TECHNOLOGY ECOLOGY SACRED

”We are obliged to fulfil our obligations to Creation, which includes, at the very least, not interfering with other beings’ ability to fulfil their own sacred responsibilities.”

- Suzanne Brant and Keith Williams

I’m really delighted to be be deepening my knowledge and practical understanding of More-Than-Human Rights (MOTH) through participating in the MOTH Project course this week in Quito, Ecuador. MOTH is part of a growing movement bringing togethe
The first of two conversations I’ve curated and devised for the Goethe Institut London’s Talking Culture podcast is now available to listen to. Part 1, Synthetic Life: A Future Natural History, explores the practical and philosophical im
Tuning into the Quantum: A Vibrational Exchange Between Karen Barad and Black Quantum Futurism This is the last event in a series of talks I've curated exploring quantum thinking. This time, interdisciplinary theorist Prof. Karen Barad and visionary
*****Belatedly noticed a typo on the image !***** Quantum Nature, Holism and the Space Between Is the title of the second event in the series I’ve curated on behalf of the @goetheinstitut_london, @sfgoethe and Goethe Institut Beijing. The se
What futures are possible when quantum physics and the unconscious come together? This is the first in a series of conversations I’ve curated on behalf of the @goetheinstitut_london @sfgoethe and Goethe Institut Beijing which aims to foregroun
Looking forward to being in conversation with @_keiken_ at the Bodies Reimagined conference taking place as part of Plasmata: Bodies, Dreams and Data exhibition currently on in Athens curated by @irini_mirena Conference participants include: Danielle
Janus_figures,_Caldragh_Graveyard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_885844.jpg
Ekeko, from Warawar Wawa (Son of the Stars) series, River Claure, 2022 ..The act of creating a sacred assemblage - even one combining plastics and other toxic substances - points to the possibility of reclaiming an alternative future for synthetic e
Visit (3), Kinke Kooi, 2019, 80,5 x 66,5 cm acrylic, (color)pencil, gouache on paper ..art enables us to integrate, on a deep level, what it is to live within hybridity (and destruction), and ask questions about the kind of world/s we want to live i
Healer (Waters), Pamela Rosenkranz, 2019. Robot, circuit board control units, battery, LED light, 3D printed head and tail, kirigami skin 120 × 6 cm 47 1/4 × 2 3/8 inches © Pamela Rosenkranz Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers ..Thinness exists wi
Jesse Darling, Lion in wait for Saint Jerome and his medical kit, 2018 Paint pen on packing paper, gold leaf, band-aids, parcel tape, frame 115 × 180 cm (45 1⁄4 × 70 7⁄8 inches) Courtesy: The Artist and Arcadia Missa, London. Photography: Tim Bowditc
Agnieszka Kurant, Animal Internet, 2018 Animatronic mechanisms, custom programming, artificial fur, plants, rocks, sand, webcam lifestream; presented as a video loop Commissioned by MIT CAST Scientific and technological collaboration: Adam Haar Horo
Caption: Kinnari Saraiya, Seven Acts of Nature's Devastating Dance, still from AI simulation, artwork in development Artist Kinnari Saraiya on reimagining nature deities for a new artwork in development Seven Acts of Nature's Devastating Dance. 'Pla
Ane Graff, Patches of Standing Water Year: 2021 Dimensions: 220 (h) cm x 195 (w) cm x 120 (d) cm Glass structure in green glass Vein structures in steel with gallium, ultramarine pigment, acrylic paint and sand
Sahej Rahal, Mythmachine (excerpt from simulation), BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead curated by Kinnari Saraiya and Niomi Fairweather, AI program voiced by Niyati Upadhya. Photo: Rob Harris © 2022 BALTIC

The images above are a selection from my essay, The Synthetic Sacred, How the Thin Places in Art Offer a Redemptive Relationship with Hybrid Ecologies.

Image credits, beginning with the Celtic figures:

  • Kenneth Allen / Janus figures, Caldragh Graveyard / CC BY-SA 2.0. The Lustymore Man (left) and the Dreenan Figure (right) in Caldragh Cemetery, Boa Island • Fermanagh. These figures date from Celtic times, the figure on the right is often referred to as the Janus figure

  • River Claure, Ekeko, from Warawar Wawa (Son of the Stars) series, 2022

  • Kinke Kooi, Visit (3), 2019, 80,5 x 66,5 cm acrylic, (color)pencil, gouache on paper

  • Pamela Rosenkranz, Healer (Waters), 2019. Robot, circuit board control units, battery, LED light, 3D printed head and tail, kirigami skin 120 × 6 cm 47 1/4 × 2 3/8 inches © Pamela Rosenkranz. Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers

  • Jesse Darling, Lion in wait for Saint Jerome and his medical kit, 2018. Paint pen on packing paper, gold leaf, band-aids, parcel tape, frame 115 × 180 cm (45 1⁄4 × 70 7⁄8 inches). Courtesy: The Artist and Arcadia Missa, London. Photography: Tim Bowditch

  • Agnieszka Kurant, Animal Internet, 2018. Animatronic mechanisms, custom programming, artificial fur, plants, rocks, sand, webcam lifestream; presented as a video loop. Commissioned by MIT CAST. Scientific and technological collaboration: Adam Haar Horowitz, Owen Trueblood, Ishaan Grover, Agnes Cameron, and Gary Zhexi Zhang

  • Kinnari Saraiya, Seven Acts of Nature's Devastating Dance, still from AI simulation, artwork in development

  • Sahej Rahal, Mythmachine (excerpt from simulation), BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead curated by Kinnari Saraiya and Niomi Fairweather, AI program voiced by Niyati Upadhya. Photo: Rob Harris © 2022 BALTIC