TechBrunch: Plankton
What if the air you breathe was shaped by something you’ve never seen? Tiny drifting organisms called plankton produce around half of the Earth’s oxygen and play a vital role in the planet’s ecosystems. To mark the closing weekend of the exhibition Other Intelligences, join artist and researcher Anthea Oestereicher for a hands-on exploration of this invisible yet essential world.
This workshop looks at the ecological role of plankton in global cycles, and how art, science, and close observation can help us shift our perspective on the systems we live within.
We’ll begin with an introduction to Anthea’s artistic research, followed by a short walk to the nearby Merian Gardens to collect water samples. Back at HEK, you'll examine the samples under the microscope: What forms of life move through water unnoticed? And how are these microscopic organisms connected to the atmosphere, climate, and metabolism of the planet?
Together we’ll reflect on other forms of intelligence, ecological interdependence, and our relationship to more-than-human life – in the spirit of the exhibition. The workshop invites you to observe, ask questions, and explore the connections between the microscopic and the planetary.
Anthea Oestereicher is an interdisciplinary designer and artistic researcher. Her work brings together design, science, and art to explore micro-ecological and more-than-human worlds. She is currently a PhD candidate in the transdisciplinary artistic research program at ZHdK in Zurich.