2019–2021 by Till Bovermann, Hannah Imlach
Flock began as a conversation between Hannah Imlach and Till Bovermann while they undertook the meticulous work of assembling parts of a tetrahedral kite on a large table in the Kilpisjärvi Field Station during the 2019 HAB/Field_Notes expedition.
Installation view at SOLU, Helsinki 2021.
We were nearing the end of an intense week in the sub-arctic searching for microbial life in the atmosphere: flying a helikite, transporting equipment over the tundra, gathering samples, taking thousands of photographs, and making drawings, sound recordings and video. Our conversation tried to make sense of these experiences. Why are we drawn to discover new forms of life? How should we engage in such an endeavour? Is it possible to “bioprospect” ethically?
Over the subsequent months we exchanged nearly 100 postcards between Glasgow and Berlin. The cards reflect on our shared experience and move outwards, including related research images, photo-collage, textual fragments and imagined airborne structures for inter-species encounters. The work explores our awareness of, and responsibility to forms of life at the very edges of our perception.
A digital version of the work is available at the organisms website.
- Till's responsibilities:
- photos, sound collage
- Affiliation:
- Bioart Society and h-a-b.net.
- Further information:
- Flock exhibition on friendly.organisms