The topics addressed in the exhibition 'The Heavy Air That Surrounds Us' will be set forth in a conversation with the artist Anaïs Senli, and two guests, namely Regina de Miguel and Maria Morata. The title 'No Matter Functions as a Border' is a quote taken from Senli's new work – conceived in collaboration with Sonia Fernandez Pan – 'The Contaminated Origin of Life' and points to the permeability of solids, but also to the idea of border as a fiction. This gathering aims to create a conversation around the speculative character of the exhibition in order to put into practice a certain resistance to anthropocentric thought. Departing from plankton, prokaryotic bacteria and crude oil, the talk will seek to provoke contact between some of the surfaces that make up what we understand by the world. How does our understanding of us as humans affects the way we see and interact with the world? Is it possible to think beyond us?

ANAÏS SENLI is an artist and independent curator based in Berlin. She studied at the University of Fine Arts in Barcelona, and graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts where she also received a post-graduate diploma as 'Meisterschülerin'. She later on completed the 'Art in Context' MA program Berlin University of the Arts, and attended a program in philosophy by the National Distance Education University (UNED). With a background in painting, she has come to expand to video art and installation, while at the same time engaging in curatorial projects. Throughout the various branches of her practice she explores topics rooted in feminist theory, ecological thought, and science philosophy. Senli has participated in numerous exhibitions in Spain and Germany, in spaces like Hangar (ES), Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien (DE), Kunsthaus Erfurt (DE), Haus am Lützowplatz/Studiogalerie (DE), Gallery Wedding (DE), and GlogauAir (DE). In Barcelona, she is represented by Sala Parés since 2005 and has participated in Berlin´s Gallery Weekend (DE), the International Contemporary Art Fair SWAB (ES), and the Fair Arts Libris (ES), among others.

REGINA DE MIGUEL is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Berlin. In her practice she addresses the speculative character of knowledge, rewriting the supposedly objective and truthful account of science with the help of magic, mythology, poetry and fiction. She proposes a more holistic and interactive vision of the various areas of knowledge in order to tackle the biopolitical problems in the contemporary world. She has had solo shows at _C3A, Córdoba (2018); Capella de Sant Roc, Valls, Tarragona (2016); Centro Cultural Santa Mónica, Barcelona (2016); Kunsthalle Sao Paulo (2014) and Maisterravalbuena, Madrid (2019, 2015, 2012) among others. Her work was recently included in group shows and programmes at for example CIAJG Guimaraes, Portugal; Centre Pompidou, Málaga; Momentum 10 Bienal, Moss, Noruega (all 2019); Cultural Institute of León, Guanajuato, México; Cultural Institute of León, Guanajuato, México; Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; and Centro Centro, Madrid (all 2018).

MARIA MORATA is an independent curator, researcher and lecturer. Expert in experimental and avant-garde film, her current research focusses on the relationship of media technology with human and non-human agents in the critique of anthropocentrism. She has curated projects for Arsenal – Institute for Film und Videoart, Berlin; CCCB, MACBA and Centre Ars Santa Mónica, Barcelona; Intermediae Matadero and La Casa Encendida, Madrid; Sterischer Herbst, Graz; Impakt Center, Utrecht; and Centre del Carme Cultura Contemporània, Valencia. She has been working as a guest lecturer at universities and art schools in film, new media and fine arts since 2007 (Berlin University of the Arts, Goethe University Frankfurt, University of Potsdam among others) and has published numerous texts for catalogues and specialized publications. Based in Berlin she forms part of the selection commitee for short films in the Berlinale – International Film Festival Berlin (since 2009), the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival, as well as the Dok Leipzig Film Festival.

LENA JOHANNA REISNER is a Berlin-based curator and writer. With a degree in cultural studies from the University of Hildesheim, she most recently worked as curatorial fellow in Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien and as a curator for Galerie im Turm. Past exhibitions include 'Creatures of the Mud' at Westfälischer Kunstverein, Munster (2016); as well as 'Capitalo, Chthulu and a Much Hotter Compost Pile' at Kunstraum/Kreuzberg Bethanien (co-curated with Lorena Juan and Anaïs Senli), which looked into the counter-discourse to the Anthropocene. 'Tangible Remains. Hidden Matters' at Decad, Berlin (2018), was a two-artist exhibition focusing on the geology of media. At Galerie im Turm Reisner has realized solo shows and programs with Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa, Gil Delindro, Henrike Naumann, Viviana Druga, Antje Majewski & Paweł Freisler, and co-curated (with Sylvia Sadzinski) the group show 'Pouring into an Array of Characters' about forms of connectedness and communication. Reisner is an ICI Curatorial Intensive alumni and was previously curator-in-residence at Schloss Ringenberg. She has worked as curatorial assistant within the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; as a project manager for KOW, Berlin; and has interned in dOCUMENTA (13)‘s department for Maybe Education and Public Programs.

Image: Anaïs Senli, 'The Heavy Air That Surrounds Us', installation view Galerie im Turm, 2019, photo: Eric Tschernow