“My artistic research focuses on entanglements of environment-culture continuum and planetary metabolisms. By developing technological interfaces and relations with organic and mineral soil agents I try to address the posthuman condition that involves mechanical, digital and organic logic within bio-politics and necro-politics of our times.“
Saša Spačal is a postmedia artist working at the intersection of living systems research, contemporary and sound art. Her work focuses primarily on the posthuman condition, where human beings exist and act as one of many elements in the ecosystem and not as sovereigns. Therefore abandoning the Cartesian system of classification and accepting the fact that the field of technology has expanded not only from hardware to software but also to wetware resulting in hybrid phenomena inscribed in mechanical, digital and organic logic.
Her work was exhibited and performed at venues and festivals such as Ars Electronica Festival (AT), ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (DE), Prix Cube Exhibition (FR), Transmediale Festival (DE), Athens Digital Arts Festival (GR), Centre de Cultura Contemporània Barcelona – CCCB (ES), Perm Museum of Contemporary Art (RUS), Onassis Cultural Center Athens (GR), Chronos Art Center (CHN), Laboratoria Art & Science Foundation / New Tretyakov Gallery (RUS), Prague City Gallery (CZ), Cynetart Festival (DE), National Art Museum of China (CHN), Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (SI), Kapelica Gallery (SI), Device_art (CRO), Art Laboratory Berlin (DE), Kiblix Festival (SI), Gallery of Contemporary Art Celje (SI), Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina (SRB), Lisboa Soa Festival (PT), Sonica Festival (SI). Her works received awards and nominations at Prix Ars Electronica, Ars Electronica Starts Prize, Japan Media Art Award, Prix Cube, New Technology Art Award and New Aesthetica Prize.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023
[UN]EARTHING, curator Katharina Ritter, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken, Germany
2022
MycoMythologies: Radiotrophic Fungarium or How to Make a Coat for Marie Curie, curator Tjaša Pogačar, Projekt Atol Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2021
MycoMythologies, Cultural Center Tobačna 001, curator Alenka Trebušak, Ljubljana, Slovenia
MycoMythologies, Biotroja – Center for Composting Culture, GHMP – Galerie hlavního města Prahy / Prague City Gallery with Prague City University, Prague, Czech Republic
2020
MycoMityologies: Rupture, curator Davor Mišković, Drugo More, Rijeka, Croatia
MycoMythologies: Rupture, curator Živa Kleindienst, KiBela, Multimedia Center Kibla, Maribor, Slovenia
Meta_bolus, Mediamatic, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2019
Plast_ika, curator Anja Zver, Simulaker Gallery, Novo Mesto, Slovenia
2018
Plastic_ity, curators Irena Pivka and Brane Zorman, Steklenik – Gallery for Sound, Bioacustics and Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Liminoid 2.0., Osmo/za, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Earthlink exhibition, curator Jani Pirnat, Match Gallery, Museum and galleries of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2017
Meta_bolus, curators Jurij Krpan and Sandra Sajovic, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Sonoseismic Earth, Aksioma – Institute for Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2016
Symbiome – Economy of Symbiosis, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova – MSUM+, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Syncness, curators Jurij Krpan and Sandra Sajovic, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2015
Myconnect, Drugo more Gallery, Rijeka, Croatia
Sinergija 3.0, Kapelica Gallery, production Rampa Lab, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2014
Scintilla Resonant: insectarium, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Liminoid, Project space Aksioma, production Ljudmila – Art and Science Laboratory, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Myconnect, Močvara Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
Sinergija 2.0, Rampa Lab, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2013
Myconnect, curators Jurij Krpan and Sandra Sajovic, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
