“Aquadisia” by Stephanie Rothenberg

Title:

Aquadisia

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):

Stephanie Rothenberg

Symposium:

ISEA2020: 26th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Medium:

Website and participatory performance

Artist Statement:

Aquadisia explores the queering of biopolitical power in the quest to engineer nonhuman life for human survival. For ISEA 2020, the project manifests as an immersive website and participatory performance about a new species of cyborg oysters that can cure climate change. Merging fact and fiction, the narrative centers around the genetic modification of a new species of cyborg oysters that can convert toxic water into an aphrodisia-inducing fluid. Harvested in innovative aquaculture farms, the fluid is piped into municipal water sources. By simply turning on your kitchen faucet, you can pour a glass of this magical liquid and take part in a more-than-human experience.

Playing on the libidinal myth of the oyster, a hermaphroditic organism, the project explores aphrodisia as a more sentient state of being and empowerment. The sensations move beyond mere sexual connotations into an awakened state of “Aquadisia” – a Sentience 2.0. It questions the contradictions within new technological models of bioengineering that can often adversely affect nonhuman life, and how creating more sentient and perceptible “humans” might be another path to consider.

The immersive website offers a glimpse into how the science meets a new Sentience 2.0. To participate in the performance, participants must log-on to the website and connect to the Aquadisia Network. And be sure to have a glass of water ready!