“Imaginaries in Becoming: The Dynamic Archive” presented by Sick, Kukric and Antipan Olate

Departing from one of the topics previously discussed in ISEA symposia, this paper introduces an artistic research project, The Dynamic Archive (thedynamicarchive.net). As an open source, collaborative platform that collects processes and methods, it represents another direction in archival strategies in the age of computation.

The paper will also further explore the term “symbioses” by describing relations that occur within the project, such as the relations between curator and contributor, component and version, and its digital and physical presence. Since it could be regarded as a symbiotic organization that aims at creating symbiotic imaginaries, the paper will work through how these notions relate to The Dynamic Archive and possible alternative terms to consider. Taking the book Symbiotic Planet by Lynn Margulis as a starting point, the paper will look into notions such as Karan Barad’s “becoming” (focusing on process), and “virtual” (or “non-local”, as Denise Ferreira da Silva calls it). These positions question Western knowledge production and problematize what its systems imply. Our research project reflects on these terms, not only in trying to position itself among them, but in the very attempt to question them.