7K: new life form in Mycophone_unison, Dimenzija napredka Gallery, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Sinergija, Kapelica Gallery, production Kiberpipa, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2010
7K: new life form, curator Maja Smrekar, Cyberpipe, Ljubljana, Slovenia
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
A Hard Rain’s A – Gonna Fall, curator Lara Pan, Jamestown, New York, United States
Renaissance 3.0: A Base Camp for New Alliances of Art and Science in the 21st Century, curators Peter Weibel, Anett Holzheid, Sarah Donderer, Nina Liechti, Beatrice Zaidenberg, ZKM – Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
konSekvence ≡ Fragmenti možnega ekosistema, Galerija Velenje, Velenje, Slovenia
My Body, a Coral Reef?, curator Julia Katharina Thiemann, Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie of Wilhelm Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany
2022
Science Friction: Living Among Companion Species, curator Maria Ptqk, Azkuna Zentroa – Alhóndiga Bilbao, Spain
Nostalgia Za Człowiekiem, curators Rafał Kosewski and Monika Weychert, Galeria Podbrzezie, Krakow, Poland
We Are Nature, WWF China Climate Action Week, curator Naiyi Wang, Bejing, China
Artificial Ecology, curators Olaf Val, York Kautt and Markus Hanisch, Kassel Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany
KonS Modul, curator Adrija Praznik, Simulaker Gallery, Novo mesto, Slovenia
Brno Art Open 2022, curators Milan Mikuláštík and Milan Kreuzzieger, House of Arts Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
Alter(action) 2.0, curator Marta de Menezes, Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo – MEIAC, Badajoz, Spain
Sound Art in Public Spaces, curator Raquel Castro, Arhus Botanical Gardens, Spor Festival, Aarhus, Denmark
Digital Resonance Exhibition, curators Seungah Lee and Jyeongyeon Kim, Gwangju Media Art Platform – G.MAP, Gwangju City Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea
Returning the Gaze Exhibition, curators Alenka Gregorič, Alenka Trebušak, Mara Anjoli Vujić, Mateja Podlesnik and Alenka Trebušak, Cukrarna, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2021
All Museums are Science Fiction Stories Exhibition, curator Jorge Carrion, Centro José Guerrero, Granada, Spain
International Festival of Computer Arts 2021: Transhumanism, curator Aleksandra Gruden, Maribor, Slovenia
May the Other Live in Me Exhibition, curator Daria Parkhomenko, Laboratoria Art & Science Foundation / New Tretyakov Gallery, Moskow, Russia
Science Friction: Living Among Companion Species Exhibition, curator Maria Ptqk, Centre de Cultura Contemporania Barcelona – CCCB, Barcelona, Spain
Interspecies Futures [IF] Exhibition, curator Oscar Salguero, Center for Book Arts, New York, USA
Think Eat : Urban Alternatives Exhibition, curator Sarah Aucagos, conception Ohme, Brussels, Belgium
Re:Tune, curator Alice Smits, Zone2Source, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2020
Efect de la micro la macro Exhibition, curators Simona Nichiteanu, Miruna Amza, Quantum Questions, Centrul Cultural Clujean, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Kořeny rostou dovnitř, Entrance Gallery, curators Veronika Čechová, Tereza Jindrová, Prague, Czech Republic
The sonoAdriatic Tales Online Exhibition, curators Robertina Šebjanič and Manja Ristić, Adriatic Garden, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
Unpacking 3Package Deal Exhibition, curator Jo-Lene Ong, VondelCS, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Living Object Exhibition, curator Alenka Trebušak, City Gallery Ljubljana, Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Slow Down Online Video Program, curator Dmitry Bulatov, Baltic branch of the NCCA for The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, Moscow, Russia
2019
Goodbye Cruel World, It’s Over Exhibition, curator Janine Bloess, Weltkunstzimmer, Düsseldorf, Germany
Hyperobjects Exhibition, curator Edy Fung, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, United Kingdom
New Technological Art Award Exhibition, Zebrastraat, Gent, Belgium
Extravagant Bodies: Extravagant Love Triennial, curators Stahl Stenslie, Klara Petrović, Luja Šimunović, Zagreb, Croatia
Ars Electronica Festival, Human Limitations – Limited Humanity Exhibition, curators Gerfried Stocker, Christl Baur, Linz, Austria
Living Life Exhibition, Da Vinci Creative Festival, Seoul, Korea
Queens festival, Aalborg Universitet København, Kopenhagen, Denmark
