Subterranean Dialogues #2
Boomkwekerijmuseum, Boskoop
Monday 15th June
13 – 16 hrs
Register
Exploring and protecting the living soil through science and art
In this afternoon session (13.00 – 16.00) on Monday June 15 we compare artistic and scientific explorations of the living soil and how they can contribute to protecting subterranean life, which is crucial to the survival of life aboveground. What can the complementary perspectives from the arts and the sciences contribute in their interaction to protecting and the regeneration of life in the soil?
This dialogue is organised in co-operation with the recently launched JUST ART research consortium, of which the Green Heart Biennale is a societal partner. JUST ART is a six year research project that explores questions of climate justice through artistic research. Soil Ecologies is one of the thematic areas examined as part of this extensive research project.
In Boskoop we link this research topic to Christine Hvidt’s Subterranean project. A listening sculpture is installed in the adjacent tuinen van Boskoop public park as part of Subterranean. The sculpture makes the life in the soil audible for the audience.
We enter into dialogue with artist Christine Hvidt, researchers Vasilis Kokkoris and Katja Kwastek, and invite you to join the conversation.
Registration
Attendance is free.
It is appreciated if you can register for this event to help us prepare via:
info@groenehartbiennale.nl
JUST ART
JUST ART: Creating Common Grounds for Climate Justice Through Artistic Research is a six year project funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and led by the University of Groningen.
Bringing together artists, researchers, campaigners and communities in rural and urban regions across the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the project aims to cultivate diverse strategies of climate justice through artistic research and creative practice.
https://justart.info
Subterranean
The project Subterranean by artist Christie Hvidt is an interdisciplinary art–science project combining sound art, machine learning, and ecological inquiry to explore life underground. By analysing soil soundscapes from former tree plantations in the area of Boskoop (NL), it amplifies non-human voices and experiments with new ways of relating to the vibrant soil environments.
At three locations: Tuinen van Boskoop and Het Groene Huis in Boskoop, and the former industrial terrain turned into a creative and ecological hub, GOUDasfalt in Gouda, Christine installs listening sculptures that make the life in the soil audible for the audience.
The sound sculptures listen live to the soil and analyse the sound, creating a dynamic composition based on the sonic character of each specific soil ecology at the three locations. An online digital audiovisual composition enables a direct comparison of the different soil ecologies. The project invites you to listen to and connect with less accessible soil ecosystems through bioacoustic monitoring, live responsive audiovisual works, and guided ecocentric attunement sessions in dialogue with scientists and the public.
About the speakers
Vasilis Kokkoris is an Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE) (Section Systems Ecology) at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. He is an external core collaborator for the society for the protection of underground networks (SPUN). He is also a board member for the Netherlands Society for Evolutionary Biology (NLSEB) & for the Royal Dutch Society for Microbiology (KNVM) section mycology.
His research focuses on better understanding the evolutionary significance of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi unique cell function and dynamics across scales, and specifically how they affect the function and fitness of the interconnected fungi and plants, in diverse abiotic and biotic conditions. Besides acquiring fundamental knowledge about these important microbes, I am interested in applying what we learn towards a more sustainable agriculture and to better understand the challenges that the mycorrhizal symbiosis faces against climate change.
www.vasilis-kokkoris.com
Katja Kwastek is professor of modern and contemporary art at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and at the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute. She is the author of the book Aesthetics of Interaction in Digital Art (MIT Press, 2013) and specialises in intersections of art, new media and technology. Previously, she taught at Ludwig Maximilians-University (Munich), Rhode Island School of Design Providence), LBI Media.Art.Research (Linz) and Humboldt-University (Berlin). Within JUST ART she co-ordinates the thematic strand Just Production.
https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/katja-kwastek
Christine Hvidt is a Danish multidisciplinary artist working with site-specific sound art, responsive works, and relational listening practices. Her practice operates at the intersection of art-science, somatic methodologies, and experimental technology, exploring relationships between humans, other species, and the land, with a focus on ecological systems, interspecies relations, and different forms of knowledge held by living environments. Hvidt holds an MA in ArtScience from the University of the Arts The Hague and a BA in Art and Technology from Aalborg University.
Location
Boomkwekerijmuseum
Reijerskoop 52-54
Boskoop
https://boomkwekerijmuseum.nl/nursery-museum
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