With the increasing awareness of the Anthropocene, the Gaia hypothesis and its associated theories have gained more attention, especially those about the interconnections between life, technology and Earth, and humanity as a geological force. Scholars in the humanities tend to ignore the fact that human beings are not the only kind of historical agents nor the only species capable of technological practices. Therefore, they fail to grasp the vital roles of other life-forms in the evolution of Gaia. Besides, it remains ambiguous what purpose human technological development plays in the post-human or anti-human predicament. The critical image of the cyborg has embodied social technology's ethical ambiguity, with a critique of the linear patriarchal and the capitalist conception of history, as well as a potentiality for transboundary survival strategies. In this lecture, I will clarify the images of Gaia and cyborg, as well as their respective bio-political implications. Then I will discuss the role technological bodies play in the evolution of life and political actions.
❚ About the Lecturer/ Respondent
CHUANG Chun-Mei
Chuang received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the City University of New York; she is currently a sociology professor at Soochow University in Taipei. Her research field includes feminist theories, sociological theories postcolonial discourse, science and technology studies, animal studies and ecology, and psychoanalysis. She also translated Donna Haraway’s Simian, Cyborgs and Woman: The Reinvention of Nature into Chinese.
HUANG Chien-Hung
Born in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, Based in Taipei, Taiwan. Associate Professor of Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Arts National Taipei University of Arts, Institute of Trans-disciplinary Arts. He has published numerous books, including Trans-fiction: Investigation project of Asia (2017), Discordant Harmony (2016), Smile of Montage (2013), Trans-Plex Agenda (2011), An Independent Discourse (2010). Huang has curated shows such as Trans-Justice, in Taipei MoCA (2018), Discordant Harmony in Kuandu Museum, Trans-Archiving in PhotoAura Space (2016), Discordant Harmony in Artsonje Center, in Seoul; Exhibition Histories in Asia, in ACC of Gwangju; Discordant Harmony in Hiroshima MoCA (2015), POST-movements: Nights of Café Muller in Kuandu Museum (2014), Romance of NG in Tina-Ken Gallery, Schizophrenia Taiwan 2.0 in Linz (2013).
* more information: http://thecubespace.com/en/project/immortal-body-life-sustaining-wizardry-digital-replacement-and-cyborg/
Co-organizer | TheCube Project Space, Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab
Concept | TheCube Project Space
TheCube Project Space is supported by the National Culture and Arts Foundation, Department of Culture Affairs, Taipei City Government, RC Culture and Arts Foundation and Chen Po-Wen.
▌Register: https://thecube-e72626.kktix.cc/events/2020ps-25jul