Art Science Swap - Two Heads Are Better than One with Nenad Popov

 

…The states of mind involved in that sort of science and that sort of art are fundamentally the same. Both are seeking universal, objective truth. - David Deutsch

As a scientist you always think you know what you’re doing, so you tend to distrust the artist who says, “It’s great,” or “It’s no good,” and then is not able to explain to you why, as Jerry did with those drawings I took him. But here I was, sunk: I could do it too - Richard Feynman

Participants of the workshop are divided in the pairs of one artist and one scientist. Each pair will receive a problem to think about, each using their own method. That is the easy part. Then they are asked to switch roles - artists are supposed to think about the problem as scientists and scientists as artists. They monitor each others progress continuously and help each other. Then the process is repeated. Over a few iterations, both should have a glimpse into the methods of both art and science. 

 

Sarah Hermanutz: Mind Blind: Therapeutic Interventions for Human/Nonhuman Communications

In her performance-lecture Sarah Hermanutz draws upon methods and aesthetics of academic lectures and psychological testing/treatment to engage with the gaps and pains of cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer. What does it mean to be a ‘mind-blind’ human, and how does this impact one's ability to function in a ‘normal’ social environment? Can we engage via creative analogy with this conceptual framework to better understand the difficulties faced by humans to interact with the non-human community? What new insights can an artistic exploration of autism research and ‘Mind Blindness’ provide for our understandings of (mis)communicate across difference?

Nonhuman Subjectivities:
The Other Selves. On the Phenomenon of the Microbiome
Opening 26 February, 2016


François-Joseph Lapointe, 1000 Handshakes, Performance, 2014

Pre-programme:
In the run up to our next series Nonhuman Subjectivities, opening 26 February 2016 with the exhibition The Other Selves. On the Phenomenon of the Microbiome, we are glad to announce a series of events together with the Vorspiel programme of the transmediale and CTM.

23 January, 2016, 8PM - Sarah Hermanutz: Mind Blind: Therapeutic Interventions for Human/Nonhuman Communications | Entrance with donation
In her performance-lecture Sarah Hermanutz draws upon methods and aesthetics of academic lectures and psychological testing/treatment to engage with the gaps and pains of cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer. What does it mean to be a ‘mind-blind’ human, and how does this impact one's ability to function in a ‘normal’ social environment? Can we engage via creative analogy with this conceptual framework to better understand the difficulties faced by humans to interact with the non-human community? What new insights can an artistic exploration of autism research and ‘Mind Blindness’ provide for our understandings of (mis)communicate across difference? .

24 January, 2016 - Nenad Popov Art Science Swap - Two Heads Are Better than One | Entrance with donation
Workshop: starts at 2PM, followed by public presentation of results at 5PM.

…The states of mind involved in that sort of science and that sort of art are fundamentally the same. Both are seeking universal, objective truth. - David Deutsch

As a scientist you always think you know what you’re doing, so you tend to distrust the artist who says, “It’s great,” or “It’s no good,” and then is not able to explain to you why, as Jerry did with those drawings I took him. But here I was, sunk: I could do it too - Richard Feynman

Participants of the workshop are divided in the pairs of one artist and one scientist. Each pair will receive a problem to think about, each using their own method. That is the easy part. Then they are asked to switch roles - artists are supposed to think about the problem as scientists and scientists as artists. They monitor each others progress continuously and help each other. Then the process is repeated. Over a few iterations, both should have a glimpse into the methods of both art and science.
Please register: workshop@artlaboratory-berlin.org

30 January 2016, 7PM - Reading and presentation by Rüdiger Trojok from his forthcoming book
Biohacking - Gentechnologie für alle, Franzis Publishing House (in German) http://www.amazon.de/Biohacking-Gentechnologie-Alle-R%C3%BCdiger-Trojok/dp/3645604200 | Entrance with donation
In the last several years a global movement of citizen scientists has developed with biology as a particular focus: their work has become known as biohacking. This book serves all those interested in this topic as well as beginners by offering a basic understanding of the world from a molecular biological perspective, teaches how to read and write DNA and discusses the future technological and social implication of our newly gained ability to program life.

