radical⇌matter: When Materialism is no Longer Enough

OPENING
25 January 2024

18:00–20:00

AIL – Angewandte Interdisciplinary Lab

Georg-Coch-Platz 2
1010 Vienna

SYMPOSIUM
26 + 27 January 2024

9:00 – 19:00

FJK3 – Contemporary Art Space

Franz-Josefs-Kai 3
1010 Vienna

EXHIBITION
26 January – 16 February 2024
AIL - Angewandte Interdisciplinary Lab

Postsparkasse – Georg-Coch-Platz 2
1010 Vienna

Opening hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri: 13:00–18:00 / Thu: 13:00–20:00

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radical⇌matter:
When Materialism is no Longer Enough

The exhibition is a kind of snapshot of our research work as part of the PEEK project of the same name, which runs until August this year in a co-operation between the Art & Science department and the Royal College of Art, London.  

Bringing together more than 30 International artists it offers a rigorous, playful, interdisciplinary approach to our contemporary real. Set against the hyper-polished atmospheres of robotically automated knowledge systems (RAS), generative and distributive intelligences, and wildly proliferating deep-fake narratives, this exhibition invites you to experience the infinite world of folds, psychedelic/neural sensory camouflaging, machinic aliveness and synthetic encounters – all part and parcel of our 21st century forms of agency, ethics, collective responsibility and new imaginaries.

The exhibition will open on 25 January in the presence of the director and will run until 16 February.  

The radical⇌matter symposium will take place in close context with the exhibition on the day after the opening, but in a different venue. As with the exhibition the symposium explores the frontiers of materiality in art, science, and philosophy. This two-day event assembles eminent artists and scholars to critically examine and redefine conventional understandings of matter. It aims to explore new perspectives and insights into the nature of matter, along with its philosophical, political, and scientific implications.

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Artists: Amir Bastan, Sonia Bernac, Yasmine Boudiaf, Jonathan Boyd, Bernhard Cella, Clarissa Leonie Cohausz, Selina de Beauclair, Sylvia Eckermann, Maximilian Gallo, Johnny Golding, Ivonne Gracia Murillo, Tonica Hunter, Ajamu Ikwe-Tyehimba, Ameera Kawash, Jeremy Keenan, Gerhard Lang, Tina Lechner,  Thandi Loewenson, Manu Luksch, Gerald Nestler, Jannis Neumann, Harold Offeh, Julian Palacz, Mukul Patel, Maggie Roberts, Ashley Hans Scheirl, Linn Phyllis Seeger, Dario Srbic, Noor Stenfert Kroese, Tanja Traxler, Shira Wachsmann, John Wild, Julia Wolf

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SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME

The event is free of charge and will be held exclusively in English. Find the complete program and the list of participants here: www.radicalmatter.art/events/2024-symposium

Friday, 26 January

 
09.00 - 10.00    Reception - Coffee, Tea and Biscuits

10.00 - 10.30    Ján Mančuška – Incomplete Movement  
                          Introduction to FJK3 and the current
                          exhibition by Fiona Liewehr

10.30 - 11.50     Welcome and Opening
                          Alexander Damianisch and Martin Reinhart

                          Snakes and Ladders (and a few octopuses,
                          crustaceans…)
                          Keynote by Johnny Golding

12.00- 12.45      Becoming Octopus Meditation
                          Maggie Roberts

12.45 -13.45      Lunch Break

13.45 -15.30      Intimate Portals (Non)human communication(s)
                          Afternoon Session

                          Planetary Skins. On the sensual entanglements
                          between digital and corporeal presences
                          Impulse Lecture by Gerald Nestler

                          Followed by a panel discussion with Noor Stenfert
                          Kroese, Gerald Nestler, Dunia Sahir, Shira
                          Wachsmann and John Wild  
                          chaired by Julia Wolf

15.30 -15.45     Coffee break

15.45 - 16.30    The Lounging Symposium
                         Harold Offeh

                         A short performance lecture whilst in reclining or
                         lounging pose. The lecture explores the history,
                         cultural context, power dynamics and politics
                         of this pose.

16.30 - 18.15    Latitude Longitude: The Sensuous Beauty of
                         Climate Care
                         Evening Session

                         Climate beauty: the art of reimagining the future
                         Impulse Lecture by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein

                         Orbital Bloom
                         Impulse Lecture by Shira Wachsmann

                         Followed by a panel discussion with Jonathan Boyd,
                         Johnny Golding, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein,
                         Naoki Matsuyama, Shira Wachsmann and
                         Marlies Wirth   
                         chaired by Erich Prem

 

Saturday, 27 January

10.00 - 10.30    Reception - Coffee, Tea and Biscuits

10.30 - 12.00    Strange Skins: when materialism is no longer
                         enough - Morning Session with an introduction
                         by Tanja Traxler

                         The Matter of Matter – a physical point of view
                         Impulse Lecture by Philipp Haslinger

                         The Book of Clouds: notes on weather, mood, vibe
                         Impulse Lecture by Sonia Bernac

12.00 -12.15     Coffee break

12.15 - 13.30    Strange Skins
                         Introduction and moderation by Johnny Golding

                         The Gravity of Ghosts
                         Impulse Lecture by Tanja Traxler

                         An Algerian Technoritual
                         Impulse Lecture by Yasmine Boudiaf

                         Residual Materialism: Mapping Silicon Valley’s Toxic
                         Legacy
                         Impulse Lecture by Manu Luksch

13.30 - 14.30    Lunchbreak

14.30 - 15.15    Grasping the Liquid
                         Performance by Jannis Neumann
                         Comparative examinations reveal analogies
                         between the gelation process, the study of human
                         genetics, and the impact of essentialist
                         biases on scientific research.

