“…from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Charles Darwin

Workshop by Pinar Yoldas (Vilém Flusser Residency Programme for Artistic Research 2013).

If LIFE started NOW, the beginning would not be “so simple” as Darwin suggested . As we have complicated our relationship with life, the boundaries between nature and culture sublimated and we are breathing a gaseous mixture of man-made with natural . Our very human culture overrides nature. our capitalistic biomass manufactures mountains of e-waste, beaches of tar , rivers of zinc, oceans of plastic . We are an army of plastic surgeons giving the planet a new face. A face that opens its eyes to new life forms, new beginnings, new extremities .

What kind of fish will swim in the plastic ocean? Who will be sunbathing on the beaches of tar? What plants will thrive in a forest of concrete and steel? Which insects will lay eggs on the valleys of asphalt? What birds will fly in the hazy mornings of a smog stained sky?

In this workshop we will have a quick overview into biological systems such as the circulatory system, the reproductive system etc. and how these systems (or more specifically organs) might evolve under the influence of global environmental transformations. Somewhere between biomimicry and critical design, the workshop will give you the time and assets to design your own lungs, grow that extra organ you always wished for or think about that ultimate meat supplier with zero methane impact you have been craving for.
The workshop will provide you with the basic information on certain biological systems and anatomical knowledge. The rest is upto your imagination.
All is welcome with an open heart and a critical mind.

The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Entry is free if charge. Please register until Monday, July 1st. Thank you! Please send a registration mail to: rsvp [at] transmediale.de

Pinar Yoldas is a cross-disciplinary artist and researcher. Her work investigates social and cultural systems in regards to biological and ecological systems. Lately she has been designing mutations, tumors and neoplasmic organs to rethink the body and its sexuality transformed by the mostly urban habitats of techno-capitalist consumerism. Pinar received her MFA from University of California Los Angeles. Currently she is pursuing her PhD in the Art, Art History and Visual Studies department at Duke University. Her research interests include bio-art, art-neuroscience interactions and eco-feminism. Prior to her education in the States, she has received a Bachelors of Architecture from Middle East Technical University, a Master of Arts from Istanbul Bilgi University and a Master of Science from Istanbul Technical University. She holds a bronze medal in organic chemistry in national science olympics and had her first solo painting exhibition when she was five.