‘Body Habitat’ by Kristin Jakubek

Body habitat ~  Suspended between forms of living
Solo exhibition by Kristin Jakubek
14 – 23 October 2021

Opening on 14.10.2021, Thursday, 16:00 – 21:30
Artist talk on 16.10.2021, Saturday, with guest Beatrice Zaidenberg, 18:30
Opening hours: Every day 16:00 – 19:00 pm visiting hour + by appointment

‘Body Habitat’ is a self-organising, living sculpture by media artist Kristin Jakubek. A confined habitat for the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, that carves out a space for the non-human and hereby implicitly questions our relation to other species.

The slime mold is a resilient shapeshifter, relocated from its natural environment on fallen tree logs in a dark, musky wood to a trans-species space of negotiation.

In isolated, controlled and monitored captivity it acts as an agent of nature as it grows, expands and moves like a creeping garden through unpredictable changes of becoming and decay, unfolding over time.

The intrinsic connection between humans and nature, is shown as a complex relationship, consisting of explorative approach, admiration, care or control and also incomprehension through an experimental practice.

In the end, the question of how living matter relates to the characteristics of form is posed: Will Physarum polycephalum behave in a desired way in this hybrid-setting?

The project was supported by Kreativfonds Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

The talk on October 16, brings together artist Kristin Janubek and curator Beatrice Zaidenberg to discuss the relationship between human and non-human beings within the framework of artistic research. The talk will be moderated by Tuçe Erel.

The event is in person, 3G rules will be applied and capacity is limited. Therefore, please register via email: top [at] top-ev [dot] de

Biographies:

Kristin Jakubek is a young media artist and film director, specialising in digital and installation forms of world-building.

Guided by her background in art direction, branding and film-making at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, Kristin experiments with new media forms of storytelling, often centred around moving-image formats. Yet, with a special interest in biology she investigates ways of animating sculpture through physical or living matter and questions what is between human and non-human.

At the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, she currently explores avenues to further enhance her visual storytelling by bringing both, virtual and sculptural world-building together.

Beatrice Zaidenberg is a trained art historian based in Berlin and Zurich. In her research and art education projects, she aims to give nonhuman agents and muted subjects a voice. She investigates these topics further within the recently formed artist collective LIMB. They will show the fruits of their ongoing conversations in the exhibition titled ‘Hydrographism‘ at Brighton CCA Dorset Place in November 2021. Currently, she is a curatorial trainee at ZKM in Karlsruhe.