Zebrafish: Interspecies Futures by Carolyn Kirschner
In the framework of S+T+ARTS EC(H)O – Challenge 3: Exploring the Physics of Life
The project
Carolyn Kirschner‘s residency project, Zebrafish: Interspecies Futures, is an artistic investigation into the zebrafish as a model organism in scientific research, examining its socio-cultural significance and speculating on interspecies futures. Working with researchers from the Physics of Life cluster at TU Dresden, the project extrapolates biomolecular research to consider hypothetical biological and cultural impacts of the zebrafish over the next 100 years, such as regenerative human hearts or human-like tissue grown from fish cells, which blur species boundaries. The artistic outputs leverage advanced computational methods, imaging techniques, and HPC systems to produce speculative 3D computer models, digital animations, and illustrations. The project also includes a documentary film that traces the interconnected ecosystems and complex relationships between humans and zebrafish beyond the laboratory setting.
Hosted by: Technische Universität Dresden
The artist
An artist and researcher with an architecture background who explores the growing entanglements between ecologies and machines, particularly in relation to the climate crisis. Working with scientific tools and technologies, she creates installations, objects, digital imagery, films, and writing that conjure fragments from expanded worlds, focusing on realms beyond the reach of human senses. Currently based in the UK and originally from Germany, she teaches as a Lecturer in Design at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her project, Zebrafish: Interspecies Futures, is a collaboration with researchers at TU Dresden’s Physics of Life group to explore the socio-cultural significance of the zebrafish, which is used as a “model organism” due to its genetic similarities with humans. By using advanced computational methods, imaging techniques, and HPC systems artistically, the project will produce new interspecies perspectives at cellular and sub-cellular levels, speculating on how the boundaries between humans and zebrafish might blur over the next century (e.g., regenerative human hearts or human-like tissue from fish cells). The final work will include speculative 3D computer models, digital animations, and a documentary film that traces the interconnected ecosystems and complex relationships between humans and zebrafish beyond the laboratory.
