Nina Fischer & Maroan el Sani – Metakosmia

The central setting of the installation is Biosphere 2, an artificial habitat in the Arizona desert that was originally designed as a self-sufficient ecosystem.

The artists accompanied resilience research on climate change at this location, which now serves as a research center for the University of Arizona. Originally built to explore the potential for extraterrestrial life, the project was forgotten after initial failures.

Today, however, Biosphere 2 is gaining new relevance as a model for survival on Earth in the face of climate change and the 6th major mass extinction.The exhibition includes a 2-channel video installation that describes a fictional future in which life is only possible under glass domes.

In addition, the sonification of a dry experiment in the rainforest biome of Biosphere 2 will be presented, calling for climate justice from nature's perspective.The works of Fischer and el Sani combine scientific and philosophical concepts such as Lynn Margulis' symbiogenesis, Buckminster Fuller's "Handbook for Spaceship Earth" and Donna Haraway's posthumanism to shed light on the contemporary significance of Biosphere 2 as a pilot project for survival on Earth.

Fischer and el Sani have shown their work in major international exhibitions and have been awarded prestigious grants, including the Rome Prize Fellowship of the German Academy Villa Massimo and a grant from the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles.

Curated by Christine Nippe

8:30 p.m. Music: Luis Brunner and Stratos Bichakis