Swarms, Robots and Postnature

 Kaethe Wenzel | So Kanno | Sofia Crespo

30 April 2021 – 27 June 2021
Due to current health regulations the exhibition will not be open to the public the opening weekend. We ask you to check our website once the current regulations for Berlin change. In the mean time we are arranging a virtual program in connection with Swarms, Robots and Postnature:

30 April 2021, 8pm - Virtual Vernissage at https://www.facebook.com/ArtLaboratoryBerlin
6 May 2021, 8pm - Online artist talk with So Kanno (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuF-l074W38)
13 May 2021, 8pm - Online artist talk with Käthe Wenzel (link TBA)
20 May 2021, 8pm - Online artist talk with Sofia Crespo (link TBA)

The exhibition project presents research based artistic positions on swarm behaviour, questioning the traditional concept of "nature" and explores the interface of the biological and the machine.

Käthe Wenzel has created interfaces between the biological and the machine in her project Bone Bots. These hybrid electronic animals, robots made from animal bones, blur traditional categories of "technology" and "nature" as they are based on experiments from synthetic biology and represent semi-living machines. Wenzel's Bone Costumes thematise the mass consumption of living beings and the daily killing of animal bodies and the standardized forms into which we try to squeeze our own bodies. The works emerged from research into historical corset techniques and in connection with modern fashion technologies; they have developed into exoskeletons: half organic and half mechanical apocalyptic outfits.

So Kanno combines design and computer science with digital art and has been working extensively on robotic systems and swarm robotics in recent years. Lasermice is a swarm robotics system consisting of 60 small robots inspired by the synchronous behaviour of insects such as fireflies. Normally, a swarm's network is invisible, but in this case, these robots create a visible network using laser-light photodetector communication. Thus, they create a rhythm, acoustically perceptible through electronic magnets, that is constantly changing. The updated version Lasermice Dyad, also follows the idea of making natural phenomena artificially visible, and features even more parameters.

Sofia Crespo works on the representation of artificial life and generative forms of life. One of her main focuses is the way organic life uses artificial mechanisms to simulate itself and to evolve. This implies the idea that technologies are a distorted product of the organic life that produced them, rather than a completely separate object. Her Neural Zoo project is research into how creativity works. Computer vision and machine learning build a bridge between us and a speculative "nature" that is only accessible through a high degree of parallel computations.

Curated by Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz.

Feminist SF: Visions of M/otherhood & Reproduction

 The accompanying TALK SHOW programme to the exhibition project The Camille Diaries

 Curated and hosted by Isabel de Sena

This 3-part event series pays tribute to the powerful alternative images of mothering we've inherited through the pioneering work of feminist Sci-Fi writers, most notably regarding their defiance of conventions on (technological) reproduction, child-rearing, the maternal body, and sexuality, as well as their invention of ecofeminism and myriad forms of transspecies kinship.

Rather than a nostalgic reflection, the events examine these authors' sustained relevance within the current sociocultural and political landscape, inviting experts from divergent fields (visual arts, gender-studies, literature, biotechnology and political science) to programme their "ideal TV and reading evening" on the topic.

Through a live Talk Show format, the selected footage and live readings are interspersed with conversation, so that the audience (re)discovers the works through the guest's eyes.


Invited Guests & Schedule
27 August 2020, 6 - 8 pm: Mary Maggic (Artist)
24 September 2020, 6 - 8 pm: Alison Sperling (Scholar | Literature and Gender Studies)
13 October 2020, 6 - 8 pm: Noemi Yoko Molitor (Artist and Scholar | Post-Colonial Studies and Queer Art)

 

Mary Maggic with Isabel de Sena. Photo by Franz Reimer.

Mary Maggic. Photo by Franz Reimer.

Alison Sperling with Isabel de Sena. Photo by Franz Reimer.

Noemi Molitor with Isabel de Sena. Photo by Clara Reimer.

Noemi Molitor. Photo by Clara Reimer.

Isabel de Sena. Photo by Clara Reimer.

THE CAMILLE DIARIES Symposium

 THE CAMILLE DIARIES Symposium will discuss new artistic projects by eleven international women and non-binary artists (installations, video, objects, performance), currently exhibited in our show The Camille Diaries. Current Artistic Positions on M/otherhood, Life and Care (until 4 October 2020).

Reflecting on the current conditions of our world (environmental changes, gender aspects, biopolitics, etc.), the artists' positions propose an 'aesthetics of care' as the basis for inter-species coexistence. Here, the planet is understood as a symbiotic web in which we are all entangled with one another (humans, plants, animals, environment) – on molecular, organic, ethical and biopolitical levels. The artistic positions investigate reproductive mechanisms, biochemical connections between humans and nonhumans, and refer to alternative biomaterials as "source of life" in future times of scarcity and crisis. The title "The Camille Diaries" alludes to the "Camille Stories" the final chapter of "Staying with the Trouble" (2016) by philosopher and biologist Donna Haraway, a speculative future where a dwindling human population replaces births with care between species. Each "Camille" cares for the genetic material of an endangered species (the monarch butterfly) by storing parts of that material in their own DNA.

