Square Sainctelette 20
1000 Brussels
Belgium
With the curatorial and research platform Perhaps, it is high time for a xeno-architecture to match invites philosopher Armen Avanessian and architect Markus Miessen to speculate on the possibilities of “xeno-architecture” and reflect upon how spatial practice, by embracing alienation, may open up a larger space for the (as yet) unknown. By turning away from “what is” towards “what could be,” is it possible to build an architecture (of knowing) that can deal with today’s overwhelming complexity and global unrest?
On April 18 at Kaaitheater, Avanessian and Miessen will initiate a speculative sense event aiming at investigating how space can be understood differently. How does smell influence space? What is its sound? In an experimental attempt to abductively produce something “other,” we witness the development of new knowledge in the making. Embracing a process of poetic encounters, Avanessian and Miessen host scent artist Beau Rhee (New York), noise artist Mattin (Bilbao/Berlin), and media artists Tim Tsang & Parches (Los Angeles) to live explore the potentiality of a xeno-architecture.
This event is part of Kaaitheater’s seasonal program, which is built around a central question, “How are we to ‘remake’ society at the dawn of the 21st century?” and relates this inquiry to the realm of spatial practice.
Tickets can be ordered via the website of the Kaaitheater here.
The event on April 18 at Kaaitheater closes off a conversation series that occurred from January to March 2017.
Instead of writing (yet another) manifest, Armen and Markus initiated a series of conversations on the potentiality of xeno-architecture. By inviting different thinkers / artists / poets / musicians / architects to continue each other’s line of thoughts—like an estafette—they investigate how such a notion influences collaborative work processes and spatial experimentation by celebrating contingency within the thinking process.
Conversation 1: Markus Miessen, Armen Avanessian, Anke Hennig, Patricia Reed
Conversation 2: Anke Hennig, Patricia Reed, Daniel Falb, Luciana Parisi
Conversation 3: Daniel Falb, Luciana Parisi, Kathleen Ditzig, Victoria Ivanova
Conversation 4: Armen Avanessian, Kathleen Ditzig, Victoria Ivanova, Benjamin H. Bratton
The conversation series together with material from the encounter at Kaaitheater will subsequently be compiled in a publication designed by research and design studio Metahaven (Sternberg Press, autumn/winter 2017).
Perhaps it is high time for a xeno-architecture to match is a Brussels-based curatorial and research platform, initiated by Lietje Bauwens, Wouter De Raeve and Alice Haddad, that seeks to examine the possibilities for re-radicalizing spatial practice. Research-as-practice is paramount within the process; the dynamic relationship between theory and experimentation constitutes both the form and matter of this project. This results in a variety of cultural productions and collaborations, including a series of conversations between Armen Avanessian, Benjamin H. Bratton, Kathleen Ditzig, Daniel Falb, Anke Hennig, Victoria Ivanova, Markus Miessen, Luciana Parisi, and Patricia Reed (published by Sternberg Press and designed by research and design studio Metahaven, autumn/winter 2017) and an injection seminar in Rotterdam (in collaboration with De Dependance and Failed Architecture, autumn/winter 2017).
