Driving the Human
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Journal • All
Driving the Human exhibition at ZKM – third part
News • 06.10.2023

The third part of the exhibition “Driving the Human – Seven Prototypes for Eco-Social Renewal” with the topic “Speculative Ecosytems and Interspecies Collaborations”, is presented at ZKM | Karlsruhe from October 7 to November 26, 2023. 

Driving the Human exhibition at ZKM – second part
News • 08.08.2023

The second part of the exhibition “Driving the Human – Seven Prototypes for Eco-Social Renewal” with the topic “Sharing Knowledge on Common Ground”, was presented at ZKM | Karlsruhe from August 12 to September 24, 2023. 

Driving the Human exhibition at ZKM – first part
News • 17.06.2023

The first part of the exhibition “Driving the Human – Seven Prototypes for Eco-Social Renewal” at ZKM | Karlsruhe, with the topic “Non-Human Perspectives: Sharing, Shaping, Sensing Habitats”,  was on show from June 17 to July 30, 2023. 

BOOK LAUNCH IN KARLSRUHE
News • 17.06.2023

The book tour reached its final stop in Karlsruhe.

Driving the Human exhibition at ZKM
News • 16.06.2023

The exhibition Driving the Human – Seven Prototypes for Eco-Social Renewal at ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe runs from June 17 to November 26, 2023. 

BOOK LAUNCH IN VENICE
News • 30.05.2023

The book tour reached its fifth stop in Venice!

BOOK LAUNCH IN PORTO
News • 22.05.2023

The fourth stop on the Driving the Human book tour is Porto!

BOOK LAUNCH IN LISBON
News • 02.05.2023

The Driving the Human book tour stopped in Lisbon at the Takeover Fest, hosted by Lisbon Triennale and Forecast.

BOOK LAUNCH IN BERLIN
News • 02.05.2023

The third stop on the Driving the Human book tour was in Berlin with Matters of Activity. 

BOOK LAUNCH IN MILAN
News • 19.04.2023

We kicked off the Driving the Human book tour during Milan Design Week 2023!

Book tour 2023: Dates and locations announced!
News • 24.03.2023

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of Driving the Human: Seven Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal publication, which marks the end of the three year initiative. 

Driving the Human x Form Design Podcast
News • 06.03.2023

Listen to the form Design Podcast’s latest series, Driving the Human x form Design Podcast. In six episodes, participants from the Driving the Human initiative discuss the intersection of design and science.

CLOSING FESTIVAL RECAP VIDEOS
News • 28.02.2023

We are excited to share four videos looking back at the Driving the Human festival, one for each day and an overall recap.

LOOKING BACK AT 2022, LOOKING FORWARD TO 2023
News • 19.12.2022

In 2022, the Driving the Human initiative met its ultimate goal of materializing the Seven Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal.

LINA fellows talk at Driving the Human festival
Centering Sustainable and Circular Practices
News • 18.12.2022

At the Driving the Human festival, LINA fellows Tevi Allan Mensah, Jonathan Steiger, and Studio Inscape showed how they focus on creating sustainable and resilient ways of working that are transdisciplinary and multilayered.

Thank you for joining us in Berlin!
News • 01.12.2022

From November 25–27, 2022, Driving the Human: 7 Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal brought to Berlin a variety of formats exploring new ways of envisioning and inhabiting the world. 

NON-HUMAN DESIGN LAB
News • 11.10.2022

At the Bio Design Lab of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, Human-Bacteria Interfaces’ Romy Kaiser and Paula Nerlich hosted the workshop “Non-Human Design Lab” as part of the 2022 Future of Life Summer School.

VISITING SILENT GREEN KULTURQUARTIER
News • 07.10.2022

This spring, the seven project authors visited the silent green Kulturquartier in Berlin, where our upcoming Driving the Human: Seven Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal event will take place.

