A trans-generational conversation between two artists whose work integrates living organisms — such as bacteria or bees — and technology.
Sunjoo Lee is in our current exhibition with her project Electric Garden, and will share the process behind it during one of our Cookery workshops.
Anne Marie Maes is a recognised pioneer of art-science projects in Belgium, and an almost-neighbour of iMAL ;)
Together they will weave threads that connect their respective practices, sharing the thoughts and challenges that emerge from engaging with ecological systems and working with(out) technology.
The conversation will be moderated by Aymeric Mansoux, co-curator of The Cookery and the exhibition I Am Vertical (But I Would Rather Be Horizontal).
Anne Marie Maes
Anne Marie Maes is a Brussels-based multidisciplinary artist whose work blends art, science, and ecology. With a background in botany and visual anthropology, she explores ecosystems, alchemical processes, and the intricate relationship between nature and form. Her practice integrates living organisms, biological, digital, and traditional media to examine self-generating art processes. On the roof of her studio, she has created an experimental garden and field laboratory, studying insects, bacteria, and natural phenomena to understand how form emerges in nature. Maes’s long-term projects, such as Connected Open Greens, Bee Agency, and Laboratory for Form and Matter, engage with ecological systems through collaboration with universities and fablabs. Her work is deeply influenced by the temporal nature of processes and the use of natural and everyday materials, drawing inspiration from the working methods of Bauhaus and Arte Povera. Maes has received multiple awards and exhibited internationally, pushing the boundaries of art and ecology.
🔗 https://annemariemaes.net
🔗 https://instagram.com/annemarie_maes
🔗 https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Marie_Maes
🔗 https://www.facebook.com/pageannemariemaes
Sunjoo Lee
Sunjoo Lee is an interdisciplinary artist working across art, technology, and ecology, based in the Netherlands and South Korea. Her practice reimagines the use of electronics and digital tools beyond human-centred purposes, exploring more-than-human philosophy, emergence, biomimicry, symbiosis, and permacomputing.
She collaborates with biologists, ecologists, and engineers to conduct artistic research and create multimedia installations that promote hybridity between the biosphere and technosphere. Her current research Electric Garden is a living network of microbial fuel cells that ferment electricity, reframing energy production as an emergent relationship between soil, microbes, plants, and machines.
🔗 https://www.sunjoolee.com
🔗 https://tree-001-archive.xyz
🔗 @sunzoolee
