Mycorrhizal Wealth of Karpaty / SPUN EXPEDITION
Joanna Hoffmann works in the field of multimedia installation, VR, experimental video-animation, interactive projects, and book art. She is also an academic and leader of the Studio for Transdisciplinary Projects & Research at the University of Arts in Poznan (Faculty of Art Education & Curatorial Studies). She co-founded Art & Science Synergy Foundation (ASSF) and Art & Science Node (ASN) in Berlin and takes the directive role of Chair of ASN. Her artistic works have been widely presented in venues such as the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Warsaw; the Science Museum/DANA Centre and MOCA in London; Transmediale Festival and European Patent Office in Berlin; MUSE New York. She was awarded the Artist of Honour of the XII Florence Biennale in 2019 and was awarded the medal Gloria Artis by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Poland in 2020.
RHIZONE: [M-OTHER]
The artistic project is a continuation of the RhiZones series of multimedia XR works, inspired by the symbiotic networks of the rhizosphere. The title RhiZone: [M-other] can be interpreted in many ways: as relations “m(e) – other”, “m(ycorrhiza) – other” or as an integrated and at the same time divisible entity and symbol of the origin and continuity expressed in the notion of “mother”.
The rhizosphere, as a model of a sustainable environment, with an operating system based on the „small worlds network”, not only gives us solutions for our societal problems. It also forces us to alter our cultural paradigms and to redefine basic notions such as an organism, understood no longer as an individual, separated being but as a dynamic network of various relations with diverse organisms and agents belonging to different worlds. We are also such organisms: we live through other lives, just like plants and fungi. We are extensions of one another. And we have to protect these networks for our future.
The mycorrhizal networks of the Bieszczady Mountains, the environmental system that has been evolving for millions of years, feed my imagination. Using new technologies I would like to create a virtual portal that would allow me to look from within, to deepen my understanding, to enhance and to honour our relationship with the Beg Web of Beings.
