Driving the Human – Seven Prototypes for Eco-Social Renewal
A room is shown in which a screen stands in the middle, surrounded by scaffolding on which there are luminous elements. The whole picture has a pink colour.
Hosted by ZKM in three parts
Sat, June 17, 2023 – Sun, November 26, 2023
Atrium 1+2, Ground Floor

As a catalyst for innovation, the collaborative and international project »Driving the Human« meets the challenges of our time. In three parts, the exhibition presents seven prototypes for sustainable coexistence that were developed within this framework.

Over a process of three years of collaboration, research and experimentation, seven prototypes for ecosocial renewal have emerged in an exchange between artists and scientists, which can now be presented for discussion in different contexts. 

Addressing the symbiosis of human and more-than-human beings in the 21st century changes our conception of what life means. In dealing with global warming, energy cycles and technological upheaval, as well as collective decision-making and novel processes of value and commodity exchange, interdisciplinary collaboration between art, science and technology is increasingly important. »Driving the Human« explores the interrelationships between humans, more-than-human beings, and the environment in terms of how all living things can survive through collaboration. 

The seven prototypes showcase viable concepts for the future that can be used to enable new ways of imagining life in the world. They suggest new ways we can interact with each other and what surrounds us, exploring how AI might mitigate rather than accelerate climate change; immerse us in new forms of community building through ancestral agricultural knowledge; use fiction as an imaginative tool for new forms of cross-species community; or create embodied connections as a means of understanding and transforming human impacts in vulnerable areas. Together, the prototypes reinforce perspectives in which collaboration and interdependence become essential, critical factors for life and survival on our planet.

Together with a comprehensive accompanying program, the prototypes invite people to explore together, to engage, and to find new ways of perceiving and accessing the world.

The exhibition will be on view in three parts:

17 June to 30 July
Non-Human Perspectives: Sharing, Shaping, Sensing Habitats

12 August to 24 September
Sharing Knowledge on Common Ground

7 October to 26 November
Speculative Ecosystems and Interspecies Collaborations

Artists Featured in the Exhibition

Anne-Sofie Belling, Bea Delgado Corrales, Romy Kaiser & Paula Nerlich | alternaa (Andra Pop-Jurj & Lena Geerts Danau) | Vincent Rumahloine & Mang Dian | Akwasi Bediako Afrane | Eliana Otta | Xiaoyu Iris Qu (曲晓宇) | Hyeseon Jeong & Seongmin Yuk

Open Gallery
  • The picture shows a dark room with three large screens in the middle. The screens show a Ki-generated beautiful landscape with lots of green and a butterfly.
    Do AIs Dream of Climate Chaos: Symbiotic AI Xiaoyu Iris Qu
  • The picture shows a dark room with two screens in the middle surrounded by luminous cables on a scaffolding.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • The picture shows a dark room with a green illuminated area in the middle. In this area there is a computer in front of which a young woman is sitting in a beanbag and looking at the computer screen.
  • The picture shows a dark room with two works of art in the middle. On the left is a green-lit space with a computer and two beanbags and on the right is an installation with two screens surrounded by light elements.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • The picture shows a dark room. To the right of the picture is a work of art/installation consisting of two screens surrounded by light elements.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • You can see a dark room with a luminous frame in the background, in the centre of the picture is a large screen with a picture of two AI-generated deaf people, and on the wall to the right are two large text panels.
    The Backpack of Wings Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • In a close-up, a kind of cylinder can be seen, illuminated by strands of pink-pink. In the background, the rest of the artwork is blurred, the focus is on the glass cylinder to which a small screen is attached on which a man seems to be speaking.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk

Overview
  • The picture shows a dark room with three large screens in the middle. The screens show a Ki-generated beautiful landscape with lots of green and a butterfly.
    Do AIs Dream of Climate Chaos: Symbiotic AI Xiaoyu Iris Qu
  • The picture shows a dark room with two screens in the middle surrounded by luminous cables on a scaffolding.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • The picture shows a dark room with a green illuminated area in the middle. In this area there is a computer in front of which a young woman is sitting in a beanbag and looking at the computer screen.
  • The picture shows a dark room with two works of art in the middle. On the left is a green-lit space with a computer and two beanbags and on the right is an installation with two screens surrounded by light elements.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • The picture shows a dark room. To the right of the picture is a work of art/installation consisting of two screens surrounded by light elements.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • You can see a dark room with a luminous frame in the background, in the centre of the picture is a large screen with a picture of two AI-generated deaf people, and on the wall to the right are two large text panels.
    The Backpack of Wings Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk
  • In a close-up, a kind of cylinder can be seen, illuminated by strands of pink-pink. In the background, the rest of the artwork is blurred, the focus is on the glass cylinder to which a small screen is attached on which a man seems to be speaking.
    The Backpack of Wings Pîlacommúnîtas Hyeseon Jeong and Seongmin Yuk

Cooperation partners are the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), Forecast Berlin, and the Karlsruhe State Academy of Design (HfG). The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection.

Imprint
Curatorial Assistant

Nina Liechti
Museum Communication
Janine Burger, Alexandra Hermann
Technical Project Management
Felix Pausch
Conservation
Leonie Roeck
Registrar
Regina Linder
Graphic design
Studio Yukiko

Organization / Institution
ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Cooperation

»Driving the Human« has been initiated by Forecast, and further developed in continuous conversations between Freo Majer with Jan Boelen (Atelier LUMA), Martina Schraudner (Fraunhofer Center for Responsible Research and Innovation (CeRRI)), and the curatorial team of ZKM | Karlsruhe.

acatech: Sandra Fendl, Doerthe Winter-Berke, Hannah Lecheler
Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe/BioDesign Lab: Julia Ihls, Anthea Oestreicher, Hajo Eickbusch, Jehad Othman
ZKM: Peter Weibel (1944-2023), Sarah Donderer, Philipp Ziegler

Project Coordinator: Nikola Joetze
Program Coordinator: Vera Sacchetti
Production Assistant: Sarah Lipszyc
Project Assistant: Rabea Kaczor

Accompanying program

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