31 January, 2016, 3-6PM - Science Café with Berlin iGEM team | Entrance with donation
The iGEM Berlin team (http://igem.berlin/) will recap their project for the 2015 International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition (iGEM) in Boston, as well as present ideas for 2016. Art Laboratory Berlin and iGem Berlin invite you to discuss ideas, projects and implications of current trends in the life sciences in an open cafe environment.


3 February, 2016 - Opening Night of transmediale/conversation piece
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures, John-Foster-Dulles Allee 10, 10557 Berlin)

As part of the opening of the 2016 transmediale festival of art & digital culture at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Art Laboratory Berlin will present the performance 1000 Handshakes by François-Joseph Lapointe, curated by Regine Rapp und Christian de Lutz.

During this performative experiment Lapointe will shake hands with people, gradually changing the invisible microbial community in the palm of his hand. The DNA of this microbiome, whose samples were taken from his skin during the performance, will then be analysed to reveal how our contact with others shapes the microbes between us, how it changes who we are. The performance raises awareness through physical and social engagement, through acts of participation and exchange on social, individual and microbial levels. The handshake is a basic and ancient act of networking, forms the beginning of a social, scientific and artistic collaboration between the performer and the public. The results will form part of the exhibition The Other Selves. On the Phenomenon of the Microbiome opening later that month at Art Laboratory Berlin.

During the transmediale there will also be a talk with François-Joseph Lapointe and curators Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz (Fri. 05.02.2016, 17-18.30, More information).

In cooperation with transmediale art&digitalculture


With the generous support of:

Discussing Body Enhancement. About Prostheses, Extensions and Cyborgs

A Panel Discussion with Susanna Hertrich, artist; Enno Park, author, co-founder of Cyborgs e.V. Moderated by Regine Rapp, curator, Art Laboratory Berlin on Friday, 13 November 2015, 7pm. The Panel took place in conjunction with the exhibition PROSTHESES. Transhuman Life Forms with works by Susanna Hertrich and Rafel Doran Torrent. (http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-exh-38.htm)

Susanna Hertrich

Enno Park

London LASER talk with Christian de Lutz & Regine Rapp

LASER is a program of evening gathering which bring together eclectic guest speakers working at the intersections of art, science and technology.
The eleventh London LASER event hosts co-directors of Art Laboratory Berlin, Regine Rapp and Christian de Lutz on the fluid boundaries between visual arts, biology and the humanities, and artist/scientist J.J. Hastings on the complexities of our relationship with our biomaterials.
More at http://www.londonlaser.net/news/

Special thanks to Mell Fisher for the photos!

Regne Rapp talking about the [macro]biologies & [micro]biologies series at Art Laboratory Berlin

Christian de Lutz talking about Brandon Ballengee's work from [macro]biologies II. organisms

Q&A after the talk

 

PUBLICATION: [macro]biologies & [micro]biologies. Art and the Biological Sublime in the 21st Century‏

Art Laboratory Berlin is happy to announce our new publication

[macro]biologies & [micro]biologies. 
Art and the Biological Sublime in the 21st Century. 
Edited by Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz, Berlin 2015 
 
With 96 Color Photographs!

This book provides a sustainable supplement to the [macro]biologies & [micro]biologies series which took place at Art Laboratory Berlin between 2013 and 2015. The whole programme consisted of four group shows, several seminars and talks on contemporary art and the life sciences. Four exhibitions – the biosphere, organisms, the bacterial sublime, and proteo – featured renowned international artists working across the borders between the arts and different fields of biology. Next to a theoretical reflection about the exhibited artists the publication also includes artist statements and documents a number of outstanding events from the series – workshops and seminars with artists, biologists, and scholars, discussing synthetic biology, speculative design, DIY Bio, and practical exercises in citizen science.

98 pages
96 color images
20 x 25 cm (closed)
Concept: Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz
Layout: Eva Jera Hanžek
Printed by Blurb

Softcover: 39 EUR
Hard Cover, Dusk Jacket: 48.90 EUR
Hard Cover, Image Wrap: 49.90 EUR
eBook: 7.99 EUR
PDF: 4.99 EUR

