The Enlightenment placed the human being at the center of thought – but lichens teach us a different way of perceiving the world: relational, networked, non-human-centered. As symbiotic compounds of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria, they embody a way of thinking that goes beyond the individual: They are more-than-human organisms, holobionts, networks of cooperation and adaptation. They thrive in extreme environments, survive for centuries and form fragile ecologies that are often overlooked – and yet hold fundamental lessons for our own existence.
This transdisciplinary seminar moves between science, philosophy and media art. An excursion with lichenologists will familiarize us with the silent but highly complex existence of lichens. Meditative audio walks invite us to document the network of these life forms and to connect with their temporality and materiality. By reading key texts (e.g. Lynn Margulis, Scott Gilbert, Donna Haraway) we will question concepts of autonomy, subjectivity and multispecies coexistence. Finally, in a workshop and subsequent elaboration, we will see how collected knowledge could be transferred into media art works.
This transdisciplinary seminar moves between science, philosophy and media art. An excursion with lichenologists will familiarize us with the silent but highly complex existence of lichens. Meditative audio walks invite us to document the network of these life forms and to connect with their temporality and materiality. By reading key texts (e.g. Lynn Margulis, Scott Gilbert, Donna Haraway) we will question concepts of autonomy, subjectivity and multispecies coexistence. Finally, in a workshop and subsequent elaboration, we will see how collected knowledge could be transferred into media art works.
- Dozent/in: Julia Ihls