Izis #7: Invazija, curator Marko Vivoda, Monfort Portorož, Piran Coastal Galleries, Portorož, Slovenia
2018
Device_art 6.018, curators Zhan Ga and Josipa Vukelić, Kontejner – Bureau of Contemporary Art Praxis, Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
63rd Gathering of Art Colony Ečka – Image 2018, Contemporary Art Gallery Zrenjanin, Zrenjanin, Serbia
The New State of the Living, curator Dmitry Bulatov, PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia
International Festival of Computer Arts – IFCA, curator Miha Horvat, Maribor, Slovenia
Lisboa Soa Festival, curator Raquel Castro, Lisbon, Portugal
Machines Are Not Alone. A Machinic Trilogy, curator Zhang Ga, Chronos Art Center, Shanghai, China
Athens Digital Arts Festival: Singularity now, curator Elli-Anna Peristeraki, Athens, Greece
Misadventures of Discovering, Hlebozavod Center for Contemporary Culture, Vladivostok, Russia
Futurologija – Kaj lahko umetnost jutri naredi za vas?, Mestna galerija Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Mycophone_unison, SIQ – Slovenian Institute of Quality and Metrology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2017
Festival Kiblix 2017: Shelters of Babylon, Kibla Portal, Maribor, Slovenia
It (all) matters! exhibition, SIQ – Slovenian Institute of Quality and Metrology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Nonhuman Agents: Nonhuman Networks Exhibition, curators Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Festival Speculum Artium, Trbovlje, Slovenia
Kunigunda – Festival of Young Cultures, Velenje, Slovenia
Maker Faire Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Exhibition Art+Science 2017, Belgrade, Serbia
Excursion: Ecologies, Transmediale, Silent Green, Berlin, Germany
2016
Exhibition Hybrids, Onnasis Cultural Center Athens, Athens, Greece
Festival Pixelache, Helsinki, Finland
Festival De nacht van kunst & wetenschap, Groningen, Netherlands
10 years Anniversary Exhibition, Medialab Prado, Madrid, Spain
Exhibition Device_art 5.016, Kontejner – Bureau of Contemporary Art Praxis, part of International Digital Art Biennale – BIAN 2016, Eastern Bloc Gallery, Montreal, Canada
Prix Cube Exhibition 2016, Paris, France
Nonhuman Subjectivities: The Other Selves. On the Phenomenon of the Microbiome Exhibiton, curators Regine Rapp, Christian de Lutz, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2015
Exhibition Device_art 5.015, Kontejner – Bureau of Contemporary Art Praxis, Zagreb, Croatia
Exhibition Ars Electronica Festival CyberArts Exhibition 2015, Linz, Austria
Exhibition Wonderland, Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad, Serbia
Festival Mfru Kiblix 2015: Lift Me Up, Kibla Portal, Maribor, Slovenia
2014
Festival Sonica, MoTA Point, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Soft Control: festival S.U.T.R.A., Belgrade, Serbia
Festival Cynetart 2014, Dresden, Germany
Festival Kiblix: Paralele, Maribor, Slovenia
ThingWorld – International Triennial of New Media Art, curator Zhang Ga, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
2013
Exhibition Ljudmila comes to the Workshop, production Ljudmila – Art and Science Laboratory, Werkstatt am Hauptplatz, Linz, Austria
Exhibition Sculpture today: Performative Bodies and Spaces, Celeia Institute – Center for Contemporary Arts,
Gallery of Contemporary Art, Celje, Slovenia
Exhibition 7th Triennial of Contemporary Art in Slovenia – U3: Resilience, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova – MSUM+, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Festival MFRU-Kiblix: When Worlds Collide, Kibla Portal, Maribor, Slovenia
Festival Enter 6: Biopolis, Prague, Czech Republic
Festival Device_art 4.013, Galerija Školska 28, Prague, Czech Republic
2012
Festival Device_art 4.012, curators Sunčica Ostoić, Olga Majcen, Olga Zagreb, Croatia
Festival De:sonanz 2012, curator Ivanka Apostolova, Skopje, Macedonia
Exhibition Interactivos?’12: Obsolete Technologies of the Future, Ljudmila – Art and Science Laboratory, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2011
Festival Amber’11: Next Ecology, Depo, Istanbul, Turkey
Festival Enter 5: Datapolis, curator Pavel Sedlak, Prague, Czech Republic
2010
Festival Haip: New Nature, curator Maja Smrekar, Cyberpipe, Ljubljana, Slovenia
PERFORMANCES
2022
Transversal is a Loop, curators Christine Schörkhuber, Stefan Voglsinger, Ulla Rauter und Veronika Mayer, Klangmanifeste, Echoraum, Vienna, Austria
2021
