SYMBIOTIC SYNCHRONY

Solo exhibition by Dagmar Schürrer

SYMBIOTIC SYNCHRONY

Solo exhibition by Dagmar Schürrer

Curated by Peggy Schoenegge (peer to space)

At: SOMA Art Berlin, Eylauer Straße 9, 10965 Berlin

Duration: May 11 – June 16, 2024

Opening: May 10, 2024

Our society is undergoing a technological transformation, where applications such as VR, AR, or AI are gaining societal relevance. They not only influence our interactions but also merge with social, cultural, and economic systems. Similar to nature, where organisms live in symbiotic relationships, humans today exist in symbiosis with various technologies. In this interconnectivity, both are dependent on each other and influence each other. This leads to new forms of the self and social coexistence. 

The artist Dagmar Schürrer explores this symbiotic relationship, drawing on the insights of microbiologist Lynn Margulis, which she extends to include the concept of neural synchrony. At its core, the theory suggests that neurons and brain activity can synchronize between two or more people. Applied to our times, this suggests that we are connected in our social circles and thus within a society, largely based on the similarity of living conditions. This happens through (ritual) customs and various digital media. Similar to the interaction of neurons, our thoughts and actions, and thus our consciousness, intertwine. We are, in a sense, coupled with each other — both interpersonally and through media. This results in a technological, mutual dependency and influence.

The exhibited works translate this flow of thought into visually poetic experiences of digital imagery and hybrid sculptures. Organically appearing organisms dynamically connect with technical formations in abstract spaces. Virtual extensions not only create hybrid representations but also dissolve the boundaries between physical and digital space. They illustrate an interplay of nature and culture and point to the profound technological transformations of them, making the categorization itself seem redundant. In this discourse, reference system emerges between the works, forming a societal narrative of contemporary technologies and uniting them into the body of work Where does the rest of the world begin?. Interactive elements like AR and MR applications draw visitors into the works and actively integrate them into the symbiotic confrontation. Through this, the interactions and entanglements are revealed, making the significance of digital media tangible. The exhibition space thus becomes a personal experiential space that invites visitors to consciously reflect on the dynamics between humans, technology, and art, and to contemplate the nature of the present.

Schürrer's solo exhibition SYMBIOTIC SYNCHRONY opens a new perspective on our post-digital era, uncovering and making experiential the currently complex development trends. In this artistic engagement, the boundaries blur not only between digital and analog but also between human and technology, and thus between nature and culture. The accompanying changes open the potential for active co-creation. Thus, new media can be used in a way to promote a society characterized by fair coexistence, innovations, and the conscious use of technologies. 

With friendly support by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, the Austrian Culture Forum Berlin and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.

About Dagmar Schürrer’s works:

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣? (𝙎𝙔𝙈𝘽𝙄𝙊𝙎𝙄𝙎)
2024, digital animation with sound, 11:30 min

The body of work in the exhibition is referencing microbiologist Lynn Margulis, who developed the concept of Symbiosis – the intimate »living together« of organisms – which is now recognized as a central driver of evolutionary innovation, complementing the opposing Darwinist theory of the »survival of the fittest«. The concept of Symbiosis is linked with the scientific theory of Neural Synchrony and transformed into a poetic and meditative Voice Over, which speculates about different scenarios of symbiosis and synchrony found in various combinations between humans, (micro)organisms, and technology.

Loosely at the center of the work stands the character SYNTHIA, referring to the bacterium Mycoplasma laboratorium, which is the world’s first bacterium designed on a computer and assembled from scratch. SYNTHIA appears in different manifestations of hybrid avatar creatures embedded in a series of visual tableaus – computer generated animations of digital world building, that combine fantastical landscapes, abstract patterns, fragmented figures and microbial structures.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣? (𝙎𝙔𝙉𝘾𝙃𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙔)
2024, digital animation, 5 min, looped

At its core, the theory of Neural Synchrony suggests that neurons and brain activity can synchronize between two or more people through the consumption of similar (digital) media, social exchange, or the performance of common ritual acts. Some research proposes that (human) consciousness is the result of collaboration and synchrony and might be rooted in a form of »Hypermind« and not in singular individuals. These concepts are visualized in the second large-scale projection in the exhibition, depicting the hybrid SYNTHIA avatars performing synchronized dance movements, continuously drifting in and out of seemingly abstract patterns, thus creating a hypnotic stream of repetition and collective ritual.

𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣? (𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙏𝙃𝙄𝘼’𝙎 𝘾𝘼𝙑𝙀)
2024, interactive Mixed Reality experience with sound and 3D prints

This part of the work extends the two animations into an interactive and spatial continuation of the narrative. Three analogue 3D printed sculptures, that visually reference the digital animations, are placed in the exhibition space and extended by a Mixed Reality environment.In Mixed Reality (MR) the digital and analogue spheres merge almost seamlessly. A new generation of VR headsets allow the set up of digital spatial applications, while still seeing the analogue environment and each other. Here the users can interact and build their own hybrid clusters. While wearing a Quest 3 headset and moving freely in space, they can grab and move digital objects with their hands – playfully joining and separating them, building and rebuilding new combinations. For the 3D prints I was lucky to work with the great Alan Horsley of Bärenglas Berlin, who developed an elaborate internal structure to stabilize the high prints, and implemented a system to easily assemble and dismantle them! @baerenglas_ @alan.horsley

𝘾𝙃𝙄𝙈𝙀𝙍𝘼 𝙄-𝙄𝙄𝙄
2024, hybrid monitor sculptures, digital animation loops and Augmented Reality application

CHIMERA is a series of hybrid monitor sculptures of short 4K animation loops extended by an AR application. The digital animations resemble a classical still life, depicting elements of technological and natural origin, but include gentle movements and are transferred to the technological age by extending them to the digital realm. The custom-built AR application dissolves the borders of the screen and its surrounding space. Additionally, the monitors are not mounted on the wall but are free-standing in the room and function as sculptural objects.

Image Credits:

All stills and Mixed Reality screenshots © Dagmar Schürrer

All installation shots: SYMBIOTIC SYNCHRONY, 2024, at SOMA Art Berlin © Max Zerrahn