New practices require new tools

I would like to summarize a decade of my experience with artistic practices at Kersnikova Institute, as well as my own writing into a few non-binding guidelines for creatives and artists in a futuristic, apocalyptic and dystopian situation. So the first guideline would be to use the tools and protocols you use in your present. So at the moment those are programming cheap electronics, artificial intelligence, genetic tissue engineering, biomaterials, biodesign and so on. I think new practices require new tools, so today’s art practices cannot be invented with old tools like paint and canvas. And my second recommendation would be to deal with the problems of your world using science and technology. So from a creative point of view, these are tools too but they may also offer you a different way of thinking and experiencing the world. And the third recommendation would involve the beings and spaces around you in your creation. So this could be mycelium, artificial intelligence, biological species, biotechnological hybrids, artificial intelligence, landscape; creation is communication, and we need balance among all of those in our sustainable future.

It’s very hard to express all my practice from a decade because I’ve been dealing so much with particular cases of particular artists. But for sure I realize that we need for contemporary world to use contemporary means also in art practices. And it’s like with language. When I write, what I write can be helpful because we are using this language everyday. So when you create in any other art form, this can be helpful if you’re using the language of people around you. So by using something from the past you can’t repair current problems with past tools. This is what I wanted to basically express. Never be afraid of new things, even if you don’t understand them. I’m not an expert on things like CRISPR or biotechnologies, but there are people who know a lot about all this and you can include them in your team and you can try to build an artwork with something you’re really interested in, even if you’re not an expert on that field. You can include people in your project that are experts. I think maybe something I didn’t express in my message in a bottle is to work in a team. I think this is very useful for contemporary art.