15.15 - 15.30    Coffee break

15.30 - 17.00    Sticky Cohesions
                         A little Afternoon Magic with all Artists and Speakers

17.10 - 18.00    Breaking Babble
                         A Sonic Lecture by Tonica Hunter
                         a failing of consonance.
                         a quest for an unknown.
                         a nonsense as resistance.

after 18.00        Drink Dance Watch Play
                         And everything else that matters…

 

 

About the panellists and performing artists

Sonia Bernac
Artist-philosopher with a certain penchant for bestiaries, clouds, weathers, mood. Co-Founder of the Idle Institute (Royal College of Art, London).

Yasmine Boudiaf
Artist and consciousness vibrating towards the cosmic mind. Creative Technologist and Researcher at the Ada Lovelace Institute, London

Jonathan Boyd
Reader <> Artist <> Writer <> Jeweller and Head of Applied Art (Jewellery & Metal/Ceramics & Glass) Royal College of Art, London. Co-Lead Material Engagements Research Cluster (RCA).

Alexander Damianisch
Director of Zentrum Fokus Forschung and head of the department Support Art and Research at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (Angewandte)

Sylvia Eckermann and Gerald Nestler
Independent Artists, Vienna. Gerald is an artist and researcher whose postdisciplinary practice combines theory and conversation with video, installation, graphics, performance, lyrics and speech. He is a member of the Technopolitics working group, Vienna, and holds a PhD from the Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London. In Sylvia's work, a discursive engagement with form and media culminates in critical artistic reflections about our entanglement as individuals in current socio-economic situations. Sylvia and Gerald are members of the Technopolitics working group, Vienna and both are Artist Associates at radical⇌matter PEEK project.

Johnny Golding
Professor of Philosophy and Fine Art at the RCA and PI of the radical⇌matter PEEK project   

Philipp Haslinger
Quantum physicist and Professor at the Technische Universität Wien (TU) and the Austrian Atom Institute, Vienna

Tonica Hunter
Artist, DJ, researcher, curator and cultural producer based in Vienna, Austria.  

Fiona Liewehr
Art historian, curator, author and artistic director of FJK3 - Contemporary Art Space.

Manu Luksch
Artist and filmmaker. Senior Research Associate at AiDesign Lab, Real World Artificial Intelligence Narratives, RCA. Artist Associate at radical⇌matter PEEK project.

Naoki Matsuyama  
Editor, translator, and writer focusing on art/design and contemporary theory. Currently he researches on the material and conceptual arrangements that enable large language models and machine learning systems.

Jannis Neumann
Independent Artist that holds degrees in visual art, biology, and education. In his art, he focuses on performance, objects and drawing.

Harold Offeh
London based artist working in a range of media including performance, video, photography, learning and social arts practice.

Erich Prem
Computer scientist, AI expert, author, lecturer and founding member of the Digital Humanism Initiative (DIGHUM), Vienna

Martin Reinhart
Artist, senior lecturer at Angewandte’s Art & Science department and PI of the radical⇌matter PEEK project

Maggie Roberts
Artist, co-founder of 0rphan Drift, exploring Ai in relation to octopus distributed intelligence. Lecturer at Central St Martins School of Art and Design and Senior Researcher with the RCA AiDesign Lab in Artificial and Distributed Intelligence.

Dunia Sahir
Biochemist specialised in structural biology, artist and researcher, MA student at Angewandte’s Art & Science Department.

Noor Stenfert Kroese
Artist with a focus on bio-art and robotics, tutor at Angewandte’s Art & Science Department

Christoph Thun-Hohenstein
Director General for International Cultural Relations, Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs

Tanja Traxler
Science journalist, author and lecturer at Angewandte’s Art & Science Department

Shira Wachsmann
Artist-philosopher working on circulations of war trauma, sensuous forms of time, and the wild intelligence of mycelium. Co-founder of Orbital Bloom with Ameera Kawah.

John Wild
Artist and Post Postdoctoral Researcher in Artificial intelligence and Real World Narratives at the Royal College of Art, London.

Marlies Wirth
Art historian and curator at the MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts . As Curator for Digital Culture, she is involved in the conception of the Vienna Biennale and heads the MAK Design Collection.

Julia Wolf
Artist-philosopher whose choreographic work involves the strange intimacies of  human-machinic-interspecies encounters (RCA).


 

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The radical⇌matter exhibition and symposium owe their realisation to the generous support of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). Hosted by Angewandte’s Art & Science department, these events are a collaborative effort with the Royal College of Art, London, and the  AiDesign Lab in Artificial and Distributed Intelligence, Hong Kong. We would like to thank the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), AIL - Angewandte Innovation Lab, Angewandte Collection & Archive, Ange- wandte University Gallery, Zentrum Fokus Forschung, FJK3 - Contemporary Art Space, Fiona Liewehr, Cosima Rainer, Robert Müller, all the participating artists and all the other wonderful people who made this project possible.

With thanks to our incredible artist-philosophers-scientists: Ivonne Gracia Murillo, Maximillian Gallo, Julia Wolf, Tanja Traxler.