Synocene - Beyond the Anthropocene - for NaturArchy catalogue

Sam Nester is an Australian born, New York City based musician. Using data sonification to create his compositions and sound installations, Nester aims to bring the environment from the background into the foreground at a critical time for environmental awareness. His Arcadia project (2019-present) uses technology to convert the live bio- rhythms of native plants to MIDI data to create immersive site-specific sound and light installations. In 2021, Nester spent time as the artist-in-residence for Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, designing musical scores from seismic data collected by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Between the years of 2015-2018, he traveled from deep in the Australian outback to 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle, interviewing dozens of individuals about life on the frontier in the age of technology. This audiovisual project, Back of Beyond, explores lessons about climate change, Indigenous rights, and community.

Website

Instagram: @1snester

Marina Wainer is a Paris-based artist. She develops a transdisciplinary practice at the crossroads of creation, research and innovation. First deployed in the field of interactive art, then turned towards curatorial events and education, her work proposes sensitive experiences and places the public at the heart of the device. The artist explores both societal issues and spaces of representation to create new perceptions and open up horizons. Three years ago, she started working on the Wild Diplomacy project, around representations of natural elements if they had legal status. A shift in perspective regarding Nature‘s right to exist for itself, which raises the point of how natural elements are subjectivated in Western culture. The intention is to consider the perceptions of non-human expressions; to make perceptible thoughts from other worlds; to invent languages to communicate with ecosystems, in a posture of dialogue that staggers our anthropocentric positioning.

Website

Instagram: @marina_wainer

Lucía Iglesias, Forestry Engineer inspired and specialised in protected areas management by working in National Parks Network in Spain for 15 years, moved to Brussels in 2019, to work on the implementation of nature conservation policy (Habitats and Birds Directives). She is also involved in promoting the EU Natura 2000 network or protected areas and its achievements through the Natura 2000 Award scheme, or the use of the Natura 2000 logo in goods and services. However, the challenges related to the implementation of the nature conservation directives at national level are occupying most of the daily work. When she is not working, she likes illustration and photography, and she enjoys dancing, playing and listening to music.

Isabelle is a PhD researcher on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with 15+ years of experience in the field. She has worked at institutions of different nature: purely academic (Affective Lab - University of Zaragoza; Sorbonne University, Paris), technological centres (Aragon Institute of Technology; Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique, France), and private sector (Herta). Her research interests are affective computing, facial analysis and human-machine interaction. She is currently a scientific officer at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (HUMAINT team), exploring the policy side of AI and contributing to establish the path towards ethical AI in the European Union.>

Marina Xenophontos, Ecological Scientist inspired and specialise in the implementation of the Nature Directives (Birds and Habitats Directives), the establishment of site-specific conservation objectives and conservation measures, the monitoring and reporting for habitats and species, and management of the protected areas by working in Department of Environment in Cyprus for 15 years, moved to Brussels in 2022, to work on the implementation of nature conservation policy (Habitats and Birds Directives). She is also involved in Reporting, the Water Resilience Policy, and the Climate Changes Strategy, in regard to the EU Natura 2000 network or protected areas and. However, the challenges related to the implementation of the nature conservation directives at national level are occupying most of the daily work, she likes exploring nature, walking, and she enjoys cinema, musicals, and concerts.