The Future Behind Us | Ep. #10: What Are the Limits of Interspecies Communication? [w/ Maja Smrekar]
We have lived alongside dogs for thousands of years. How close have we grown to each other since we first domesticated them? In one of her performances, artist Maja Smrekar biologically manipulated her body so that she could use her own breast milk to feed an Icelandic Spitz puppy. Behind its spectacular and, for some, controversial guises, Smrekar’s exploration of transpecies motherhood probed uncomfortable issues such as the instrumentalisation of female bodies, the problematic position of the human species at the top and centre of ecosystems, the ambiguities of biotechnological promises and the prospect of a post-human world.
Additional content
Maja Smrekar
https://www.majasmrekar.org
Hybrid Family
https://www.majasmrekar.org/k-9topology-hybrid-family
Miha Godec
https://godec.art
Gjino Šutić
https://mtflabs.net/gjino-sutic
Thomas Feuerstein
https://www.thomasfeuerstein.net
Richard Pell
https://postnatural.org/rich-pell
Paul Vanouse
https://www.paulvanouse.com
Adam Zaretsky
https://inarts.eu/en/lab/staff/zaretsky
Ionat Zurr and Oron Catts
https://tcaproject.net
Yann Marussich
https://www.yannmarussich.ch/home.php
Eduardo Kac
https://www.ekac.org
Steve Kurtz
http://critical-art.net
The documentary My Octopus Teacher (2020) by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Octopus_Teacher
COLOPHON
Host: Régine Debatty
Guest: Maja Smrekar
Recording: Régine Debatty
Music, editing and audio mix: Gašper Torkar
The Future Behind Us podcast series
Curated by: Régine Debatty
Coordinated by: Janez Fakin Janša
Produced by: Marcela Okretič
Production:
Aksioma | Institute for Contemporary Art Ljubljana, 2024
Part of:
PXXP•XXV: Speculation and Decay
Conceived and co-organised by:
Aksioma
For:
Pixxelpoint – 25th International Festival of Contemporary Art Practices
Produced and co-organised by:
Nova Gorica Arts Centre
In the framework of:
GO! 2025 – European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica 2025
Supported by:
the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Municipality of Nova Gorica