Abstract

Full Paper, Theme Non-human – Post-human Agency  Sub theme Symbiotic Individuations 

As part of an ongoing postdoctoral research on post-human motherhoods in media art, the paper examines selected artistic expressions of mother-offspring bonding and its relationships to different technological cultural basis. The introduction addresses the handling of the concept of mother and its related operations in the research scope. In the sequence, we suggest as standing points for reflection both the material basis of the placenta and the playfulness as elements shaping the mother- offspring bonding. They constitute fundamental aspects triggering affection in the potential symbiotic relationship established in mother-offspring bonding. The discussion is permeated by artworks examples, brought on demand to the text to feed the reflection. The notions of “natureculture” by Donna Haraway and the theoretical framework by Second-order Cybernetics are grounding references. The final considerations point towards the human and post-human aspects of motherhood revealed by the artworks, as well as to the need for concrete actions towards the reduction of the gender-based technological gap in media art, in order to increase the imaginary variability of the field.

• Dr Graziele Lautenschlaeger (Rio Claro/SP, Brazil, 1983) holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, a Master of Science in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of São Paulo and a Bachelor in Media Design, Image and Sound from the Federal University of São Carlos. With a transdisciplinary background and experimenting different media and languages, her artistic and academic production essentially draws on cybernetics, relational aesthetics, media archaeology and new materialism. Among her interests of investigation are: the notion of translation of materialities (transcreation), hybridization between organic and machinic elements, interface and interaction design, as well as relationships between spaces and narratives. Her most relevant publication is the book Sensing and making sense: Photosensitivity and light-to-sound translations in Media Art (2020). She is currently postdoctoral research fellow of the VALIE EXPORT Center,  Kunstuniversität Linz.
  https://archive.transmediale.de/content/baruch-gottlieb