On Vilém Flusser’s 103rd birthday we would like to discover how inspiring his though can be for artists of the 21st century. Which angles of Flusser’s work are still interesting for them?

Flusser closely worked with multiple artists, such as the biologist and zoosystematician Louis Bec, the media artist Fred Forest and the visual artist Mira Schendel, whose work highly influenced his oeuvre. Their dialogues were fruitful for artistic and intellectual production alike. But how do artists turn to his philosophy for inspiration now? Does his apparatus critique still resonate with media artists? How do they interpret Flusser’s thoughts on technology in the current situation? 
This panel discussion answers these and similar questions by introducing the work of three artists: Alice Bucknell, Victoria Keddie, and Hana Yoo. Also, the scholar Rafael Alonso joins the conversation to give insights about his research on Flusser and the arts. 

Panelists: Rafael Alonso, Alice Bucknell, Victoria Keddie and Hana Yoo
Moderation: Anita Jóri & Zihern Lee

Location: Aula, Room 110, first floor

About the panelists:
Rafael Alonso graduated in Social Communication with a major in Journalism. He holds a Master’s and a PhD in Literature from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), having developed a thesis on the thought of Vilém Flusser. In 2017 he was a visiting researcher (as a Capes PDSE fellow) at the Vilém Flusser Archive at Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). He has a special interest in the epistemological theories that he proposes to reflect on the different ways in which knowledge is produced, what comprises fiction, science, philosophy, image theories and the relationship between literature and the other arts. He was a professor of Cinema, Journalism, Publicity and Propaganda and Graphic Design courses at Unisociesc in Joinville and a substitute professor of Literary Theory in the Portuguese Letters course at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Currently he lives in Berlin and is working on editing his first book on Flusser to be published in the second half of this year.

Alice Bucknell is an artist and writer based in London and Los Angeles. Working primarily through game engines, she explores interconnections of architecture, ecology, magic, and nonhuman and machine intelligence. She is the organizer of New Mystics, a platform exploring magic, mysticism, ritual, and technology. Alice has been selected for the Vilém Flusser Residency Programme for Artistic Research 2023. During her residency, she is developing her project The Alluvials, an open-world video game exploring the politics of drought and water scarcity.
https://alicebucknell.com

Victoria Keddie is a multimedia artist based in New York City. Her practice spans a wide range of mediums including sound, video, performance, and installation, with a particular focus on the intersections of art, technology, and society. Keddie's work often explores themes such as communication, power structures, and the manipulation of information. Victoria is also a curator and educator, having organized exhibitions and events at various institutions including MoMA PS1, The Kitchen, and Pioneer Works.
https://www.victoriakeddie.com

Hana Yoo is interested in investigating the collective anxiety and transcendental experiences, formulated from the natural-artificial process of reversing perspective. Working in film and multimedia installation, she engages with the allegory of nature and technological appropriation in the context of human-environment transformation and reconstructs them through storytelling. Her works have been shown internationally at museums and festivals including the Fotomuseum (Winterthur, CH), European Media Art Festival (EMAF, DE), and Busan International Video Art Festival (Busan, KR) among others. In 2022, she was awarded the Berlin Art Prize.
https://yoohana.net