Cybernetic Agents for an Ecology of the Far/Near

As the world gravitates towards a state of perpetual crisis, against the unbearable absolute of distance, we posit an ecology of the far/near and present cybernetic agents on the anthropocosmic stage of becoming. Not solely concerned with biological life, ecological thinking engages in conceiving exclusions, and likewise inclusions – in time and space. It emphasises relations and concerns itself with the flourishing of societies, cultures, and communities. Within the context of an ecology of the far/near, design is a performative process that creates limits rather than limitations and, is, therefore, a discipline of radical communication that always seeks to extend itself towards an Other – the unknown – addressing it without pre-quantifying it to render it scientifically verifiable.

Claudia Westermann, Ph.D., is an artist and architect, licensed with the German Chamber of Architects, and Senior Associate Professor in architecture at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China. She holds postgraduate degrees in architecture and media art and obtained a Ph.D. from CAiiA, Planetary Collegium. Her research is informed by second-order cybernetics, actualising in interdisciplinary projects concerned with the ecologies, poetics and philosophies of art and architectural design. Her works have been widely exhibited and presented, including at the Venice Biennale (architecture), the Moscow International Film Festival, ISEA Symposium for the Electronic Arts, the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany, and most recently the Yanping Art Harvest in Fujian, China. Claudia Westermann is a member of the Editorial Organism of Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research.

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Website: www.litra-design.com

Running Order

16.00 – Welcome by Chris Speed

16.05 – Talk by Claudia Westermann

16.50 – Q&A

17.00 – End

* Please note that this webinar will be recorded*