Transversal is a Loop, curator Lona Galkis, Sonar Park, IMA – Institut für Medienarchäologie, Lames, St. Pölten, Austria
2020
Transversal is a Loop, curators Shu Lea Cheang, Tanja Brandmayr, Franz Xaver, STWST48x6 MORE LESS, Stadtwerkstatt, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
Transversal is a Loop, curator Juraj Hoppan, Sensorium Festival: Beyond the Sound, Bratislava, Slovakia
2019
Unheard, Sound Perspectives, Stone Bell House Gallery, GHMP – Prague City Gallery with Prague City University, Prague, Czech Republic
Transversal is a Loop, Škuc Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Transversal, RadArt #10: X/L Experiment: Radio Factory, Radar – Open Radio Investigative Art Platform, Cirkulacija 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Transversal, Lom space, Bratislava, Slovakia
2018
Plastic_ity, Steklenik – Gallery for Sound, Bioacustics and Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Petrohradska kolektiv, Prague, Czech Republic
Architecture and the Senses Seminar, Center for Architectural Heritage Plasy, Agosto Foundation, Plasy, Czech Republic
HAIP Live, Kersnikova Institute – Institute for Culture, Arts and Education, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2017
Lisboa Soa, Lisbon, Portugal
Horticultural society Kranj, Kranj, Slovenia
Tivoli Greenhouse, Tivoli Gardens, University Botanic Gardens Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Layeryeva hiša, Kranj, Slovenia
2016
Triennial Device_art 5.016, Eastern Bloc Gallery, Montreal, Canada
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
Ars Electronica Starts Prize Nomination 2021
Japan Media Arts Festival Jury Selection 2020
New Aesthetica Art Award Longlisted 2020
New Technological Art Award Nomination 2019
Prix Cube Nomination 2016
Prix Ars Electronica Honorary Mention 2015
Kiics Award for Arts & Science Nomination 2014
COLLECTIONS
The collection of the Contemporary Gallery Art Colony Ečka – Zrenjanin, Contemporary Gallery of Art Colony Ečka Zrenjanin, Zrenjanin, Serbia [2018]
Station DIVA, Center for Contemporary Arts – SCCA video archive and Gateway to Archives of Media Art – GAMA platform, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2017]
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMS
Terra Xenobiotica or How to Belong, Art Laboratory Berlin and Rilling Group – Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, FU BCP Artistic Residency Program, Berlin, Germany [2022]
Cultivamos Cultura, São Luis, Portugal [2022]
PIFcamp, Soča Valley, Slovenia [2020]
Amsterdams Fonds Voor de Kunst 3Package Deal Recepient, one year artistic research residency with Waag Society, Mediamatic and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands [2019-2020]
Slovene Arts & Culture Residencies Program, Ministry of Culture of Slovenia in collaboration with Art Laboratory Berlin and Rilling Group – Ecology of Plants, Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany [2019]
Contemporary Gallery of Art Colony Ečka Zrenjanin, Zrenjanin, Serbia [2018]
Agosto Foundation, Prague, Czech Republic [2018]
Layerjeva hiša, Kranj, Slovenia [2017]
Trasformatorio – International (hack)lab for experimental and site-specific arts, Montalbano Elicona, Sicily, Italy [2014]
Slovene Arts & Culture Residencies Program, Ministry of Culture of Slovenia, New York, USA [2013]
LECTURES
Braiding Infrastructures for Each Other, Department of Digital Arts and Experiemntal Media [DXARTS], University of Washington, USA [2023]
MycoMythologies: Braiding Infrastructures for Each Other, Spring Lecture Series 2023, Master Institute of Visual Cultures, St. Joost School of Art & Design, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands [2023]
Infrastructures for Each Other, Murmuration 2022, Glenshee, Scotland, United Kingdom [2022]
Infrastructures for Each Other / Grounding Symbiosis / Entangled Networks, Symbiomatter: Experimental Arts Lab, Sofia, Bulgaria [2022]
Entangled Networks, Hogeschool Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands [2021]
Infrastructures for Each Other: Entangled Networks, Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia [2021]
Infrastructures for Each Other: Entangled Networks, Fiber Festival: Mutation, Amsterdam, Netherlands [2021]
Grounding Symbiosis, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle, University of Art and Design, Halle, Germany [2021]
