Radio Web MACBA
Plaça dels Àngels, 1
08001 Barcelona
Spain
macba@macba.cat
The Undead Matter podcast series presents an unfolding conversation about where life lies in the ever-turning matter of our universe, as it rhythmically resurfaces over millennia.
Traversing the slippery space between the organic and the non-organic, the podcast’s dialogues travel from remote Siberian tundra, where ancient creatures are emerging from the melting permafrost; to deep within the geological substrata of the ocean bed amongst the sludge of millennia-year-old slow-living microorganisms; and outwards to the celestial expanse of interstellar dust ripe with life-giving potential, and back again.
Curated by Sophie J. Williamson, Undead Matter has emerged through intersecting discussions with artists, poets, writers and musicians, as well cryomicrobiologists, death doulas, palaeontologists, geologists, mineralogists, archaeoastronomers, woodworkers, quantum physicists, bondage masters, cryonics speculators, indigenous elders and others met along the way. Each offer their own perspective on our place within the infinite impermanence of life: past, present and possible.
Available episodes, online now:
–Emergent Interstellar Dust
Artist and poet Himali Singh Soin with astrobiologist Chandra Wickramasinghe discuss microbial fossils arriving on meteorites, the controversial discoveries of panspermia and the biosphere of the galaxy. Listen here
–Marking Silences
Poet Myung Mi Kim with geographer Kathryn Yusoff talk about the lives and histories demarcated in the silence between words and amongst rock strata. Listen here
–Existing Between
Writer Daisy Hildyard with marine microbiologist Karen Lloyd talk about 100-million-year-old microbes that breathe and excrete minerals: bridging the organic and the non-organic, the living and the dead. Listen here
–Permafrost Hydrofeminism
Cultural theorist Astrida Neimanis with permafrost hydrologist Nikita Tananaev, discussing the cultural, philosophical and ecological implications of permafrost thawing and movement of ancient ecosystems. Listen here
–Resurfacing Lives
Buryat Anthropologist Sayana Namsaraeva in conversation with artist Bo Choy, discussing resurfacing lives, shapeshifting spirits of the landscape and indigenous cosmologies. Listen here
–Nurturing the Ancient Undead
Artist Oreet Ashery in conversation with evolutionary biologist Tori Herridge talk about a genetically perserved 42,000-year-old Siberian foal and current cloning projects. Listen here
Undead Matter is the ongoing multi-disciplinary research project of curator Sophie J Williamson. It will materialise through a series of exhibitions, events, podcasts and online publishing over the coming years.
Follow Radio Web MACBA for forthcoming episodes and wider programming here.
For the wider Undead Matter programme follow Instagram @undead_matter or visit undeadmatter.com.
