Run with mice, scream with bats, draw maps with a bobtail squid, talk like arctic foxes and move like polar bears. Jiabao Li’s exhibition probes non-human intelligence, helping us shift perspectives through co-creation with more-than-human entities.
Of Sublime and the More-Than-Human
This exhibition explores co-creation with more-than-human entities, investigating how interspecies collaboration can reshape our understanding of agency, intelligence and creativity. Jiabao Li’s practice involves three stages: connecting and embodying non-human species using all senses, speaking up for their needs and creating manifestos, and developing new ways of co-creation and design with non-human systems. In the face of an escalating biodiversity crisis, it is imperative to transcend human-centric paradigms and embrace a multi-speciesist, eco-centric worldview.
Jiabao Li presents a series of works that blend scientific research, technology, activism and artistic expression. Audiences will encounter Squid Map, a reimagined underwater playground that reflects on human borders through the eyes of a squid. Squeeker: The Mouse Coach is an interactive installation where mice become running coaches, emphasizing the impact of non-human agency on human health. Arctic Phantoms presents a series of reflections on the sublime of the Arctic, climate change and the catastrophic consequences of our hubris in attempting to rectify our self-made climate crisis.
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Arctic Phantoms
This series was born from my Arctic Circle residency. I delivered a TED Talk devoid of human language, instead using the voices of Arctic animals affected by climate change.
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Squeeker: The Mouse Coach
Squeeker transforms fitness with a mouse as your coach. This app notifies you to run when your mouse coach starts to run.
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Squid Map
I worked with Marine Lab in Hawaii, where squids lived in plain white tanks. As enrichment, I collected white and black sand from Hawaii and shaped them into countries. The squid moved the sand, crossed borders without a visa, and buried under the sand for camouflage.
Ecocentric Future Lab, The University of Texas at Austin (US)
At the Ecocentric Future Lab located at University of Texas at Austin, under the direction of Assistant Professor Jiabao Li, we are dedicated to fostering a radical shift in our understanding of the world and our place in it. Moving beyond human-centric and profit-driven approaches, our lab explores a multi-species, eco-centric worldview that encourages collaboration and empathy with non-human intelligences. By forging connections, sharing Umwelt, and embodying non-human species’ perspectives, we aim to create a more inclusive, interconnected, and intelligent future that respects and celebrates the full spectrum of life on our planet.
Credits
Jiabao Li
This exhibition is funded by PlanetTexas 2050, Fine Arts Creative Research Grant, and Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Fine Arts Fellowship from The University of Texas at Austin.
