free for members and people that have donated materials.

Every other SATURDAY we host a hands-on workshops that focuses on various micro-organisms. More info on https://www.meetup.com/Biotinkering-Berlin.
A project of Dr. Mirela Alister, Rüdiger Trojok and Biotinkering e.V.

Sunday, September 04, 2016

Opening of Aural Aquatic Presence

Robertina Šebjanič


Robertina Šebjanič, Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva sonification, 2015

Robertina Šebjanič with Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz

Robertina Šebjanič, video about the project Aurelia 1+Hz

Robertina Šebjanič, Subaquatic / Aquatocene sound scape, 2016




Thursday, September 01, 2016

Nonhuman Subjectivities: Aural Aquatic Presence Robertina Šebjanič

Robertina Šebjanic: Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva generator, Installation with living system, 2014 Photo: Hana Jošič
Opening: 2 September 2016, 8PM
Exhibition runs: 3 September - 9 October, 2016
Fri-Sun, 2-6PM and by appointment

Seminar with Robertina Šebjanič and Kat Austen (registration required): 18 September, 2016


The exhibition investigates agency and sentience in one of the 'simplest' of multicellular creatures: the jellyfish, placing it into relation with a human made machine. Also noteworthy here is the importance of sound in marine systems, as well as the effects of human intervention on aural aquatic systems.


In her series of works Aurelia 1+Hz the Ljubljana based artist Robertina Šebjanič is interested in both biopolitical and technological attempts at the prolongation of life as well as a new critical reflexion of interspecies cohabitation. Šebjanič, whose work involves intensive cooperation with marine biologists from around the globe, has chosen to work with jellyfish, which have existed on earth for over 500 million years.

Her interactive installation Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva generator from 2014 proposes the mutual coexistence of animal and machine. In contrast to robots, which are driven by digital artificial intelligence, this project uses a living organism to bring life to a simple machine, and in a way, to express itself through the machine. Living jellyfish actually run the installation: the mechatronic part, video and sound. The movements and contractions of the jellyfish are recorded by HD camera. The captured data is then transformed in real time into code, which in turn navigates the mechanisms of the installation.

Aurelia 1+Hz / proto viva sonification was realized in 2015 as an audio – visual performance with living system, where the artist extended the Aurelia 1+Hz project to challenge the phenomena of interspecies communication, sonification of the environment and the acoustic of the specific space surrounding the creatures. Šebjanič explains: "Sound loops containing recordings of jellyfish in a closed environment and pre-recorded sonic experiments from the sea are mixed in generative score, which is assembled into immersive sonic and visual experience."

Šebjanič's current project »Subaquatic / Aquatocene sound scape« from 2016 investigates the phenomenon of underwater noise pollution created by humankind in the seas and oceans. Over the last few years Šebjanic has produced a number of recordings using hydrophones. From this archive she presents a sound work in the exhibition, which explores the phenomenon of human sound pollution. Underwater noise effects a great number of marine life forms, who depend on the subaquatic sonic environment to survive.

Cooperation partners: