Nonhuman Agents in art, culture and theory

The project Nonhuman Agents takes into account recent philosophical approaches which question anthropocentrism. These discourses emphasise 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.

As a theoretical addition to our ongoing series Nonhuman Agents (June – December 2017) Art Laboratory Berlin – along with our partners, The Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam – has brought 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) were also be included.

The conference started with a reflection on post-anthropocentrism by redefining intelligence (human, animal and plant intelligence), agency and sentience. An in-depth consideration included the role of fungi: mycelium, the Internet of trees and yeasts. Microbial agency was explored via the phenomenon of quorum sensing and biofilms, proposing a micro-subjectivity. There were contributions on the microbiome and holobiome, taking into consideration the human as nonhuman. We sought 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 discussed nonhuman perspectives under threat and proposed an ethology for the techno-scientific era.

Conference Program and documentation

Download abstracts and biographies (PDF)

Friday, 24 November 2017

10.00
Introduction

Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz (Art Laboratory Berlin)

10.30
Other Subjectivities. Redefining Intelligence, Agency and Sentience

post anthropocentrism #animal intelligence #definition of sentience
Moderator: Regine Rapp
Speakers: Rahma Khazam, Desiree Förster, Maja Smrekar

When the sardine can looks back…

Rahma Khazam (Philosophy, Art Theory, Paris)

Environments of Shared Concern

Desiree Förster (Media Ecology, Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam)

The Wolf-human-dog Continuum

Maja Smrekar (Artist, Ljubljana)

12:30 Lunch break


13:30
Fungal Perspectives. From the Viewpoint of a Mushroom

#mycelium #Internet of trees # wood wide web #yeasts
Moderator: Eliot Morrison
Speakers: Saša Spačal, Mirjan Švagelj, Vera Meyer

Mycohuman Relationships. Fungi as Interspecies Connectors, Companion Species and Human Symbionts

Saša Spačal (Artist, Ljubljana)

Mushrooms as Teachers. Mushrooms in Human Societies

Mirjan Švagelj (Microbiologist, Aceis Bio, Ljubljana)

Fungal Biotechnology – What We Do with Fungi (and What Fungi Do With Us)

Vera Meyer (Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Technical University Berlin)

15:30 Break

16:00
Plant Intelligence

plants #botany #redefining intelligence
Moderator: Desiree Förster
Speakers: Špela Petrič, Joana Bergmann

The Vegetal, Intimately

Špela Petrič (Scientist & artist, Amsterdam/ Ljubljana)

Hand in Hand. Root Morphological Traits and Their Mediation by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

Joana Bergmann (Institute of Biology, Free University Berlin)

Literature List for Joana Bergmann

17:30 Break


18:00
Keynote

Moderator: Christian de Lutz

The Force of Radical Openness: Multispecies Alliances Beyond the Biological

Monika Bakke (Institute of Philosophy, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan)

19:30
Reception at Art Laboratory Berlin, on view is the current exhibition Nonhuman Networks

Saturday, 25 November, 2017

10:30
Microbial Agency. Proposing Micro-Subjectivity

#bacteria #quorum sensing #microbiology and philosophy
Moderator: Pablo Rojas
Speakers: Ingeborg Reichke, Regine Hengge, Anna Dumitriu

Biome and Biomatter

Ingeborg Reichle (Media Theory, University of Applied Arts Vienna)

Biofilms – invisible cities of microbes from the Petri dish to the human body

Regine Hengge (Institute of Biology, Dep. of Microbiology, Humboldt University Berlin)

Make Do and Mend

Anna Dumitriu (Artist, Brighton)

12:30 Lunch break

13:30
Human as Nonhuman. Microbiome and holobiome

human microbiome #holobiont #redefining ourselves
Moderator: Marta de Menezes
Speakers: François-Joseph Lapointe, Tarsh Bates, Regine Rap

Performative Microbiome Experiments

François-Joseph Lapointe (Artist and microbiologist, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montreal)

On Being a Microbioartist: Making Art in a Microbiology Lab

Tarsh Bates (Artist, SymbioticA, University of Western Australia, Perth)

Nonhuman Subjectivities. Artistic Strategies towards a Multispecies Performativity

Regine Rapp (Art Theory, Curatorial Research, Art Laboratory Berlin)

15:30 Break

16:00
Endosymbiosis and Sympoiesis

#Lynn Margulis #symbiotic relationships #horizontal gene transfer #autopoiesis and sympoiesis
Moderator: Desiree Förster
Speakers: Rachel Mayeri, Heather Barnett, Daniel Renato Lammel,
Laura Benitez Valero

Orfeo Nel Canale Alimentare

Rachel Mayeri (Artist, Media Studies, Harvey Mudd College, Los Angeles)

Many-Headed: Co-creation across Scales and Species

Heather Barnett (Artist, Researcher, Central St. Martins, London)

Endosymbiosis and “Love Stories” between Plants and Microorganisms

Daniel Renato Lammel (Institute of Biology, Free University Berlin)

Biosophy and Mutagenesis. Towards an Alien Sym_poiesis

Laura Benítez Valero (Institute of Philosophy, Autonomous University of Barcelona)

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)
Moderator: Florence Razoux

Sunday, 26 November, 2017

11:00
Nonhuman Perspectives Under Threat

#6th species extinction #human destruction of environment #anthropocene
Moderator: Pablo Rojas
Speakers: Mary Maggic, David Sepkoski

From Molecular Colonization to Molecular Collaborations

Mary Maggic (Artist, Vienna)

Are We Experiencing a ‘Sixth Extinction’ and Does it Matter?

David Sepkoski (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin)

12.30 Break


13.00
Beyond the Animal as Machine. Ethology in the Age of Technoscience

#animal-machine interfaces #ethology #Uexküll
Moderator: Christian de Lutz
Speakers: Birgit Schneider, Robertina Šebjanič, Vivian Xu

Through the Eye of an Animal. Uexküll’s Perceptual Worlds in 360°?

Birgit Schneider (Media Ecology, Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam)

Sounds of Troubled Worlds = Songs for Serenity

Robertina Šebjanič (Artist, Ljubljana)

The Silkworm Project

Vivian Xu (Artist, Designer, Shanghai)

15:00
Final Discussion

Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz (Art Laboratory Berlin)