Authors & Contributions:
Regine Rapp & Christian de Lutz: Art and the Biological Sublime in the 21st Century, p. 8-52
Katya Gardea Browne: Rhythms of a Living World, p. 61
Richard Pell: The Center for PostNatural History, p. 62
Mathias Kessler: Nature and Us – Between Boundless Desires and Limited Compassion, p. 64
Alexandra Regan Toland: Mapping the Urban Grind Mill, p. 66
Suzanne Anker: Petri's Panoply, p. 69
Maja Smrekar: BioBASE – The Eco Utopian Agent, p. 71
Brandon Ballengée: The Cry of Silent Forms, p. 72
Anna Dumitriu: The Bacterial Sublime, p. 75
Joanna Hoffmann: πρωτεο / proteo, p. 76
Pinar Yoldas: Reflecting my Artistic Practice and Collaborating with Art Laboratory Berlin, p. 79-80
Denisa Kera: Biostrike as Soil Art: Biotech Guerrillas in the Post-Antibiotic Age, p. 83-88
Desiree Förster: Under the Surface, under the Skin. The Use of Synthetic Biology within the Artistic Practice of C-LAB, p. 93

The book can be ordered via blurb.com, blurb.de and blurb.co.uk

Order here (DE) 
Order here (US) 

Opening: PROSTHESES. Transhuman Life Forms

PROSTHESES. Transhuman Life Forms
Susanna Hertrich 

Photos from the opening - 25 September, 2015

Prostheses for Instincts

Jacobson's Fabulous Olfactometer (JFO)

Prostheses for Instincts

PROSTHESES. Transhuman Life Forms// Susanna Hertrich / opening on 25 September, 2015

PROSTHESES. Transhuman Life Forms
Susanna Hertrich Opening: 25 September, 2015 8PM
Panel discussion with Susanna Hertrich & guests: 6 November, 2015
Exhibition runs: 26 September – 29 November, 2015

The exhibition explores the phenomenon of the prosthesis as bodily extension in the 21st century. Exploring new technologies and recent developments in neuroscience and biology, Susanna Hertrich proposes new transhuman sensory extensions of what may eventually become 'human 2.0'. The exhibited works are part of her long-term artistic research project Bodies & Technology. In Susanna Hertrich's work a narration is constructed in which the human sensory apparatus is extended through computer controlled prostheses. The results can be understood as crossing the boundaries between artistic hypothesis and technological experimentation. The artworks reflect our current living environments, as well as critically question the social, political and physical consequences of the new technologies utilised in their making.?

The series Prostheses for Instincts explores the idea that by augmenting our natural sensory experiences we can widen the range of our perceptions. In doing so, Hertrich has created new mechanisms for surviving in a changing world. For example, Jacobson's Fabulous Olfactometer (JFO), a device worn on the head and face, is a sensorial prosthesis that mimics mammalian "flehmen response" when air pollution levels become too high. In short, when the device detects a dangerous level of pollution the prosthesis curls back the wearer's top lip, exposing her teeth, mimicking a reflex common, for instance, in horses or cats. The JFO simultaneously refers to a common, but often invisible 21st century threat and a biologically programmed reaction to danger in the animal world.

Next to Hertrich's works Art Laboratory Berlin will showcase a prize winning film on Neil Harbisson and the Cyborg Foundation by Rafel Duran.

More information at: http://artlaboratory-berlin.org/html/eng-exh-archive.htm

Theresa Schubert Artist Talk and Finissage

Theresa Schubert and Christian de Lutz

Theresa Schubert Artist Talk and Finissage - Sunday September 20th at 15h

Finissage for the exhibition Growing Geometries - Evolving Forms. Theresa Schubert will be present to speak about her work.  Sunday, September 20th at 3pm.

Review of Growing Geometries - Evolving Forms

Theresa Schubert, bodymetries, interactive, generative installation (HD video and sound) 2013-14, copyright Theresa Schubert

 

Art In Berlin has a great review of Theresa Schubert's exhibition:

http://www.art-in-berlin.de/incbmeld.php?id=3690

Opening - Growing Geometries - Evolving Forms - works by Theresa Schubert

Regine Rapp, Theresa Schubert, Christian de Lutz

Theresa Schubert, Growing Geometries (tattooing mushrooms), 2014-2015

Theresa Schubert, Growing Geometries (tattooing mushrooms), 2014-2015.  Photo: Theresa Schubert

Theresa Schubert, bodymetries, 2013-14.  A collaboration with Michael Markert and Moritz Dreßler.

Photo: Theresa Schubert