ARCTIC LANDSCAPES, ALTERNATIVE CARTOGRAPHIES AND MIGRATORY BIRDS
News, 7 Prototypes • 30.09.2022

In late summer 2022, AlternaA (Andra Pop-Jurj and Lena Geerts Danau), Hyeseon Jeong, and Seongmin Yuk visited Iceland. The creators of Monsters and Ghosts of the Far North and The Backpack of Wings: Modern Mythology met local artists and practitioners, visited the unique landscapes of the Arctic, and hosted two workshops at the Nordic House in Reykjavik.

PROJECT EXPLORATIONS IN UCKERMARK
News • 27.09.2022

Last May, our seven project authors spent a few days in the countryside outside of Berlin. The long, sunny days allowed for a collective reflection on the many inputs of their intense trip to Germany, as well as cross-pollination of ideas, references and influences.

SCREENINGS AND REFLECTIONS ON THREATENED TERRITORIES
News, 7 Prototypes • 23.09.2022

In conversation with artist Eliana Otta, we spoke about her trip to the area of Pucallpa in Peru. There, she revisited the communities Unipacuyacu, Sinchi Rocha and Puerto Nuevo, screening the work in progress of Virtual Sanctuary of Fertilizing Mourning in order to integrate the communities’ feedback into the project.

FROM THE ORIGINS OF LIFE TO FUTURE PROTOTYPES
News, 7 Prototypes • 20.09.2022

This summer, the authors of our seven selected projects travelled to Karlsruhe, Germany, where they visited ZKM, Center for Art and Media, and the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design’s Bio Design Lab.

FUTURE PREDICTIONS AND PRESENT SYMBIOSIS
News, 7 Prototypes • 15.09.2022

At the Cybernetics Library in New York, the artists Iris Qu曲晓宇 and Chao Hui Tu held an AI symbiosis workshop, in which participants played seven nonhuman characters that collectively challenged AI-predicted climate scenarios threatening their ecosystem.

TRONSFORMATION
News • 08.09.2022

At the Foundation for Contemporary Art in Accra, Ghana, artist Akwasi Bediako Afrane held his workshop TRONSFORMATION – Sustainability through hacking. There, he lead conversations about our relationship with consumer electronics, and connected participants to collectively build and exhibit their own TRONS.

LIVING CHILI ARCHIVES
News • 04.08.2022

During their stay in Germany, artist Vincent Rumahloine and community leader Mang Dian took over a square in Pforzheim with artistic interventions while exchanging agricultural knowledge at the Biochili farm in Lampertheim.

Save the Date! Driving the Human: Seven Prototypes for Eco-social Renewal
News • 11.07.2022

From November 25-27, 2022, Driving the Human hosts a three-day festival in Berlin marking the culmination of three years of collaboration, research and experimentation connecting disciplines between sciences and the arts. 

SCIENCE-BASED FICTIONS
7 Prototypes • 28.06.2022

At Temporary Gallery in Cologne, Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk showed their sci-fi movie The Backpack of Wings and hosted a workshop format narrating the migration route of a white stork, aiming to create relations with non-human agents.

Looking back at the mentorship event
News • 17.05.2022

From April 29 to May 1, 2022, the Driving the Human mentorship event in Munich brought together project authors, artists, scientists, and various experts for three days of exchange and a public discussion.

PLANTS AS LANGUAGE, HUMANS AS SEEDS
7 Prototypes • 28.04.2022

Initiated by Vincent Rumahloine and Mang Dian in Bandung, Western Indonesia, “Sedekah Benih” is a platform for knowledge exchange, focussing on bridging scientific and community knowledge by using seeds as vessels of ecological intelligence.

ON PROTOTYPING AN AMBIENT LIVING INTELLIGENCE
7 Prototypes • 22.04.2022

“ALI” is an Ambient Living Intelligence, a sensor prototype currently developed by Anne-Sofie Belling, Bea Delgado Corrales, Romy Kaiser, and Paula Nerlich, who imagine the future of human bacteria communication as integrated within our homes.