The one-day symposium will bring the artists together with researchers from the humanities and natural sciences into a critical dialogue. In different panels we will discuss alternative concepts of m/others, wombs and placentas, fluid inheritance and modes of care. We will reflect on genetic and biochemical exchanges between human and nonhuman, both part of and remedy for the Anthropocene. Here the theme of biotechnological transfigurations of human bodies places the human being on the periphery and rather directs our full attention to other living beings – a basic understanding of other species and organisms from a feminist perspective. On the basis of the exhibited works, we will discuss concepts of "Collective survival" and "Arts of noticing" (A. Tsing), "Staying with the Trouble" (D. Haraway), and in particular “Bodies of water” connected to hydrofeminism (A. Neimanis).

Concept of Symposium: Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz 

 

 0:00 Introduction | Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz 
16:46 Introductory Talk | Astrida Neimanis 
1:23:25 Panel A | M/others, Wombs and Placentas
2:57:16 Panel B | Fluid Inheritance
4:26:04 Panel C | Modes of Care
6:28:07 M/others and Future Humans | Eben Kirksey 
7:08:15 Final Discussion | Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz


Abstracts and biographies

Team: Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz, Tuçe Erel, Linus Kaufhold, Palooka Frank, Natacha Lamounier Ribeiro, Ayla Warncke

Associated project partners:The project THE CAMILLE DIARIES arose from a generous invitation to take part in the international curatorial swarm for the open call »M/others and Future Humans«, initiated by Ida Bencke (LABAE,Copenhagen, DK) and Eben Kirksey (Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, USA).

Realised with the generous funding of the German Capital City Funds, The Berlin Senate Office for Culture and Europe and the Slovene Cultural Center in Berlin.

Special thanks to Tim Deussen

Media partners:
art-in-berlin.de, www.art-in-berlin.de
AVIVA-Berlin Online Magazin für Frauen, www.aviva-berlin.de

The Camille Diaries:New Artistic Positions on M/otherhood, Life and Care

 Ai Hasegawa | Baum & Leahy | Cecilia Jonsson | Margherita Pevere | Mary Maggic |  Naja Ryde Ankarfeldt | Nicole Clouston | Sonia Levy | Špela Petrič | Tarah Rhoda

 

Mary Maggic: Milik Bersama Rekombinan, 2019, installation

The exhibition and the symposium The Camille Diaries. Current Artistic Positions on M/otherhood, Life and Care discuss new artistic works by eleven international women and non-binary artists (installations, video, objects, performance). Reflecting on the current conditions of our world (environmental changes, gender aspects, biopolitics, etc.), the artists' positions propose an 'aesthetics of care' as the basis for inter-species coexistence. Here, the planet is understood as a symbiotic web in which we are all entangled with one another (humans, plants, animals, environment) - on molecular, organic, ethical and biopolitical levels. The artistic positions investigate reproductive mechanisms, biochemical connections between humans and nonhumans, and refer to alternative biomaterials as "source of life" in future times of scarcity and crisis.

The exhibition title "The Camille Diaries" alludes to the "Camille Stories" the final chapter of "Staying with the Trouble" (2016) by philosopher and biologist Donna Haraway, a speculative future where a dwindling human population replaces births with care between species. Each "Camille" cares for the genetic material of an endangered species (the monarch butterfly) by storing parts of that material in their own DNA.

In the exhibition artists explore genetic and biochemical exchange between human and non-human, a both part of and remedy for the Anthropocene. Here the theme of biotechnological transfigurations of human bodies places the human being on the periphery and rather directs our full attention to other living beings. This creates - and this is central to the planned series of events - a basic understanding of other species and organisms from a feminist perspective.

Online Symposium
THE CAMILLE DIARIES
26 September 2020, 10 am – 7:45 pm (CET Time Zone), with livestream

The one-day symposium will bring the artists together with researchers from the humanities and natural sciences into a critical dialogue. On the basis of the exhibited works, concepts of "Collective survival" and "Arts of noticing" (A. Tsing) as well as "Staying with the Trouble" (D. Haraway) and “Bodies of water” connected to hydrofeminism (A. Neimanis) will be discussed in an interdisciplinary manner.

-Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz

Sonia Levy: For the Love of Corals, 2018, video installation

Špela Petrič: Phytoteratology, 2016, multimedia biological installation

Exhibition view Art Laboratory Berlin. Left: Cecilia Jonsson and Rodrigo Leite de Oliveira: HAEM, 2016, mixed media installation including custom made compass, text, sound, HD–video; right: Tarah Rhoda: Ourglass, 2017, installation, spinach, ethanol, IV bag, volumetric flask, syringe, ultraviolet light

Exhibition view Art Laboratory Berlin. Left: Margherita Pevere: From the series Wombs_W.01, 2018, laboratory glassware, living bacterial, culture, microbial biofilm, the artist's urine extract, silicone tube, metal wireright: Ai Hasegawa: I Wanna Deliver a Dolphin..., 2011–13, video

Exhibition view Art Laboratory Berlin. Left: Nicole Clouston: Mud (Berlin), 2018-20; right: Margherita Pevere: From the series Wombs_W.01, 2018, and Wombs_W03 ,2019.

 

 

 

 

  All photos (c) by Tim Deussen for Art Laboratory Berlin

Team: Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz, Tuçe Erel, Linus Kaufhold, Palooka Frank Natacha, Lamounier Ribeiro, Ayla Warncke

Associated project partners:OKK, Berlin, PA 58 Berlin. The project THE CAMILLE DIARIES arose from a generous invitation to take part in the international curatorial swarm for the open call »M/others and Future Humans«, initiated by Ida Bencke (LABAE,Copenhagen, DK) and Eben Kirksey (Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, USA).

Realised with the generous funding of the German Capital City Funds, The Berlin Senate Office for Culture and Europe and the Slovene Cultural Center in Berlin.

Media partners:
art-in-berlin.de, www.art-in-berlin.de
AVIVA-Berlin Online Magazin für Frauen, www.aviva-berlin.de

Mind the Fungi | Art & Design Residencies

Theresa Schubert | Fara Peluso



3 July - 28 December 2020
Opening: 2 July 2020, 6PM via Facebook Live

Curated by Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz

FUTURIUM | Futurium Lab, Alexanderufer 2, 10117 Berlin
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun 10 am – 6 pm, Thu 10 am – 8 pm, Tue closed, Free entrance

The Artist- and Design-Residencies of Mind the Fungi with artist Theresa Schubert and artist designer Fara Peluso bring in art and design as constructive sources of ideas for this research project. Schubert studied the effects of sound on fungal growth. Peluso has done research on new biomaterials on the symbiotic basis of algae and fungi. The artistic and design related works are a result of a close collaboration with both departments of TU Berlin’s Institute of Biotechnology – Prof. Vera Meyer’s department of Applied Molecular Microbiology and Prof. Peter Neubauer’s department Bioprocess Engineering.

Theresa Schubert, Sound for Fungi. Homage to Indeterminacy,2020

 

Theresa Schubert, Sound for Fungi. Homage to Indeterminacy,2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theresa Schubert, Sound for Fungi. Homage to Indeterminacy,2020

Theresa Schubert, Sketches and object from the project Box Experiment, 2020

For artist Theresa Schubert fungi are perfect network metaphors, not only due to their aesthetics but also as a philosophy of relations, process and space. For her Box Experiment she built soundproofed boxes with speakers and selected fungi mycelia stemming from the public Walk & Talks. For several weeks she exposed fungi to specific sound frequencies. Schubert was excited to see this had an effect on mycelial growth and metabolism. From this she developed the interactive video installation Sound for fungi. Homage to Indeterminacy that stimulates virtual fungi hyphae and via a hand tracking sensor letting visitors take on the role of a sound, modulating the hyphae growth and movement.

Fara Peluso, Zweisamkeit (foreground), Niche (background), 2020

Fara Peluso, Niche, 2020

 

Fara Peluso, The Poetry of Landscape, drawings; Biomaterial made from mycelium and diatomit, 2020

Artist designer Fara Peluso works in Material Driven Design and Bioart and connects human beings with nature, organisms and biological processes. Niche is a hybrid installation and living sculpture, which explores co-existence between fungi and algae microorganisms. Taking inspiration from symbiotic relationship between these organisms in lichens, Peluso combines nature, biotechnology and art. The sculpture Zweisamkeit combines an oak wood topography and several layers of biomaterial representing form in metamorphosis. It reflects on human development of the landscape, focusing on how we have defined and shaped our natural surroundings, but are in turn shaped by biological forces in the environment.

 

New findings and objects fromLaboratorien of the Institute of Biotechnology, TU Berlin: Prototype of a bike helmet made form tree mushroom mycelium by Bastian Schubert (Applied and Molecular Microbiology)

New findings and objects fromLaboratorien of the Institute of Biotechnology, TU Berlin: Samples of symbiotic organisms from lichens (Bioprocess Engineering)

In addition to the work of Schubert and Peluso, the exhibition also presents new results from the laboratories of the Institute of Biotechnology at TU Berlin, for example, a prototype of a bicycle helmet made of tree mushroom mycelium by Bastian Schubert (Dep. Applied and Molecular Microbiology) or examples of symbiotic organisms in lichens (Dep. Bioprocess Engineering).

