CW#20 l SEASON 3 l Talking Nature

Theme: Intelligence

29 November 2023, Wednesday | Season 3, Episode 20

Apartment Project and online

Organized by the Apartment Project Berlin and funded by the Berlin Senate Department for

Culture and Europe

Talking Nature

19:30 Door Opens

20:00 Projection of short films, curated by Florian Wüst, followed by a conversation with artist Erik Bünger

«The Invisible World» by Jesse McLean (US, 2012, 20 min)

«Nature See You» by Erik Bünger (Germany, 2020, 19 min)

«VO» by Nicolas Gourault (France, 2020, 17 min)

«Djo» by Laura Henno (France, 2018, 12:30 min)

«Chromatic Wednesdays’» episode «Talking Nature» features four artistic short films that

reflect the shifting notion of intelligence and look closely at the interaction between objects,

machines, animals and humans. Intelligence is commonly understood to be the ability to

acquire and apply knowledge. For centuries, Western humanist thought has propagated the

idea that intelligence is an exclusively human phenomenon and that ‹man› is an autonomous

agent, the measure of all things. Research into plant communication and artificial neural

networks has challenged this certainty, while a new, post-humanist approach has enabled an

understanding that the lives of all beings on earth are interwoven. The films give us the

opportunity to delve into these insights.

Jesse McLean’s «The Invisible World» presents a vast variety of objects that evidence

human productivity: inanimate objects imbued with emotional meaning and possessions

linked to personal identities. Considering the constant growth of virtual experiences in the

digital age, McLean asks how we continue pursuing our materialistic inclinations in a world of

increasing immateriality.

In his video essay «Nature See You», Erik Bünger examines video footage that was

uploaded in November 2015, on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris:

Koko, a gorilla trained in American Sign Language, calls for immediate action to save herself

and her natural habitat. In Bünger’s film, a sign language avatar comments on Koko’s use of

words.

How do self-driving cars revolutionize body memory? Taking both hands off the steering

wheel while driving is still hard to imagine. In «VO», Nicolas Gourault discusses the role of

human workers in the training of driverless cars. Testimonies from drivers take us through a

night shift in which the landscape merges with data from the car’s sensors.

In «Djo», Laura Henno depicts human kinship with non-human animals outside of techno-

scientific environments. Shot at night on the French island of Mayotte off the south-east

coast of Africa, the film focuses on the special relationship between a young man, Smogi,

and his dogs: a story that conveys harmony and reunion with animist forces of nature.

«Chromatic Wednesdays» is a bi-weekly event series bringing together creative thinkers

across diverse backgrounds. As part of this interdisciplinary program, the film screening will

begin at 20.00 (doors open at 19.30) at Apartment Project (Hertzbergstraße 13, 12055

Berlin) and can also be followed online on Youtube (https://youtube.com/live/eHZyq6gqQeU).

The space of the Apartment Project is accessible by wheelchair.