TECHNOLOGY ECOLOGY SACRED

How can we think and grow “flourishing biodiversities and technodiversities”?

- Anicka Yi

I have been exploring the Synthetic Sacred through my writing - most explicitly in this article which is part of an ongoing collaboration with Nero editions - and through my work with the Goethe Institut. This has included curating a programme that begins to delve deeper into some of the ideas.

Thank you to Nero for creating the visual identity for the Synthetic Sacred, aspects of which are incorporated on this website.

Synthetic Sacred conversations – in association with the Goethe Institut

Through two special editions of the Talk Culture podcast, we delve into the Synthetic Sacred looking at some of our most high-tech creations - in particular, biodigital convergence and the emergence of synthetic life.

The discussions grapple with questions of control, harmony, and emergent relationships between synthetic and natural forms of life, offering listeners a thought-provoking journey into the complexities of these evolving paradigms.

Our guests are: artists Agnieszka Kurant and Anicka Yi, scientists Johannes Vogel and Michael Levin, and Mohawk scholar, Keith Williams.

Semiotic Life, Agnieszka Kurant, 2022.
75-year-old juniper bonsai tree, 3d printed resin, acrylic paint, flowerpot, soil
ourtesy Kunstverein Hannover, 2023, photo Mathias Völzke

Part 1: Synthetic Life - A Future Natural History

What happens to life when nature is bionic? And who gets to decide?

In this conversation, we explore the practical and philosophical implications of synthetic life, with Michael Levin, creator of the world’s first organic robots, Johannes Vogel, Director of the Natural History Museum, Berlin and ground-breaking artist Agnieszka Kurant.

Part 2: Biotechnologies and the Web of Life

What if biotech was led by Indigenous cultural and moral codes?

This conversation, with pioneering artist, Anicka Yi and Mohawk scholar, Keith Williams, helps prepare the ground for approaching biotech as the latest iteration in a long line of sacred technologies; technologies that are created to aid living harmoniously within the web of life.

Researching more-than-human-rights with the MOTH Project

Participating in MOTH Project’s more-than-human Rights course in Quito enabled me to deepen my knowledge and practical understanding of the field. This is informing my work as Creative Director of FutureEverything, a role which I began in June 2024.

MOTH is part of a growing Rights of Nature movement bringing together Indigenous Knowledge with legal frameworks to give Nature personhood in the eyes of the law. Ecuador was the first country in the world to recognise the Rights of Nature in its constitution in 2008. Rights of Nature cases are being fought in countries all over the world, with relatively large numbers of cases and key precedents emerging in countries such as Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and New Zealand.

As part of my research in and beyond MOTH Project I had the privilege to spend time with Indigenous elders and representatives of the Sarayaku, Cofan and Kichwa communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Some of the questions I took with me…

  • What would MOTH rigths look like in the UK, one of the most nature depleted countries in the world?

  • How can MOTH rights be embodied in the everyday?

  • What is the role of arts methodologies in this?