Artificial and Natural
Emergence and Creation Between Art and Science

This talk will explore the blurred boundary between the natural and the artificial in contemporary thought and practice. Advances in sciences continue to challenge traditional dichotomies by developing materials that exhibit intelligence, adaptability, and emergent properties once attributed exclusively to organic life. Simultaneously, philosophical inquiry has questioned the opposition between nature and culture, revealing a continuity that undermines long-standing ontological assumptions. If life appears today less as a mysterious essence and more as a complex organization of matter, how can we still engage with it without falling into either naïve romanticism or reductive materialism? Rather than being opposed forces, emergence and creation are intertwined processes that shape both the living and the artificial. Whether in self-organizing biochemical systems or artistic and technological experimentation, forms arise not through predetermined design but through interactions, constraints, and unpredictable thresholds of complexity.

Host: Martin Hanczyc

Martin Hanczyc established The Laboratory for Artificial Biology in 2014. His research seeks to integrate functional aspects of artificial life, synthetic life, and natural life with an expertise in interfacial dynamics, robot-chemistry interfaces, intelligent materials, and synthetic biology.

Kim Bo-young

Kim Bo-young is a South Korean sci-fi writer. Praised by Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho, she has collaborated as an author on his films. A three-time winner of the South Korean Sci-Fi Literature Award, she was shortlisted for the 2021 National Book Award for On the Origin of Species.

A.A. Murakami

A.A.Murakami is an artist duo based in Tokyo / London, renowned for their innovative sensory installations that explore the connection between art and nature. They're pioneers of "Ephemeral Tech," a form of art that uses technology in combination with ethereal materials.