More-than-human humanities research group!

Category: posthumanist performativity

The More-Than-Human Humanities focus series

The More-Than-Human Humanities focus series aims to attend to human differences entangled with environmental justice, information technologies, AI, synthetic biology, surveillance systems, species extinction, and drastic ecological change. It draws attention not only to the creativity and potentiality of this reinvention of arts and humanities, but also to that which limits or wounds conditions of life on earth. It addresses the question of how we may learn to live with those wounds and limitations in everyday practice. The titles in the series provide insight into the state-of-the art humanities research in a changing world.   

If you have an exciting idea for a book proposal for this book series, please contact the book series editors:

Cecilia Åsberg, Prof Dr Gender, nature, culture at Linköping University, Sweden. Director The Posthumanities Hub – cecilia.asberg@liu.se

Marietta Radomska, Dr Assistant Professor Gender and Environmental Humanities, at Linköping University, Director the Eco- and Bio Art Lab – marietta.radomska@liu.se

HAUNTED WATERS

Call for particapation

Our friends in the Design + Posthumanism Network has asked us to share this, so of course we do.

Haunted Waters: We are collecting stories, histories and material evidence from all over the world about bodies of water that are “haunted” by chemical contamination. We are now in search of people who have relationships and stories about contaminated water. We are collecting stories and also bottles with water from the contaminated sites. The bottles and the stories will be part of an archive both online and in an exhibition starting in December in Brussels.

Would you like to help us and/or have any ideas of people to invite?

ABOUT HAUNTED WATERS:

“We are collecting stories, histories and material evidence from all over the world about bodies of water that are “haunted” by chemical contamination. Contaminants are substances that due to different factors have ended up in our waters. Just like ghosts, they are invisible to the naked eye, relate to local historic events and are trapped in places where they aren’t meant to be. To learn how to live with these ghosts, first, we need to get to know them and their stories.

We are attempting to make the invisible contaminants visible, and we need your help. You are invited to join forces and become a ghost hunter! Your contribution will help us visualise the invisible ghostly contaminants that will be used in an art exhibition in Brussels in 2024.

Here is a link to a website to take part in the project: https://nonhuman-nonsense.com/hauntedwaters

We are Nonhuman Nonsense, a research-driven art and design studio, based in Berlin, https://nonhuman-nonsense.com/

Haunted Waters is a project by Nonhuman Nonsense & Caterina Cacciatori (EU JRC water quality lab), part of the art & science project NaturArchy at JRC Ispra, European Commission: https://resonances.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ghosts-anthropocene

Get in touch!

Warmly,

Linnea & Filips 

Nonhuman Nonsense

nonhuman-nonsense.com
@nonhuman_nonsense

The Ai Music Generation Challenge 2023: “Artificial Music Traditions”

Associate Professor, Bob Sturm from KTH is putting on The Ai Music Generation Challenge 2023, which focuses on “Artificial Music Traditions”: https://github.com/boblsturm/aimusicgenerationchallenge2023


Unlike the previous three editions (202020212022), the 2023 challenge is focused on generating an artificial music tradition rather than generating a particular form of existing traditional music.

What is the challenge?

Use any kind of artificial intelligence (one system or many different systems) in any way to generate an artificial music tradition. This could entail symbolic music, audio recordings, lyrics, dances, imagery, costumes, myths, instruments, ephemera, websites, ethnomusicological or anthropological studies, and so on. To make this more concrete some possibilities could be:

  • Instrumental music from an imaginary country
  • Teetotaler songs of a Nordic community
  • Music to accompany royal visits to medieval garderobes
  • Alien music practices resulting from the discovery and “decoding” of the record on Voyager 1

Particular inspirations for the 2023 challenge include:

How?

  1. By SEPTEMBER 4, register your intent to participate by notifying the organizer.
  2. Start generating documentary evidence of your artificial music tradition.
  3. Write a document describing your team and technical process, as well as reflecting on issues surrounding cultural appropriation in the submitted work, and clarity regarding its use of data and its intentions.
  4. By DECEMBER 8, email the organizer:
  • a link to download the documentary evidence of your artificial music tradition.
  • your document (pdf).

Evaluation

One can see this challenge as a call for work to be considered for a future festival. The judges are “curators”, who are looking to create a compelling program of “music traditions” generated entirely by, or with the assistance of, artificial intelligence. This future festival aims to delve deep into theoretical and practical questions of the application of artificial intelligence to culture, raising awareness of the many issues and dilemmas involved, from the economic and political to the technological and (post)humanistic. The curators seek to programme works showcasing a diversity of approaches and outcomes, and are especially interested in multi-layered work crossing material boundaries, all the while using artificial intelligence in some way or another. The curators are not necessarily looking for finished or complete work, but instead work that has a clear connection to the theme of the festival, showing evidence of deep reflection on the associated issues, and that can contribute to engaging and productive discussion.

The curators retain the right to not programme submitted work for a variety of reasons, including a lack of transparency, a lack of consideration of the use of data from existing cultures, and so on.

Announcement for Karen Barad upcoming virtual talk (28 Sep) On Touching the Stranger Within

Professor Karen Barad gives a virtual talk and presention Wednesday, September 28, 2022, titled On Touching the Stranger Within—Material Wonderings/Wanderings. The talk is free to attend, and it is part of a touring art exhibition called DRIFT: art and dark matter, which is currently showing at the Justina M. Barnicke gallery at the University of Toronto.

Part of what makes this event so exciting is its cross-disciplinary nature, combining work in particle physics, philosophy, and art. Karen Barad is a professor of feminist studies, philosophy, and history of consciousness at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Their work is highly interdisciplinary — prior to this appointment, they held a faculty position in particle physics. DRIFT itself is a cross-disciplinary exhibit. From the gallery website: “four artists of national and international stature were invited to make new work while engaging with physicists, chemists, and engineers contributing to the search for dark matter at SNOLAB’s facility in Sudbury, two kilometers below the surface of the Earth.” 

More information about the event and a registration link are available on the gallery website:https://artmuseum.utoronto.ca/program/keynote-karen-barad/ 

Best wishes, 

Sarah  

Sarah Dawson (she/they)

Event Coordinator & Interim Communications Officer

Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute

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