Installation, enhanced with DIWO experiments, 2017-2019
“Self-repair Lab” is an artistic installation and a collaborative framework for biological, chemical and geological experimentation. The installation resembles a DIY biological experiment laboratory, where artworks, lab equipment, people and events are brought together in order to understand and to reflect self-organization of the ecosystem, human-machine interaction, and up to date discourses. What could one do with the knowledge gained in collaboration with artists, scientists, and engineers? How one could “produce” new meanings in the collaborative setting? “Self-repair Lab” is also about acquiring knowledge and seeking of answers while making things. Having no access to science laboratory and scientists, but having access to kitchen tools and internet, one could aspire knowledge, which could help in solving tasks, especially those related to one’s health and the ecosystem.
Artistic Concept
“Self-repair” refers to an organism’s ability to identify and fix its own system. A well known self-surgery under “real-life conditions” was performed by Leonid Rogozov. In 1961, during his expedition to the Antarctic, which, at that time, was not really an inhabited place, Rogozov performed an appendectomy on himself. While humanity dreams about space travel, humans often neglect certain “what if?” questions: What if it is not possible to ask others for help, to fulfill one or another task? What if certain experimentation is restricted by law? What, in fact, is “law”? There are also other questions that arise, such as: How far can one experiment with one’s own body? Or, to whom do parts of one’s body belong if they are detached from the body? To put it simply, “self-repair” relates strongly to the adaptability required to live in a changing environment: when humans talk about evolution, they say that life has survived due to its ability to adapt to changing conditions (for example, Lynn Margulis’ theory of evolution). With the aim of “self-repair” being to adapt to present conditions, there is a need to reflect on developing technologies, scientific discoveries, and the changing understanding of humans as beings.
Acknowledgment
The project was kindly supported by the Nordic Culture Point and by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. My gratitude goes to collaborators of the project Julian Chollet, Juan Pablo Diaz, Wolfgang Spahn, Miglė Kalvaitytė, Auksė Gaižauskaitė, Martin Howse, Jan Georg Glöckner, and other collaborators, including dozens of participants.
Related Cases
Case #1. SCOBY, Shit and Humus
Case #2. I, Machine, and Energy Harvesting
Case #3. Lactose-Intolerance DNA Portraits
Case #4. Radio Mycelium & How I Hack Plant Conversations
Related Media
Related Posts
Book: Shared Habitats - Ursula Damm / Mindaugas Gapsevicius (eds.) Shared Habitats A Cultural Inquiry into Living Spaces and Their Inhabitants Recently, three exhibitions under the title Shared Habitats were carried out by a team from the Chair of Media Environments at Bauhaus University, Weimar. Today, I am happy to share the publication, comprising the work of the last… Continue Reading
Lactose intolerant? Let’s employ bacteria! - In collaboration with Auksė GaižauskaitėLocation: alt lab (Vitebsko Str. 23, room 304, Vilnius, cultural centre “Sodas 2123”)Time: 7–8 December 2019, 12 noon to 4 pm. A creative workshop titled “Lactose intolerant? Let's employ bacteria!” will be organised in an alternative non-disciplinary research laboratory Alt lab on the 7–8 December 2019, located in a new cultural… Continue Reading
Radio Mycelium & How I Hack Plant Conversations - Workshop with Mindaugas Gapševičius, Jan Georg Glöckner, and participants. In collaboration with Martin Howse2019 07 20-22 To register please send short motivation letters to mo[@]mo.lt till June 10. The experiment invites participants to experience interspecies communication and feedback loops between mycelium networks and their habitats, including other organisms and beings. It also proposes the examination of a… Continue Reading
Lactose-Intolerance DNA Portraits @ MO - Workshop with Mindaugas Gapševičius, Auksė Gaižauskaitė, Miglė Kalvaitytė, and participants2019 06 15-17 @ MO, Pylimo g. 17, Vilnius 01141, Lithuania To register please send short motivation letters to mo[@]mo.lt till June 9. Have you ever thought about a genome encoded in DNA? What invisible features are hidden in your body? What diseases might you potentially have?… Continue Reading
I, Machine, and Energy Harvesting @ MO - Workshop with Mindaugas Gapševičius, Wolfgang Spahn, and participants2019 05 25-27, Pylimo g. 17, Vilnius 01141, Lithuania To register please send short motivation letters to mo[@]mo.lt till May 19. Microprocessors implanted in a human, or prostheses mounted on a human might be driven by ultra low voltages gained from the human body. Ultra low voltages could… Continue Reading
SCOBY, Shit and Humus @ MO - Workshop with Mindaugas Gapševičius, Juan Pablo Diaz, Julian Chollet, and participants2019 05 04-06 @ MO museum, Pylimo g. 17, Vilnius 01141 Experimentation unfolds through the investigation of SCOBY, shit and humus, which raises questions: What does symbiosis really mean? How can we understand the complex interaction between microorganisms, plants and animals? How is self-organization related… Continue Reading
Toolkits and DIWO Experiments @ MO Museum - Installation with toolkits, manuals, video tutorials, and workshops 04.05.2019 – 22.07.2019MO Museum Vilnius Four toolkits and DIWO experiments are featured at MO Museum Vilnius between May 4th and July 22nd. The toolkits are part of the Introduction to Posthuman Aesthetics project, and the DIWO experiments are part of the Self-Repair Lab. Together with Weimar University… Continue Reading
Cultures and Colonies - Workshop with Mindaugas Gapševičius, and Mirela Alistar Thursday 7th March 2019. 15-18h and 19h30-21hFriday 8th March 2019. 10-13hat ruine hq, Ihmeplatz7e, Hanover The workshop with Mirela Alistar and Mindagaus Gapševičius invites the audience to explore their own symbiotic relationship with organisms inside and outside themselves. By using SCOBI – a symbiotic culture of bacteria and… Continue Reading
SCOBY, Shit and Humus @ transmediale Vorspiel - Participative installation. 2019 In collaboration with Julian Chollet, Juan Pablo Díaz At the Transmediale and CTM Vorspiel 2019, 18.01.2019, 17:30 open end. Kunsthaus ACUD. Veteranenstrasse 21, 10119, Berlin Members of the TOP Association in collaboration with members of the mikroBIOMIK Society and guests teamed up for the investigation of SCOBI, shit, and humus. The hands-on… Continue Reading Radio Mycelium & How I Hack Plant Conversations @ Piksel - Installation, tutorial, toolkit, experiments. 2018 In collaboration with Martin Howse At the 16th PIKSEL festival for electronic art and free technologies. November 22-24 2018Workshop Nov 23, 2018 @ 10:00 Piksel Studio 207, Strandgaten 207 BERGEN The project invites us to experience interspecies communication and feedback loops between mycelium networks and their habitats, including other organisms… Continue Reading