Symbiosis in intra-flux of the Anthropocene

For the month of November 2019 bio media artist Saša Spačal will undertake artistic research for her new project Symbiosis in intra-flux of the Anthropocene at the Rillig Group, Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology, FU Berlin. She will address pressing societal and environmental issues such as climate crisis and plastic pollution in the context of symbiosis as a process of planetary metabolism in the case studies such as red clover-bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. The collaboration is meant as a research project that will delve into the material aspects of interspecies connections that Saša Spačal and her colleagues Dr. Mirjan Švagelj and Anil Podgornik have already researched with previous artistic biotechnological installations such as Myconnect, Symbiome, Plastic_ity, Earthlink. Collaboration with the research team at Free University Berlin will take the form of observations of experiments, interviews, planning artistic experiments and the conception of a new series of works.

29 November 2019, 7.30pm: Project Presentation
Towards the end of the residency Art Laboratory Berlin will host a public presentation and discussion about the topics that residency covered, together with scientists from the Rillig Group, as part of the 2019 DIY Hack the Panke program.

left: Saša Spačal; right: India Mansour

left: Saša Spačal; right: India Mansour

left: Saša Spačal; right: India Mansour

Biography
Saša Spačal (www.agapea.si) is an artist working at the intersection of living systems research, contemporary and sound art. Her artistic research focuses on the development of technological interfaces and relations with organic and mineral soil agents while trying to address the posthuman situation, that involves mechanical, digital and organic logic within contemporary biopolitics and necropolitics.
Her work was internationally exhibited and performed: Ars Electronica Festival (AT), Prix Cube Exhibition (FR), Transmediale Festival (DE), Athens Digital Arts Festival (GR), Perm Museum of Contemporary Art (RUS), Onassis Cultural Center Athens (GR), Chronos Art Center (CHN), Cynetart Festival (DE), National Art Museum of China (CHN), DaVinci Festival (KR), Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (SI), Kapelica Gallery (SI), Device_art Festival (CRO), Extravagant Bodies Festival (CRO), Art Laboratory Berlin (DE), Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina (SRB), Lisboa Soa Festival (PT), Sonica Festival (SI). She was awarded the Prix Ars Electronica Honorary Mention, nominated for the Prix Cube and the New Technological Art Award.

Some of the previous works by Saša Spačal and collaborators:
Earthlink: https://www.agapea.si/en/projects/earthlink
Plastic_ity: http://www.steklenik.si/sasa-spacal-plast_ika/
Meta_bolus: https://www.agapea.si/en/projects/meta_bolus-2
Symbiome: https://www.agapea.si/en/projects/symbiome-the-economy-of-symbiosis
Myconnect: https://www.agapea.si/en/projects/myconnect



A cooperation between Art Laboratory Berlin and the Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin
Rillig Group – Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.bcp.fu-berlin.de/en/biologie/arbeitsgruppen/botanik/ag_rillig/index.html
https://rilliglab.wordpress.com/