SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS
talks and workshops during
Meeting the Lough On Its Own Terms
More-Than-Human Intelligence workshop
Saturday 28th March 11am-1pm
at Banner Repeater
sign up here
The More-Than-Human Intelligence is a hands-on workshop led by the Symbiotic Intelligence collective that explores intelligence as a collective phenomenon rather than an individual trait. Through practical experiments with mycelium cultivation, the workshop investigates intelligence as an emergent property arising from interconnected systems of humans, more-than-human entities, and machines.
Participants will work directly with living mycelium, creating their own seeded networks while critically rethinking dominant evolutionary narratives embedded in Western artificial intelligence. The workshop proposes a shift away from individualised, anthropocentric models of intelligence towards a symbiotic understanding shaped by encounter, cooperation, interdependence, and co-evolution
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Symbiotic Intelligence (SI) is an artist collective founded by Dr Shira Wachsmann and Dr John Wild. SI creates immersive installations that foster encounters challenging anthropocentric hierarchies by exploring intelligence as a co-constituted, emergent process, one that foregrounds multispecies encounters and synergistic ontologies.
Symbiotic Relationships
The talks programme opens up conversation and debate with leading voices in the cross-section of art and ecology. ‘Thinking through together’ how art can provide and support alternative visions and methodologies to germinate, that encourage a de-centring of the human (not de-valuing), decolonial, eco-feminist, and posthuman positions to flourish, whilst nurturing radical new ways for rethinking sustainability.
Opening up key ideas in the work for discussion and public debate with Lucy Sollitt (director) Future Everything, James Orr (director) Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, and independent curator Kirsten Cooke, who explores these themes further with her curated ‘Grammars of Water’ ecological conference (Goldsmiths).
Workshops with leading artists Harun Morrison working with Green Peace, John Wild and Shira Wachsmann (RCA Re-Wilding AI) rethinking AI with mycelium, and Ami Clake sonic ritual workshop and performance, with John D’Arcy of HIVE choir, open up themes running through the programme for participants to engage with further.
* 7th March - James Orr (director Friends of the Earth NI) and Ami Clarke in conversation.
* 21st March - Ami Clarke; artists talk in conversation with curator Kirsten Cooke. rsvp here
* 28th March - John Wild, Shira Waschmann: Alternative perspectives to AI: mycelium cultivation - sign up here
* 11th April - Lucy Sollitt (director: Future Everything) instituting new ways of working: putting Nature on the board.
* 30th April - Grammar of Water conference curated by Kirsten Cooke, Goldsmiths University.
* May - Harun Morrison (Green Peace): Environmental Justice Cards workshop - sign up here
* May - Sonic Ritual workshop and live performance with John D'Arcy and HIVE choir.