IN-PROGRESS… | COLLOQUIUM

Art Laboratory Berlin is delighted to invite you to take part in our Colloquium, a discursive format on research in art, science and humanities, curated by Regine Rapp. It takes place in tandem with our Reading Club, curated by Tuçe Erel.

The Colloquium addresses an international interdisciplinary research audience to present and discuss past, present or future projects by artists and scholars, curators or editors from the fields of art, science and the humanities. The topics could refer to an art project, a book, text or chapter, a research or exhibition project, a lab experiment, a lecture series, a conference concept or other.

The presentations and exchange will focus on the work-in-progress. Methodological approaches – theoretical or practical – are also of great interest here. While researching, we often tend to shift between practical inquiry and theoretical research, browsing various disciplines. Following the original meaning of colloquium as “speaking together”, we want to provide a platform for exchange and embrace various kinds of work processes which are often not seen or talked about.

Structure of the sessions: Each session will include two presentations followed by discussions, altogether 90 min. The colloquium welcomes informal conversations amongst the participants.

Speakers on 28 February 2023 Session

Cristin Millett | Ex-Utero: The Future of Human Reproduction

Straddling traditional disciplinary boundaries, Cristin Millett’s investigations of medicine and its history are integral to her artistic process. As a transdisciplinary artist, her work examines the intersection of art and science, specifically sculptural processes and reproductive futures. Her sculptural objects and installations prompt a contemporary cultural critique of societal issues surrounding reproduction and gender identity. Her artwork has been widely exhibited, including at the Villa Strozzi, Florence; the International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago; the Exploratorium, San Francisco; and the Mütter Museum, Philadelphia. Millett is an Embedded Faculty Researcher in the Arts + Design Research Incubator and a Professor of Art in the School of Visual Arts at Penn State. In 2020, Millett was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and Resident at SymbioticA at the University of Western Australia.

Cynthia White | Ex-Utero: The Future of Human Reproduction

Cynthia White is a documentary filmmaker whose projects have broadcast on television, at film and arts festivals and at conferences around the world. Cynthia’s work aims to further the understanding of, and create dialogues about, the intersection of art and science. Recent films produced in collaboration with the Pennsylvania State University, Arts and Design Research Incubator, highlight the connection between art practices and mental health. She also teaches courses about digital media, community health and social practice.

In the Colloquium Cristin Millett and Cynthia White will talk together about their project Ex-Utero: The Future of Human Reproduction, which is an exploration of the biological and sociopolitical possibilities of ectogenesis. In an ectogenic future with mechanized gestation, the placenta will become obsolete, a vestigial and ephemeral reproductive organ. Using a curiosity-based research methodology, they forge links between arts-based research practices and novel advances in regenerative medicine. The outcome of their inquiry will be a multimedia installation that integrates biological systems to query the complicated future of human reproduction.