SENSORY BIRD ROUTES
7 Prototypes • 14.04.2022

Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk speculate on the possible implications of bird tracking technologies, from examining the data of migratory routes through an apocalyptic sci-fi lens, towards an allegorical mapping of the bird worlds they follow.

Public discussion in Munich
News • 12.04.2022

In our first 2022 event, we’ll bring together scientists and creatives for a public discussion entitled Towards Eco-social Renewal: blueprints for collaboration between science and the arts, hosted by acatech at Amerikahaus, Munich.

 

ELECTRONIC GIZMOS THROUGH NETWORKS OF DESIRE, MINING AND WASTE
7 Prototypes • 05.04.2022

In conversation with Akwasi Bediako Afrane, we discussed the circulation of electronic devices, their environmental impact and how he is tracing relationships between humans and machines through his TRONS.

Forests of Indigenous life cycles and histories of displacement
7 Prototypes • 29.03.2022

Eliana Otta contextualises her project Virtual Sanctuary for Fertilizing Mourning, a virtual space collaboratively built with the Peruvian communities Nuevo Amanecer Hawai, Unipacuyacu, Puerto Nuevo and Sinchi Roca, to learn about  their assassinated  leaders, and their threatened territories.

Ecosystems of Algorithmic Fictions
7 Prototypes • 22.03.2022

In a conversation with artist Iris Qu曲晓宇 we speak about futuristic fictions through the lens of AI agents and the physical locations of algorithms.

Grasping landscape through relationships, sensory bodies and movement
7 Prototypes • 16.03.2022

Following the presentation of Monsters and Ghosts of the Far North last October in Berlin, Andra Pop-Jurj and Lena Geerts Danau discuss how their project allows for a different connection to the messy, disorienting present we’re entangled in, alongside many nonhuman actors.

Announcing our seven chosen projects!
News • 10.11.2021

Following our Berlin festival presenting 21 visions for eco-social renewal, the Driving the Human jury had the difficult task to select seven projects to be developed as prototypes throughout 2022.

Revisiting the Festival: Day 3
News • 08.11.2021

The third day of the Driving the Human Festival took us from Bacteria to Ecosystems, and focused on Planetary Movements. Revisit the broadcast of the last day of the festival in our journal and on our Vimeo channel. 

Revisiting the Festival: Day 2
News • 07.11.2021

The second day of our festival explored new approaches to AI and computation. Additionally, new ways of thinking about value and economy took over the stage. The broadcast of day 2 can be revisited here and on our Vimeo channel. 

Revisiting the Festival: Day 1
News • 06.11.2021

The three days of exchange and connection in Berlin could be followed along an accompanying livestream. The broadcast of day 1 is now available to be revisited here and on our Vimeo channel. 

Thank you for joining us!
News • 28.10.2021

From October 15–17, 2021, Driving the Human: 21 Visions for Eco-social Renewal brought together innovative proposals under one roof, for three days of exchange and connection. 

“This ALI prototype will introduce challenging new approaches to designing living intelligence through biodesign”
Interview • 12.10.2021

Developed by Anne-Sofie Belling, Bea Delgado Corrales, Romy Kaiser and Paula Nerlich, Human-Bacteria Interfaces introduces the novel concept of human-bacteria interfaces within the context of the built environment. 

“These notions of cohabitation could make us change the way we live, becoming more collaborative and less competitive”
Interview • 11.10.2021

Clara Acioli gives us an overview of RUM_A: Multispecies Urban Refuge in Cluster, a project about the importance of consciously and dialogically coexisting with other living beings as a strategy for survival and reversal of the anthropocene. 

“Perhaps this project is about stopping for a moment and taking a look at the narratives we live under”
Interview • 11.10.2021

Planetary Personhood is an interplanetary campaign pursuing radical space decolonization. Project initiators Nonhuman Nonsense—Leo Fidjeland and Linnea Våglund—talk with us about the project’s development.

