Entangled Protocol and the Flowing Edge

We exist, shaped and evolving through constant interactions with others and our surroundings.

The TOKAS Project is designed to foster international exchange and inspire reflection on diverse themes such as art and society from multicultural perspectives. In its eighth edition, in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the exchange between TOKAS and Atelier Mondial in Basel, Switzerland, the project welcomes three groups of artists, Leonardo BÜRGI TENORIO, NAKASHIMA Rika, Monica STUDER/Christoph van den BERG, who have participated in the program in the past, and focuses on questions and responses to fluctuations in perception and the contours of existence.

It was once widely accepted that there are clear differences between humans and non-human entities such as nature, animals, and machinery. However, in recent years, this notion of humans being fundamentally distinct has been questioned, with the boundaries that were once assumed to dominate the mainstream view beginning to blur and draw growing attention. Invisible microorganisms and bacteria lurk around us, exerting influence not only on our bodies but also on our social lives. The scope of perception, in tandem with artificial intelligence and algorithms, is expanding further to reach uncharted realms, and even death and hallucination serve as mediators that can update and transform our conscious experience.

Each artist incorporates visual, auditory, and bodily experiences to explore how the contours of our perception and existence are destabilized. Their works draw on respective themes, including consciousness mediated by digital media, the cycles of life driven by fungi in the natural world and their fermentation beyond human control, and rituals surrounding death. Rather than merely seeking to transcend the human, the artists invite us to turn an eye on the uncertainty—and richness—of remaining human.

We would be delighted if you could join us at the exhibition and be part of its attempt to reconsider what it means to be human—not as a fixed individual state, but conceived as a process that continues to be formed and modified while intertwining with broader environments and social contexts.

Artists: Leonardo Bürgi Tenorio, Nakashima Rika, Monica Studer and Christoph van den Berg.

For more information please visit TOKAS Hongo.