May I introduce : Alien!
Exhibition Details:
Whether Bacteria, plants, humans or other animals - aliens welcome! Open to all species.
Our interactive exhibition invites you to explore our ALIEN universe! Take a look at the projects of contributing artists Solmaz Farhang, Alexandra Fruhstorfer, Ege Kökel, Lena Violetta Leitner and Andrea Palašti through different lenses of observation.
In THE OPINION scientists from different fields will interpret the artworks through their viewpoints.
THE HISTORY will give you a taste of the historic contexts behind the projects.
Visit ALIENEXPRESS and check out the latest bargains in our shop!
THE WRITER gives glimpses into the rather text based inspirations and interpretations of the artworks while ANOTHER ANIMAL invites you into a playful jungle of fun and side facts.
Visit THE VISITOR - an interactive space to have no chat with Emil, share your multispecies moment or vote on the deportation of migrated plants!
May I introduce: Alien! Whether Bacteria, plants, humans or other animals - all aliens welcome!
Themes:
Featuring:
Alexandra Fruhstorfer is a transdisciplinary designer and artistic researcher based in Vienna. In her work she questions prevalent political and cultural paradigms in the context of accelerated technological and ecological change.
Blending design research with speculative approaches, co-creative formats and performative practices Alexandra creates artefacts and experiences to open space for critical reflection and collaborative action. Using design as a strategic, yet playful tool she aims to enable more equitable imaginaries for our material culture in times of planetary crisis.
Alexandra graduated in Industrial Design from the University of Applied Arts Vienna in 2017. In 2019 her project Transitory Yarn was included in the MAK Design Lab at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. She was awarded the MehrWert Design Prize in 2018 and 2022. In 2021 she was nominated for the Ralph Saltzman Prize at the Design Museum in London.
Over the last years Alexandra has spoken in different international conferences, conceived workshops and participated in exhibitions in venues like the Triennale di Milano, the Museum of Applied Arts Vienna, at MOMA Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Jerusalem Design Week.
Next to her independent practice she is a founding member of the art and design collective DTAFA.
ANDREA PALÁŠTI [b. 1984] is an artist, learner and researcher, specialised in the art of explaining things—sometimes in more detail than strictly necessary. Working across artistic, curatorial and pedagogical boundaries, she is testing different positions to create spaces of learning through photo-exhibitions, historical research, illustrated lectures and participatory workshops. She works collaboratively and interdependently with her partner Daniel Popovic, her parents Marta and Ivica, her students and fellow artists.
Working with different communities in diverse informal group actions, she is experimenting with cross-discipline presentations, acting as: a misleading tourist guide, a more-than-human fitness trainer, a dilettante freshwater ecologist, an ignorant art[ist] teacher, an unlicensed press photographer, a quasi primatologist, a noted expert on Dalmatian pyrethrum, an accidental historian, a passionate archive researcher or a perfect dinner-party hostess. These practices are based on concrete case studies and are research-driven, investigating within institutions such as the RIBA and ZSL in London; Bundesarchiv in Berlin and Koblenz; The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC; The Wiener Library in London; The Natural History Museum in Vienna; the Zoological Collection of the University of Vienna; the Schönbrunn Zoo; Kincho Research and Development Laboratory in Osaka; Kyoto University Museum's Herbarium; National Museum of Nature and Science, Department of Botany in Tsukuba; Public Utility Company "Water and Sewerage" in Novi Sad; etc.
Ege Kökel is a designer and researcher with an interest in more-than-human perspectives. Currently, she is doing a PhD at the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology. She is also the co-founder of the art and design collective Danube Transformation Agency for Agency (DTAFA), which provides services and mediations between Danubian species.
Before starting her PhD, she was working on various projects as an independent designer and as part of a science communication company specialised in synthetic biology projects funded by the EU – Horizon 2020. In 2019 she received her master’s degree in Industrial Design/Design Investigations from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
She was awarded the kültüř gemma! Fellowship and exhibited her work internationally, including at the Center for Book Arts in New York (USA), Zone2Source in Amsterdam (NL), Global Grad Show in Dubai (UAE) and the Museum of Applied Arts Vienna (AT). Her work has been featured in various media platforms such as dezeen, the Brooklyn Rail, DAZED, die Presse and ö1.
Solmaz Farhang is an Iranian interdisciplinary artist based in London. She is a graduate of MA Art and Science from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, cofounder of the art and design collective Transformation Agency for Agency (DTAFA) and an Associate Lecturer at the University of the Arts London.
Solmaz’s work spans and expands upon different disciplines including photography, video art, assemblage, drawing and multimedia installations. Central to Solmaz artistic practice is an exploration of storytelling and speculative thinking, through which she engages with themes of identity, ecology and the relationship between human and nature.
Solmaz’s innovative approach leads her into unfamiliar environments, such as ecology and research labs, where she employs unconventional tools and materials along with found objects to create fresh, insightful perspectives. Through this lens, she leverages the concept of unknowing as an empowering force, transforming the absence of specific expertise into an opportunity for creative explorations and creation of new forms of knowledge.
Solmaz Farhang has exhibited her work in venues such as Humber Street Galery (UK), Forum Stadtpark Graz (AT), Natural History Museum of Vienna (AT), National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BA), Ars Electronica, Linz (AT), Museum Quartier Vienna (AT), Kunsthalle Exnergasse (AT), Angewandte Interdiciplinary Lab (AT), Etiuda & Anima Festival (PL) and European Capital of Culture in Novi Sad Serbia (RS).