“A critical lens through family is fundamental to collectively shape future imaginaries of cohabitation and interdependency”
Interview • 08.10.2021

Jingru (Cyan) Cheng & Chen Zhan share an overview of the process of Ripple, Ripple, Rippling, a project about the situated knowledge in the survival tactics of marginalized groups rooted in precarity; that is, how to settle in liminality, inhabit thresholds, and enact interdependency. 

“Everything is entangled, there is no ontological difference between the world of the human and the non-human”
Interview • 08.10.2021

Habitat Theatre is the epicentre for Anthropos Ex — a long-term project in search for a theatre of the anthropocene. We spoke with Initiative for Applied Melancholy about the expectations and goals of the project. 

“Many of the verticalities rooted in our modern binary understandings are still embedded in our dominant systems and everyday life”
Interview • 06.10.2021

Juan Pablo García Sossa expands on The Tropical Turn—Maneuvers for a Planetary Embodiment, a thought experiment and research project that explores other modes of coexistence between all forms of life on the planet from a Tropikós perspective.

“Seismic disaster myths reflect our past thoughts about the power of nature and non-human agencies”
Interview • 06.10.2021

We talk to Hyeseon Jeong, who with The Backpack of Wings: Modern Mythology project explores speculative future scenarios of collisions and integrations between a bio-geo tracking technology for wild animals in scientific fields, and an animism in seismic disaster myth in East Asia. 

“We want to build a system that puts care-based labor at the core of an entangled more-than-human biosphere”
Interview • 05.10.2021

How can we leverage the power of science, technology and the arts in a transdisciplinary and collaborative approach to help give coastal wetlands and their microbial worlds a warming, collective voice? We talk to Sonia Mehra Chawla and Miriam Walsh for more insights on The Rooted Sea: Halophytic Futures.

“The knowledge of Amazonian people offers alternatives to the civilizational crisis we live in”
Interview • 05.10.2021

Eliana Otta offers more details about her concept Virtual Sanctuary for Fertilizing Mourning, a virtual space to commemorate the deaths of Indigenous leaders assassinated in Peru.

“We hope to imagine collective futures in the dynamic landscapes of the Arctic”
Interview • 01.10.2021

Andra Pop-Jurj and Lena Geerts Danau share more details about their project, Monsters and Ghosts of the Far North, which departs from the spatial manifestations of the social, economic, and geopolitical conflicts in the Arctic region caused by environmental degradation.

“The maturity of my projects has depended on how I incorporate or merge with other disciplines”
Interview • 29.09.2021

Akwasi Bediako Afrane discusses TRONS ‘R’ US, a project that investigates the relationship between humans, technology and our environment.

“This could be a model of conservation for different parts of the world”
Interview • 28.09.2021

Eylül Şenses gives us a closer look into the research project Indigenous Language of Taşlica: A Case of Interspecies Communication.

“By sharing traditional ecological knowledge using different media, many people can learn”
Interview • 27.09.2021

Taking a deeper look at Sedekah Benih, a collaborative project between artist Vincent Rumahloine and environmental activist Mang Dian.

“What if artificial intelligence becomes autonomous beings?”
Interview • 24.09.2021

Computer programmer, technologist, and artist Iris Qu 曲晓宇 discusses her project Do AIs Dream of Climate Chaos.

“We have the option to promote alternatives, if not solutions”
Interview • 23.09.2021

An interview with Chris Salter, Erik Adigard and Alexandre Quessy, who tell us about their project Dissuasion Engine.

“The Down Syndrome community mirrors our society’s hopes and failings”
Interview • 22.09.2021

Leading up to the presentation in Berlin, Vienne Chan and Katja Meier tell us about their project, Down to the Economy.

“Knowing the story behind the objects we use encourages more sustainable development”
Interview • 21.09.2021

An interview with designer Andrea de Chirico about his project Superlocal — 0 Miles Production.

“Suppose we understand nature as our kin”
Interview • 17.09.2021

An interview with Linda Schilling Cuellar and Claudio Astudillo Barra of AHORA, about their project Toxicity Distributed — Post-extractivism Economies.

