On Wednesday the 23th of May Berlin based artist and writer Beny Wagner gives a lecture on his recent research. His works Eye Farm (2016) and Outside (2017) are currently on view at the Kunstfort

Beny Wagner’s lecture brings together several lines of his recent research on filmmaking in relation to ecology and metabolism. Researchers studying the human microbiome have proposed a rethinking of the human digestive apparatus as the body’s sixth sense, due to increased understanding of its role in absorbing external stimuli. How might we understand human metabolism in relation to sight, taste, smell, sound, and touch? Could one conceive of a media deliberately designed to generate stimuli for the gut? How would such a thing be defined?

Linking developments in biology and physiology in the 19th century to the beginnings of moving image, the lecture will propose an understanding of moving image as a process that is inherently ecological and metabolic. While metabolism is the fundamental condition for life, it evades precise description and quantification. It is the condition for perception but cannot be perceived directly. It is at once material and metaphor. In an a attempt to map the ways in which metabolism has been applied in biology, sociology and political economy, the lecture will propose a set of relations through which to approach moving image as metabolic.

The program starts at 7:30 pm (doors open at 7 pm), followed by drinks until about 9.30 pm. Free entrance, sign up by sending an email to: info@kunstfort.nl.

Please note: the evening is in English.