Apply
Apply
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 2024 – 16 February 2024
AIL - Angewandte Interdisciplinary Lab
Postsparkasse – Georg-Coch-Platz 2
1010 ViennaOpening hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri: 13:00–18:00 / Thu: 13:00–20:00
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 2024 in the presence of the director and will run until 16 February 2024.
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.
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
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 2024
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 2024
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).
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.