SAVE THE DATE: 21 Visions for Eco-social Renewal
News • 01.08.2021

From October 15 – 17, 2021, Driving the Human presents 21 concepts proposing new visions for sustainable cohabitation on our planet.

Announcing our 21 Selected Concepts
News • 17.06.2021

We are thrilled to announce the 21 concepts chosen as a result of a successful Open Call. 

Open Call Impact
News • 19.04.2021

Our Open Call resonated with multidisciplinary participants all around the world. The significant response shows how the themes of the project echo with contemporary concerns.

Ideas and concepts for shaping the future
Interview • 30.03.2021

Discussing the connections between science and the arts with acatech’s Martina Schraudner and Forecast’s Freo Majer.

Who has access to knowledge and participation?
News, Opening Festival • 25.03.2021

The last section of the Driving the Human Opening Festival, titled “Access”, investigated new models of participation, and engaged with digital and analogue tools to challenge structural inequalities.

Who produces knowledge? And for whom?
News, Opening Festival • 17.03.2021

The fifth section of the Driving the Human Opening Festival critically engaged with the production and distribution of knowledge.

Can AI help to build a more sustainable and collective future?
News, Opening Festival • 10.03.2021

The fourth section of our Opening Festival looks at Technology, exploring critical engagements with AI and probing boundaries and alternative uses, ethical limits and strategies for activism.

What is progress? How do we produce and exchange value?
News, Opening Festival • 02.03.2021

The theme of Economy shaped the third section of the Driving the Human Opening Festival.

Where do we live? Where can we land?
News, Opening Festival • 23.02.2021

The second part of our Opening Festival explored the complex and fragile layers of life on the planet.

The Driving the Human Opening Festival graphics, by Studio Yukiko
What is Human? Have we ever been human?
News, Opening Festival • 10.02.2021

Taking a closer look at the first section of our Opening Festival.

Looking back at the Opening Festival
News • 15.01.2021

In November 220, the Opening Festival offered visions for shaping sustainable and collective futures.

“At the core of our work lies a strategy-driven approach”
Interview • 01.12.2020

With their signature striking approach, Berlin-based Studio Yukiko have developed the visual identity of Driving the Human. We spoke to the team about how their work and professional approach intersects with the larger amibitions of Driving the Human. 

Jenna Sutela_nimiia cétiï 2018_video still
From Human to Habitat: The Opening Festival
News • 13.11.2020

Over the course of three days, the festival combines different formats, interweaving live programming with pre-recorded segments, including panel discussions, film screenings, lectures, performances, talks, workshops and an activation program. 

“We need to generate alterna­tives to our current moment of transition”
Interview • 29.10.2020

One of the partner institutions of Driving the Human, the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design is spearheaded by rector Jan Boelen, who talked to us about how the University is changing and how its vision aligns with Driving the Human. 

Scholars, artists, designers, and other multidisciplinary participants

News • 28.10.2020

The first participants of the Driving the Human Opening festival have been announced. Involving scholars, artists, designers, and other multidisciplinary participants, the event will propose a variety of formats in a specially designed digital broadcast taking place over the course of three days. 

“Arts and tech­no­logy both shape the future of society”
Interview • 27.10.2020

One of the partners of Driving the Human, acatech, the National Academy of Science and Engineering, is the voice of the technological sciences in Germany and abroad. Its board member, Prof. Dr. Martina Schraudner, discusses how Driving the Human overlaps with the institutions’ interests and activities.

“Every idea will be publicly performed”
Interview • 25.10.2020

The Berlin-based mentoring program Forecast is the initiator of Driving the Human. Forecasts’ artistic director, Freo Majer, expands on some of the program’s ambitions and how they informed the origin of Driving the Human.

“Human Beings are an Unfinished Project”
Interview • 24.10.2020

The ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe is one of the four partner institutions that initiated and coordinate the project Driving the Human. Its director, Prof. Dr. Peter Weibel, speaks about the connections between DtH and the institution he leads. 

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