EXPERIMENTA LIFE FORMS
10 JULY – 12 SEPTEMBER 2021
[exhibition dates extended]

Philosophers have wrestled with defining life for thousands of years. EXPERIMENTA LIFE FORMS reveals how contemporary artists are approaching this perennial question, at a time when technological change and new research findings are making definitions of ‘life’ increasingly difficult to pin down. What new life forms are emerging through technological and biological adaptation and invention? Are our definitions of life shifting because of new scientific discoveries? How do First Nation’s epistemologies influence our ways of thinking and understanding life? How are notions of our place in the web of life changing now that research is identifying sentience in animals, plant-life, and maybe soon to be found in our machines?

EXPERIMENTA LIFE FORMS is a timely exhibition featuring a diversity of artforms including robotics, bio-art, screen-based works, installations, participatory and generative art. The exhibition showcases 26 leading Australian and international artists whose work makes significant contribution to current dialogues about the changing landscape of life as we know it.

Curators: Jonathan Parsons and Lubi Thomas Associate Curator: Jessica Clark

Stuck at home? Download this home activity created by artists Uyen Nguyen, Max Piantoni and Matthew Riley from You, Me, Things to design you own new life forms inspired by your local environment!

ABOUT EXPERIMENTA

Experimenta is the future of art, presenting work that is poised on the intersect between art, science and technology.

Since its inception in 1986, Experimenta has developed a worldwide reputation for fostering creativity that extends the aesthetic, conceptual and experiential potential ofart forms. The organisation’s programs are quite unlike anything else and redefine what art can be, embracing the practices of bio art, creative coding, robotics, data driven works, virtual and augmented reality.

Experimenta commissions some of the world’s most adventurous contemporary artists working on the periphery of convention, working with technology in unexpected and original ways. It presents major touring exhibitions, partnerships with like-minded provocateurs, holds talks and symposiums, develops public programs and advocates on behalf of the sector.

Working with established and emerging artists, Experimenta provides a vital platform for unique and curious collaborations with experts in other fields (scientists, researchers, engineers, architects and technologists) realising ambitious, daring and complex projects.

Experimenta is not bound by traditional artforms and brings very different people into arts practice, championing new ideas about technology, exploring the creative possibilities and unearthing emerging artforms.

Experimenta presents art that cannot be experienced elsewhere, imagining the future of art and exploring unchartered pathways towards it.

IMAGE: Justine Emard Soul Shift 2018, video still. Image courtesy of the artist. 

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