In the 1960s cybernetician Stafford Beer brought up the idea that there should be a completely new way to the construction of computing elements: finding some material with the appropriate liveliness rather than laboriously engineering dead matter. Since always observations of and in nature have inspired artists. In recent years more and more artists – often with a background in media and technology – have turned to the biological side and included living matter in search for new modes of expression and a shift to nonhuman viewpoints: the autonomy and unpredictability of organisms, a processual approach of observation and revealing, ideas of interspecies-collaboration.
This course focuses on the convergence of bioart and media art. We discuss relevant theories and philosophies. Presentations of artistic projects from the fields of bioart, media art and art+science collaborations will form the basis for the mediation of concepts. Between dirt, dust and data, fluids, cells and organic life, the creation from a non-human perspective is the aim of the project.
What happens at the intersection of art, biology and new media technologies? What are the unique features of living materials and how can they be included in an artistic context? How can ideas based on research and processes of experimentation be translated into sensual experiences?
With a focus on sensory experiences students should develop installations, interfaces, performances, objects, or video works that can be exhibited (exhibition space in Berlin is available). The project is aimed at graduate students and offers both a structured work process as well as self-directed, individual project work and a space for conceptual discussion and idea translation.
– regular attendance to classes and active participation through short presentations is mandatory – development of an individul research project / exhibitable artwork – documentation of your project on the GMU Wiki