Metaspore is a research initiative led by conceptual artist Anicka Yi that aims to generate self-perpetuating “spores” of social trust and connective exploration for the 21st century. Recognizing a planetary paradigm shift fueled by the multivalent advances and crises of the previous century, Metaspore seeks to bring vanguard thinkers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines together in action before a new paradigm solidifies, in order to better shape its outcomes.

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Upcoming: Fall Symposium

Pilot chapter

Metaspore x Stanford

In the form of a student fellowship and spring course, Yi will collaborate with Stanford students and faculty on a series of extended reality (VR, AR, MR) experiments that explore the more-than-human sensorium. Expanding on her concept of “biologizing the machine,” which expresses an urgency towards the current mergings of bio and tech, Yi will work with Stanford to investigate how we might incorporate diverse sensory ecologies and the perceptual worlds of other life forms into our immersive technologies.

Research Areas

Research Areas

Research Areas

Research Areas

Research Areas

Research Areas

Research Areas

BIO-TECHNO-SPHERES

Bio-Techno-Spheres

How do our technologies connect with or abstract from the biological? Expanding beyond a Western monocultural perspective, technologies can be expressive of different worldviews, a concept philosopher Yuk Hui has termed “technodiversity.” We seek multiplicities, overlaps, and symbiotic connections between biodiversities and technodiversities.

SENSORY ECOLOGIES

Sensory Ecologies

How is the full human sensorium poised to be incorporated or denied by our immersive technologies and what might the political consequences of this transformation be? Beyond the human, how can we better understand and communicate the experiences of organisms with vastly different sensoria from our own?

Regenerative Time

Regenerative Time

In our accelerated age of late capitalist hyper-productivity, how can we use time as a strategy for regeneration? Amidst an ongoing state of “permacrisis,” the urgency for regeneration applies not only to our psyches and bodies, but to our companion species, our ecosystems, and our planet as a whole.

Another Science

Another Science

While making strides in terms of discovery, Western scientific practices have facilitated alienation from the living world, exploitation of the environment, and the dehumanization of non-Western and subaltern peoples. Can we mend these ruptures and revive vital worldviews and forms of knowledge-making that have been suppressed by Western scientific positivism?

Network Weaving

Network Weaving

How can we seize upon emerging networks of decentralized commerce, communication, and organization to build new communities? Resisting binary extremes of overhype and anxiety over decentralized technologies such as cryptocurrencies, DAOs, web3, etc., can we steer these technologies towards true global support systems and connection rather than financialized information exchange?

More Than Human

More Than Human

Discoveries made in the fields of microbiome research, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science are beginning to erode foundational concepts of Western liberalism, such autonomy and human exceptionalism. We convene scientists who interrogate these assumptions with the political thinkers and artists who are challenging the structures and norms derived from them.

Research Areas

BIO-TECHNO-SPHERES
How do our technologies connect with or abstract from the biological? Expanding beyond a Western monocultural perspective, technologies can be expressive of different worldviews, a concept philosopher Yuk Hui has termed “technodiversity.” We seek multiplicities, overlaps, and symbiotic connections between biodiversities and technodiversities.

SENSORY ECOLOGIES
How is the full human sensorium poised to be incorporated or denied by our immersive technologies and what might the political consequences of this transformation be? Beyond the human, how can we better understand and communicate the experiences of organisms with vastly different sensoria from our own?

REGENERATIVE TIME
In our accelerated age of late capitalist hyper-productivity, how can we use time as a strategy for regeneration? Amidst an ongoing state of “permacrisis,” the urgency for regeneration applies not only to our psyches and bodies, but to our companion species, our ecosystems, and our planet as a whole.

ANOTHER SCIENCE
While making strides in terms of discovery, Western scientific practices have facilitated alienation from the living world, exploitation of the environment, and the dehumanization of non-Western and subaltern peoples. Can we mend these ruptures and revive vital worldviews and forms of knowledge-making that have been suppressed by Western scientific positivism?

NETWORK WEAVING
How can we seize upon emerging networks of decentralized commerce, communication, and organization to build new communities? Resisting binary extremes of overhype and anxiety over decentralized technologies such as cryptocurrencies, DAOs, web3, etc., can we steer these technologies towards true global support systems and connection rather than financialized information exchange?

MORE THAN HUMAN
Discoveries made in the fields of microbiome research, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science are beginning to erode foundational concepts of Western liberalism, such autonomy and human exceptionalism. We convene scientists who interrogate these assumptions with the political thinkers and artists who are challenging the structures and norms derived from them.