 

Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz, curators

 

Discussion and Livestream A Future for Food

 with Amy Youngs, Ken Rinaldo, Anna Paltseva, Daniel Lammel, Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz

4 June 2020, 4-6 pm CET / 10-12 am EDT

 

 

Can we break away from current agricultural practices which are intimately connected to desertification, water and soil pollution, antibiotic resistance, climate change and social and economic inequalities? In a two-hour discussion we are interested in considering a sustainable, multispecies perspective to farming, which could start in the soil and progress through thinking about the multiple ways we can consider food. Aquaponics, vertical farming, worms, soldier flies, and permaculture offer real solutions, where food is grown while respecting living beings, and the intertwined ecologies that support them.

Humane food can be grown in urban or rural communities, though the soil is critical. How can we learn and care about living beings we cannot quickly know or see? What is care like in practice? We are also interested in exploring the concept of "citizen eco-artist" as so much of what we do resides in the spaces between actual science, sustainable practice and speculative fiction. (More information)


Speakers:

Amy Youngs is an Associate Professor in art and technology at Ohio State University. She uses electronics, kinetics, insects, plants and pixels to create artwork about the changing relationships between technology, nature and self. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and her essays about art and biology have been published in Leonardo and Nouvel Objet.

Ken Rinaldo is internationally recognized for interactive art installations developing hybrid ecologies with humans, algorithms, plants, animals, and bacterial cultures. His art/science practice serves as a platform for hacking complex social, biological, and machine symbionts. Inventing and constructing interfaces for animals and plants, allows illuminating and amplifying the underlying beauty, and intertwined symbiosis existent in natural living systems. Rinaldo is author of Interactive Electronics for Artists and Inventors, and is a Professor of Art and Technology at The Ohio State University.

Anna Paltseva holds a Ph.D. in Earth & Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center and Research and Program Coordinator at the NYC Urban Soils Institute. She focuses on the assessment of heavy metals bioavailability in urban soils. Anna Paltseva is a lecturer at CUNY – Brooklyn College, New York University, and the New York and Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Anna develops educational materials, leads soil workshops and coordinates collaborations with international researchers for the NYC Urban Soils Institute.

Daniel Lammel is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Biology (Ecology of Plants), Free University Berlin. His areas of research is soil ecology and mycorrizal symbiosis as well as Soil Fertility, Plant Nutrition, Agricultural Science and Ecosystem Ecology. Originally from Brazil, he studied at the university of São Paulo, before competing his Ph.D. at Univ. of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Regine Rapp is an art historian, curator and co-director of Art Laboratory Berlin. Her current research interests include Installation art, artist books, hybrid art, art & science collaborations. She researches, curates and publishes on 21st century art at the interface of science and technology. She has taught art history at the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle and is currently a researcher at the TU Berlin Institute of Biotechnolgy, Dept. for Applied and Molecular Microbiology.

Christian de Lutz is a curator, co-founder and co-director of Art Laboratory Berlin, where he has curated over 40 exhibitions, including the series Time and Technology, Synaesthesia, [macro]biologies & [micro]biologies, and Nonhuman Subjectivities. His curatorial work focuses on the interface of art, science and technology in the 21st century, with special attention given to BioArt, DIY Science initiatives and facilitating collaborations between artists and scientists.


A coproduction of the Network for Prototyping the Future and Art Laboratory Berlin


With the generous support of the Berlin Senate Office for Culture and Europe:


 

MATERIAL DRIVEN DESIGN. Sculpting with Bioplastic Textile Workshop/ Livestream with Fara Peluso

 

Today Material Research is a central point in the theory and practice of designing new technologies, in cooperation with art and design. These fields are currently collaborating, merging their knowledge and practice to develop a new generation of materials, by focusing on specific characteristics, to create new environmentally friendly materials. Another approach, however, has also arisen in the last years combining making, crafting and personal fabrication of new materials through a form of Do It Yourself (DIY) biology and craftmaking.

This Mind the Fungi workshop discusses this new material driven design movement and methodology, learning how to build a new material by studying and using a living organism like mycelium. Discovering the features, possibilities and limits of mycelium-based materials, the participants will work together growing material and developing new material, building sculptures, assembling DIY packaging and drawing and cutting patterns on a new material made of biofilm.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis the initial workshop has been postponed and will hopefully take place later this year. But on 6 May Fara Peluso led a discussion and online workshop More information at http://www.artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-event-Material-Driven.htm