• Akademie der Künste / Hanseatenweg / Blue Room
Planetary Scales

with Adriana Knouf, Lukáš Likavčan

  • Conversation
Planetary Scales With Adriana Knouf, Lukáš Likavčan

How is sensing at a more-than-planetary scale contributing to the definition of a radically different cosmology? Which cultural and technological aspects would define a cosmology where human life is not at the centre of all measurements, and might not even be suitable for space and its dimensions? The first pictures of the planet Earth brought about metaphors of conquest and spaceships, driven by a simple, unquestioned notion of humanity as the ultimate position from which to observe the atmosphere and outer space. Fifty years later, that more-than-human eye evolved into complex technologies and a wide array of cosmic research, yet in mainstream culture and dubious profit-driven initiatives, the notion of humanity itself – and what it might mean to be extraterrestrial – still stands unquestioned, determining the scope and scale of what we’re searching within, around and outside of our planet. Emerging from different practices Lukáš Likavčan and Adriana Knouf converge in a one-hour conversation, seeking to unlock spaces for non-normative imaginations, hoping to alter perspectives about what the human scale might be.

Adriana Knouf works as an artist, writer, and xenologist, focusing on topics such as wet media, space art, and queer and trans futurities. Adriana regularly presents her artistic research around the world and beyond. Her work has been recognized by an Award of Distinction at Prix Ars Electronica (2021), among others.
Lukáš Likavčan is Global Perspective on Society Postdoctoral Fellow at NYU Shanghai, and research affiliate at NYU Shanghai’s Center for AI & Culture. His research areas cover philosophy of technology and environmental philosophy. He is an author of Introduction to Comparative Planetology (2019).