Critical Conditions: The Mind of Nature

George Steinmann, photo credits: Jussi Tiainen

Each one of us is affected by ecological issues – but there are simply so many problems today that no one person, or organisation, can show us the complete picture of what’s happening around, above and below us. This widening gap in knowledge about ecology, and lack of proximity to peers or a sense of community, creates a further drift for individuals to remain disconnected with the burning issues of ecology in everyday life.

Critical Conditions hosted by The Story of Foundation is an online program that engenders dialogue, conversation, and debate around issues as well as curious multidisciplinary topics about ecology today. The program is designed as a digital symposium aiming to expand the boundaries of knowledge for the general public by bringing them up, close and personal with inspiring people, practices and topics about ecology, in the form of candid, comfortable conversations.

The format of the program is a virtual human library in which several passionate seekers will personally converse with 20 multidisciplinary experts or environmental actors in 20 virtual rooms. There will also be an Open House on both days during which the experts will take on questions from the larger audience / viewers of the rooms. On both days of the program, the program will host conversation between all the experts to discuss their personal perspectives on ecology. The goal is to create a platform for conversations that inspire and propel the global youth to understand the complexities of the anthropocene and act for the future of nature.

Watch a follow-up of the conversations here: 

 

Swiss participants in the program include: 

George Steinmann, artist and researcher

Johannes Hedinger, artist and curator

KreativKonsum, designers

Fragmentin, artist collective

Robin Meier, artist and researcher

Ursula Biemann (with Ivan Vargas), artist, author and video essayist

Marcus Maeder, artist and researcher

Vanessa Lorenzo, artist

Leonardo Buergi, artist

To see the complete list of experts and topics, and for more information, click here.