Public defence in Contemporary Art, MFA Margherita Pevere

MFA Margherita Pevere will defend the thesis "Arts of Vulnerability. Biological Arts and Queer Studies as Artistic Research" on 3 March at 12:00 in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Art and Media, in lecture hall A1, Otakaari 1, Espoo, and online in Zoom.

Opponent: Prof. Meike Schalk, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Custos: Prof. Helena Sederholm, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Art and Media

The public defence will also be organized via remote technology. Follow defence: https://aalto.zoom.us/j/62744005649
Zoom Quick Guide: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/zoom-quick-guide

Thesis available for public display at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/
Doctoral theses in the School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/54

Public defence announcement

The dissertation addresses artistic practice that combines the manipulation of organic and living matter with biotechnology (bioart) with a more-than-human theoretical framework of feminist studies, queer studies and environmental humanities.

At the heart of the research there are the two bioart works Semina Aeternitatis (2019) and Wombs (2018–2021). Semina Aeternitatis manipulates individual memories through a series of biotechnological procedures and genetic engineering of bacteria. The series Wombs (W.01, W.02, W.03) addresses sex, gender and hormonal contraception from an ecological perspective. I realized both artworks in collaboration with international scientific laboratories. Placing the artworks at its heart makes this dissertation a contribution to the field of artistic research. After giving insights into the realization of the artworks, I offer the two concepts ‘arts of vulnerability’ (AoV) and ‘poetics of uncontainability’ (PoU). These interrelated concepts illuminate different aspects of engaging and making art with unstable, living materials. The concepts emerge as aesthetic instances rooted in the art practice but, through the queerfeminist theoretical framework, become ethical and epistemic tools to deal with the more-than-human in unstable times.

Contact information of doctoral candidate: