Becoming human>animal>plant>rocks/air: Modes of perceiving nature

Like nature itself, our conception of nature is heavily influenced by humans and by the technologies they’ve invented. Like no other species, Homo sapiens have reshaped, constructed and exploited their habitat. In light of the present ecological crisis, a radical decentralisation of humans and their instrumental reasoning is required to rise above the notion dominant in most industrialised societies that nature and culture are two distinct entities. What does it mean to be a human being when human beings are no longer the measure of all things? What role do new technologies play?

In their German-English lecture performance, the radio artist Kate Donovan and the cultural and media studies researcher Birgit Schneider explore what might happen if we were able to leave behind our anthropocentric viewpoint and see things from the perspective of other life forms. What reactions would such a shift elicit? The lecture-performance invites the audience to experience the world, the wind, plants and animals and their stories, the sound of static and electrical fields with different forms of perception – both with the help of media and directly. Might we feel more closely bound if we were able to recalibrate our sensory perceptions? How can we perceive things differently? The presentation will include a series of short perception exercises from the discipline of expanded listening and seeing.