Earthlink: How We Breathe For Each Other, May the Other Live in Me Conference, Laboratoria Art & Science Foundation / New Tretyakov Gallery, Moskow, Russia [2021]
Entangled Networks, Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Cologne, Germany [2021]
Entangled Networks, MAT Seminars, Media Arts and Technology, University of California Santa Barbara, California, United States [2020]
Artist Talk Myconnect, Prosto Festival, Innopolis University, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia [2020]
Artist Talk Entangled Networks, Fluid Machines course, Parsons School of Design – The New School, New York, United States of America [2020]
Reading Circle with Irena Borić, Kiblix 2020, Kibla, Maribor, Slovenia [2020]
Artist Talk Prepletene mreže, Mreža znanja 2020 conference, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2020]
Artist Talk, Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia [2020]
Artist Talk, Interspecies Village, Royal Academy of Art The Hague, Netherlands [2020]
Grounding Symbiosis, Sonifying Care, Sonar+D together with project Biofriction initiative led by Hangar in collaboration with Bioart Society, Kersnikova Institut and Cultivamos Cultura, Barcelona, Spain [2020]
MycoMythologies, Observing the Microscopic Gardens, Waag Society, Planet B, Ars Electronica Online [2020]
Artist Talk, Odorama, Medimatic, Amsterdam, Netherlands [2020]
Artist Talk, Hochschule für Künste Bremen, Bremen, Germany [2019]
Artist Talk, Institute of Biology, Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany [2019]
Artist Talk, Extravagant Bodies Festival, Zagreb, Croatia [2019]
Intra-flux, Open Fileds Conference 2019: Un/Green, Com/Post/Human, N/Ai, Riga, Latvia [2019]
Intra-flux, FEMeeting – Women in Art, Science and Technology Conference, Milfontes, Portugal [2019]
Artist Talk, Taipei Biennial 2018, Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan [2018]
Artist Talk, Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia [2018]
Intra-flux, Intra_flux Symposium, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2018]
Intra-flux, New State of Living Conference, PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, Russia [2018]
Artist Talk, Prague College, Prague, Czech Republic [2018]
Mycohuman Relationship, Nonhuman Agents in Art, Culture and Theory, Interdisciplinary Conference, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany [2017]
Artist Talk, Enter Festival, Prague, Czech Republic[2013]
WORKSHOPS
Hogeschool Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands [November, 2021]
Prague City University, Prague, Czech Republic [November, 2021]
ČIPke initiative, Rampa Laboratory, Kersnikova Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia [November, 2021]
UCLA Sci|Art Ars Electronic Garden, Linz, Austria [September, 2021]
Hochschule für Künste Bremen, Bremen, Germany [August, 2021]
UCLA Sci|Art Lab + Studio, California NanoSystems Institute, Los Angeles, California, United States [July, 2021]
School for Multispecies Knowledges, Zone2Source, Amsterdam, Netherlands [May, 2021]
Entangled Networks, Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Cologne, Germany [May, 2021]
MycoMythologies: Storytelling Circle, UCLA, Los Angeles, California [April, 2021]
MycoMythologies: Storytelling Circle, Kiblix, Kibla, Maribor, Slovenia [March – April, 2021]
Soil Tasting , Kapelica Gallery, Rampa Lab, BioTehna, Ljubljana, Slovenia [May, 2017]
OhmQi, Biotehna, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2014]
OhmQi, Biotehna, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2014]
MiniMycophone, Soft Control: festival TOMORROW, Dom Omladine, Belgrade, Serbia [2014]
MiniMycophone, Radiona, Technical museum, Zagreb, Croatia [2014]
MiniMycophone, Biotehna, Kapelica Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2013]
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
konS ≡ PARK – Academy for Contemporary Investigative Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2020 – 2023]
ČIPke Workshop Program, Rampa Laboratory, Kersnikova Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia [2012 – 2015]
Theremidi Orchestra Workshops Program [2011 – 2016]
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AWARDS
Ars Electronica Honorary Mention for Digital Humanity [2023]
WoW nagrada [2020]
Nagrada za inovativnost [2013]
COMMUNITIES
ČIPke – Women with a Touch for Technology, Science and Art [2012 – present]
Theremidi Orchestra [2011 – 2016]
Saša Spačal
sasa@agapea.si