With the largest eyes and darkest soul of the animal kingdom, Vampyroteuthis Infernalis floats deep in the mesopelagic zone, within pressure so immense our bodies would crumble. The Vampire Squid From Hell (a direct translation of its Latin name) is neither a vampire, a squid nor an octopus, but rather a phylogenetic relict, the last surviving member of its order. Surely, it’s exceptionally nonhuman, a point that Vilém Flusser makes and that we depart from as we consider what it means to hold a human identity that's constructed in opposition to things we view as different. A terrible amount of vile political work can be done by dehumanizing people, to reduce people to animals, to monsters, to subhuman status. And a great deal of environmental activism is being done today by extending human rights to nonhuman entities, from Great Apes to Rivers. We look towards nonhumans as we interrogate the feeble categories of “human” and “nature” in the hopes of bringing forth a post-human, post-nature future.
(25:20) Fsision - Felipe Meres
(07:23) Demikhov Dog - Anastasia Sosunova
(04:14) No more Yuman Man for You Man, (drivers side window cam), Desert Driving, near Quartzite, AZ - Maya Bjornson
(02:17) Bunny - Jesse Kanda
(01:31) Spring Discovery - Bryce Donner
(01:48) Flying Fish - Ana Matheus Abbade
(04:06) Long Meg and Her Daughters, Margaret Barry
(03:24) Classicä - Emma Pryde
(01:21) Um Dia Frio (A Cold Day) - Janaina Wagner
(02:37) Untitled (Formation) - Nona Inescu
(18:56) Ex Nilalang (Balud, Dyesebel, Lolo ex Machina) - Club Ate (Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra)
The Institute of Queer Ecology (IQECO), is a collaborative, decentralized organism that works to imagine and realize an equitable multispecies future. With programming that ranges from exhibitions, artwork, and publications to direct community actions, IQECO lays the groundwork for a (bio)diverse utopia.
This event is made possible by a Knight Arts Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and with support from Waterproof, a collaborative endeavor between BFI (Bas Fisher Invitational), and Bridge Initiative that supports site-specific artists’ projects that encourage environmental advocacy.
