Klima Magazine
Worlding with the Virtual

Klima Magazine issue 4, Worlding with the virtual, Fabbula, Joey Holder

By Aurore Kinzonzi

Composed in collaboration between Klima and Fabbula, the new issue of Klima magazine, Worlding with the Virtual, deals with the question of the virtual and its interweaving with the real. It begins by referring to the notion of “worlding”, initiated by Donna Haraway. We see this notion as active and cooperative modes of “becoming-with”, which can take the form of speculative fables written by different species, technologies and forms of knowledge.

 

Erwan Sene, abstract1/prop3_drinkstreet, Mirama 2021, Everytime ma'am, 2021, En quels feux lointains brûla le feu de tes prunes, 2021

Erwan Sene, - B..., 2020

If worlding is about composing futures, it is essential for us to include the virtual, whose interactions, interconnections and interdependencies are growing every day. We have therefore invited researchers and artists from many fields of research, including economics, ecology, science and philosophy, as well as artists, collectives of humans and representatives of the other inhabitants of this planet. Worlding with the Virtual brings together articles that present themselves as dynamic and autonomous processes, where each intervention is an ecosystem or the hypothesis of a future. Hybridizations between humans and non-humans with Donna Haraway and Vinciane Despret, speculative ecologies by Joey Holder, a poetic essay by Rindon Johnson, another on swamps by Most Dismal Swamp, and social critiques through video games intersect throughout this issue. Language and multiplayer play connect all of these entities and feature prominently in this issue.

Giulia Essyad, A selene blues, 2021, exhibition view, Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg, photo Guillaume Python

Giulia Essyad, A selene blues, 2021, exhibition view, Fri Art Kunsthalle, Fribourg, photo Guillaume Python

Worlding with the Virtual tends to show some sketches of the complex intertwining of narrative creation. In a world constructed by narratives, whether they be historical, scientific, philosophical, artistic or poetic, the art of composing narratives does matter, enabling possibilities born of particular situations, as the philosopher Didier Debaise explains in his introduction. The virtual is a good catalyst for this, as it populates our daily narratives to open up other chapters. As a space of prefiguration for alternate realities, it calls for a rich speculative fabulation. What possibilities does the virtual offer us? How can we welcome the virtual in our lives and in our struggles?

DISNOVATION.ORG & Baruch Gottlieb, Life Support System, 2021

Sara Sadik

This issue is an opportunity for us to take a critical look at what the virtual is today, what it can do and how it can allow us to conceptualise one or more futures. The virtual as a tool is increasingly present in our lives. It allows us to imagine new developments in the face of the Anthropocene : we want an ecological, inclusive virtual that explores collective practices, human/non-human relations, and speculative hybridisations. A virtual where possibilities and alternatives acquire new powers in the face of insistent probabilities. It is by fabulating these worlds that we can gradually bring them into being around us.  

Katja Novitskova, Earthware (Driverless car seeing a deer for the first time 2), UV printer ink epoxy clay nail polish. Courtsey of the artist, private collection.

 
With the contribution of: Didier Debaise, Clémence Seurat with DISNOVATION.ORG, Omsk Social Club, Sara Sadik, Katja Novitskova, Erwan Sene, Giulia Sene, The Institute of Queer ecology, Miriam Laura Leonardi, Clémentine Bedos, Rindon Johnson, Vinciane Despret, Donna Haraway, Diana Toucedo, Most Dismal Swamp, ECAL Editorial committee: Antonine Scali Ringwald and Loucia Carlier for Klima Fabien Siouffi, Victoire Thevenin, Valentin Ducros, Aurore Kinzonzi and Elisa Klein for Fabbula Klima Magazine issue 4 - Worlding with the Virtual is available here  
About
Fabbula is a cultural practice dedicated to immersive media (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality). We curate art shows, represent artists and advise cultural institutions.