Beyond Human Perception brings human and plant responses into dialogue, questioning the boundaries of perception in Earthbound – In Dialogue with Nature
Group exhibition
September 3 – November 13, 2022
Beyond Human Perception
HEK – House of Electronic Arts. Basel, Switzerland.
Sabine Himmelsbach and Boris Magrini
In 2022, María Castellanos and Alberto Valverde participated with Beyond Human Perception in Earthbound – In Dialogue with Nature, a group exhibition presented at HEK – House of Electronic Arts in Basel and curated by Sabine Himmelsbach and Boris Magrini. The exhibition addressed urgent environmental issues through contemporary artistic practices, focusing on the complex relationships between human activity, technological systems and ecosystems.
Castellanos and Valverde presented Beyond Human Perception, an installation investigating the physiological responses of plants and humans to the same stimulus: live music. Human brain activity, recorded through EEG, and the electrical oscillations of plants, captured using sensors developed by the artists, are analysed and visualised synchronously. The work makes it possible to compare the responses of both organisms and explore alternative approaches to plant perception and sensitivity.
The exhibition brought together works by artists including Tega Brain, James Bridle, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Gilberto Esparza, Marcus Maeder, Sabrina Ratté, Robertina Šebjanič, Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits, and Scenocosme, among others. Through interactive installations, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, data visualisation and other technologies, Earthbound challenged anthropocentric perspectives and explored alternative forms of relationship and coexistence with the environment.