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Mary Maggic: Artist Talk (Alien Knowledging)

FHS cordially invites you to a public event Mary Maggic: Artist Talk. Alien Knowledging, in the FHS UK Jan Sokol Auditorium on 23 May 2024 at 6:00 pm. This talk will provide a glimpse into the artistic practice of one of the key contemporary posthumanist feminist manifestos, Xenofeminism, which advocates the exploration of the potential of technology to achieve gender liberation. Exploring the alienation found in our bodies, environments, and molecules, the event will delve into artistic practice of Mary Maggic, who often uses biohacking as a Xenofeminist practice of care that serves to demystify the invisible lines of molecular biopower. The event will begin with a welcome by Dr. Denisa Tomková (FHS), an introduction to the project by Zai Xu (SVĚTOVA 1), and will be followed by Mary Maggic’s artist talk.

Mary Maggic (b. 1991, Los Angeles) is a nonbinary Chinese-American artist and researcher working within the fuzzy intersections of body and gender politics and capitalist ecological alienations. Based in Vienna since 2017, Maggic frequently uses biohacking as a xeno-feminist practice of care that serves to demystify invisible lines of molecular biopower. After completing their Masters at MIT Media Lab (Design Fiction), their project “Open Source Estrogen” was awarded Honorary Mention at the Prix Ars Electronica '17 in Hybrid Arts, and in 2019 they completed a 10-month Fulbright residency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia investigating the relationship between Javanese mysticism and the plastic pollution crisis. Maggic is a recipient of the 2022 Knight Arts + Tech Fellowship, and their work has exhibited internationally including Kunsthal Charlottenborg (DK), Centre de Cultura Contemporánia de Barcelona (ES), Philadelphia Museum of Art (US), Science Gallery London (UK), Migros Museum of Contemporary Art (CH), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (DE), Jeu de Paume (FR), Museum of Contemporary Art Tuscon (US), Haus der elektronischen Kunst (CH), Institute of Contemporary Arts London (UK), Art Laboratory Berlin (DE), Akbank Sanat (TR), and Jogja National Museum (ID). They are a current member of the online network Hackteria: Open Source Biological Art, the laboratory theater collective Aliens in Green, the Asian feminist collective Mai Ling Vienna, as well as a contributor to the radical syllabus project Pirate Care and to the online Cyberfeminism Index.

SVĚTOVA 1 is a nonprofit artist-run space focusing on emerging, queer and social matters. Our exhibitions and public programmes reflect our mission of achieving full expression, maintaining sustainable processes, and acting as a refuge for those in need. We aim to become a holistic entity – an educational and research institute – run by artists for artists. SVĚTOVA 1 was created in September 2018 out of a need to create a space for us and people like us. Students, minorities, underdogs, queers, and those who, for various reasons, left their studies and are now struggling to find their way in this adult world. During its existence, the concept of the space is continuously transformed and developed according to the interests and needs of our members with the aim of connecting the young generation with the socio-political events taking place in the world, through artistic creation, presentation, and other educational and community projects. SVĚTOVA 1 is based on the foundations of shared values of members, friends, and visitors, and reflects or seeks ways to apply the needs of queering and inclusivity in its practice. At the same time, it examines the forms of how to pass on this acquired knowledge.

The project is organised as part of the As We Grow series by SVĚTOVA 1