LOCUS AMOENUS: EXPLORING ORGANIC AND ARTIFICIAL SYSTEMS IN ART

With Rebecca Brewer and Veit Laurent Kurz

Together we navigate an urgent inquiry and reflect on dynamic processes of renewal and the power of generative frameworks in the organic and digital realm: How can we, as physical beings in an increasingly digital world, reclaim the intimate, tactile gestures of our hands? Can we react to the vast, almost cosmic scale of artificial intelligence with grounded, human-centered creative acts?

In this hands-on workshop, participants explore the underlying connections between living systems and technological processes, uncovering innovative tools for creative expression and collaboration. At the intersection of organic life and creative technologies, we reflect on symbiotic relationships observed in nature and trace their influence on our built environment.

Employing material experimentation and tactile techniques, attendees embrace the physical world, activating their haptic awareness through automatic drawing processes including grattage, frottage, and more. Our exploration ponders post-human futures and strategies for collaboration beyond the anthropomorphic. We ask if the “hive mind” of artificial intelligence illuminates potential new pathways toward an artistic automatism.

Practical artistic-experimentation is enriched with theoretical inquiry, taking expansive inspiration from art-historical sources. Themes of symbiosis, sentience, interdependence, and responsible growth are explored through drawing, light reading, film screenings, and guided discussions.

The workshop is open to all and does not require previous artistic experience or technical know-how; openness to creativity is recommended.

https://hollyhock.ca/programs/7412/locus-amoenus-exploring-organic-and-artificial-systems-in-art/