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Context (Pool) & Technology 2: Art, Intelligences & Materiality

Semester
Spring 2026
Dates

Time: Monday - Thursday, 09:00 - 18:00 o'clock / Friday, 09:00 - 12:00 o'clock

CW 20: 11 / 12 / 13 / 15 May 2026

Interested students of other study programmes can register from 29. January - 9. February 2026 - by email to: studium.dfa@zhdk.ch. You will be informed until the end of calendar week 7 about a possible participation.

ECTS
3
Kunsthochschule
Universität / Haute École
Zürcher Hochschule der Künste
Teacher
Felix Stalder
Contact email
for student applications
Content description

In this seminar, we will read key sections from James Bridle's Book "Ways of Being" (2022), in which he uses his own artistic practice alongside natural and social sciences, philosophy and speculation to investigate the shifting boundaries of what we call ‘intelligence’. We will place this work in the context of his multi-faceted artistic, research and journalistic practices, paying close attention to how his ongoing research interests manifest themselves across a wide range of genres.

 

About the lecturer:

Felix Stalder is a professor at the Zurich University of the Arts, teaching in the Department of Fine Arts. His work focuses on the intersection of cultural, political and technological dynamics, in particular on new modes of commons-based production, copyright, datafication, AI, and transformation of subjectivity. He not only works as an academic, but also as a cultural producer, as long-time moderator of , a crucial nexus of critical net culture, first for the email list, now for its node in the fediverse. He is a member of the World Information Institute and the Technopolitics Working Group, both based in Vienna.

Remarks

Course language: Englisch

Learning objectives:

Students are able to,
- gain an understanding of a major position in contemporary art;
- deal with key issues in contemporary cultural discourses, such as non-human intelligence, cross-species communication, Anthropocene, and AI;
- learn about strategies to work inside and outside the arts, research, radio journalism and writing.