Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #19: „Symbiotic Planet“

“As a species, we still fear the eccentric in our views of ourselves. Despite or perhaps because of Darwin, as a culture we still don’t really understand the science of evolution. When science and culture conflict, culture always wins. Evolutionary science deserves to be much better understood. Yes, humans have indeed evolved, but not just […]

13 Februar, 2019 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #18: „Genomic Revolution – Is there a Tree of Life?“

In the era of “the postmodern synthesis, organisms are not individuals and Mendelian modes of evolution are moved to the margins” 1. We read about the age of bacteria, horizontal gene exchange, complex webs of lives. “When we realize that plants and animals are deeply embedded in the microbial world, it changes all aspects of […]

17 Januar, 2019 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #17: „Holobiont by Birth“

“Living on a damaged planet challenges who we are and where we live. This timely anthology puts forward a bold proposal: entangled histories, situated narratives, and thick descriptions offer urgent ‘arts of living’. These essays posit critical and creative tools for survival in a more-than-human Anthropocene.”[1] To start with ‘Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet – Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene’ cited above, we picked essays from the “Monsters” theme.

05 Dezember, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #16: „Crystal Forests“

Crystal Forests – Multinaturalist Continuities  – The forest as a prism ‘The Crystal Forest’ quotes have come up various times in the Reading Club – the last time in our ‘Multinaturalism Narratives’ session. Now, also in the light of current political events in Brasil, we want to take the time reading together the full text […]

07 November, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #15: „Multinaturalist Narratives“

Within the special ‘Nature Writing’ program of the 18. international literature festival berlin (ilb), in session #15 of our ‘Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club’ we will explore multinaturalist narratives from alternate cosmovisions. “[Amazonian] multinaturalism affirms not so much a variety of natures as the naturalness of variation – variation as nature[1].” In […]

22 August, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #14: „Soil Has a Memory“

The second of two session we dedicate to ‘Soil’ with a selection of texts recommended by Alex Toland, who wrote her PhD on the role of art in the communication and cultural implications of soil conservation issues. In session #14 we will read more poems, papers and delve into the soil. Technological impact on the […]

02 August, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #13: „Making Time for Soil“

We will dedicate the coming two sessions to ‘Soil’ with a selection of texts recommended by Alex Toland, who wrote her PhD on the role of art in the communication and cultural implications of soil conservation issues. In session #13 we will read poems, papers and delve into the soil.

28 Juni, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #12: „The Soul of an Octopus : A Playful Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness“ by Sy Montgomery

‘The Soul of an Octopus : A Playful Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness’ by Sy Montgomery “Sy Montgomery is practicing immersion journalism, from New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, pursuing octopus – those wild, solitary shape-shifters. The intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees was only […]

12 Juni, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #9: Ground Work – Writings on People and Places by Tim Dee

„Ground Work – Writings on People and Places“ is curated by Tim Dee “with an understanding that people and place are entangled at all levels”. 31 authors writing about the natural world today, such as Julia Blackburn or Helen MacDonald, explore “new and enduring cultural landscapes, in a celebration of local distinctiveness”. We are happy […]

11 April, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #8: Ground Work – Writings on People and Places by Tim Dee

The Book is curated by Tim Dee “with an understanding that people and place are entangled at all levels”. 31 authors writing about the natural world today, such as Julia Blackburn or Helen MacDonald, explore “new and enduring cultural landscapes, in a celebration of local distinctiveness”.

03 März, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #7: Decolonizing Nature by T.J. Demos

At this ‚reading-together’ session, we will spend time with an analytical text by T.J. Demos: ‚Decolonizing Nature – Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology’ Chapter 6 ‘Decolonizing Nature’. Images: Paulo Tavares, still from Non-Human Rights, 2012: evidence of spilled Texaco oil in the Ecuadorian Amazon   “Decolonizing Nature presents a timely critical analysis of […]

02 Februar, 2018 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #6: Decolonizing Nature by T.J. Demos

At this ‚reading-together’ session, we will spend time with an analytical text by T.J. Demos: ‚Decolonizing Nature – Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology’ Emily Eliza Scott (coeditor of Critical Landscapes: Art, Space, Politics) says about the book: „T.J. Demos’s ability to distill and interrelate heterogenous discourses and ecopolitical contexts, without flattening them in […]

15 Dezember, 2017 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #5: Decolonizing Nature by T.J. Demos

At this ‚READING-TOGETHER’ session, we will spend time with an analytical text by T.J. Demos: ‚Decolonizing Nature – Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology’. In Chapter 1 ‘The Art and Politics of Sustainability’ he writes: ‘When considering the historical formation of environmental art, it is necessary to scrutinize „sustainability“ – its diverse meanings and […]

13 November, 2017 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #4: „Plants and empire : colonial bioprospecting in the Atlantic World“ by Londa Schiebinger

In 2004 Londa Schiebinger published ‚Plants and empire : colonial bioprospecting in the Atlantic World’. This year, on the 12th of October, the 525th anniversary of the „Discovery of America“ by Christopher Columbus is still commerated by countries such as the US, Colombia, Spain and Italy. Reading together ‚Plants and empire’ we want to question […]

17 Oktober, 2017 — Events

Between Us and Nature – A Reading Club #2: The Mushroom at the End of the World – On Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins

We invite you for a small and informal reading between man and nature at Zabriskie bookstore to meet, connect and discuss parts of “The Mushroom at the End of the World – On Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins” written by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. The author says about her work: “This book takes up the […]

20 Juli, 2017 — Events

Between Man and Nature – A Reading Club#1: The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson

We would like to invite you for a small and informal gathering.  The aim is to meet, connect and discuss a specially selected text that brings together culture and nature. We are happy that the next reading of this sprouting initiative will be held at Zabriskie. The text is selected by artist Eva-Fiore Kovacovsky and […]

25 Mai, 2017 — Events