Towards Interspecies Performance Art

As Nature becomes Biology, becomes Genetics, through which life itself becomes reprogrammable information, our understanding of the role of the animal as ‘the natural’ has changed.

Since the beginning of environmental theater in the 1960s, the animal has been considered ‘the real’, which penetrates culture. Now, with the introduction of new biotechnologies, it has also come to incorporate technology.

These circumstances are reflected in the current exhibition Holobiont. Life is Other at Angewandte Interdisciplinary Lab, where artists explore the thresholds of species and their symbiotic relationships in performative settings. Maya Smrekar, for example, investigates in her working cycle K 9_topology human/dog/wolf co-evolution, co-habitation as well as the possibility to create a hybrid of the human, rethinking the social and ideological boundaries of selfhood.

During the evening of Towards Interspecies Performance Art, Maja Smrekar will first present part of her K-9_topology: Opus et Domus and later enter into dialogue with the philosopher, artist and curator Fahim Amir. In his recent book, Schwein und Zeit, Fahim Amir is challenging human exceptionalism and common categorizations of species by asking:

Are animals victims of human domination or heroes of resistance? Is nature pristine and defenseless, or sentient and devious? Is being human really a prerequisite for being political?

The dialogue between the invited guests, moderated by Lucie Strecker, co-curator of Holobont. Life is Other, will give the audience the opportunity to review perceptions, question terminologies and analyze perspectives on current explorations of interspecies performance art.

(Please note: Maja Smrekar will be present online)

Welcome: Elisabeth Falkensteiner, Curator and Co-Head of AIL