scientific laboratory

Abstract

Post-humanist and post-anthropocentric theories question the values of humanism that perpetuate human dominance and the dual worldview. In this way, they conceive of nature-culture as a continuum rather than a dichotomy, affirm that matter is part of culture and technology, and break with the idea of the human being as the supreme species in the evolutionary chain. Within this sphere of principles fits the theory of New Materialism, specifically Karen Barad’s Agential Realism, which advocates a post-humanist performativity in which matter, human and non-human, has agency and is dynamically intra-active, allowing for a continuous reconfiguration of the world. In order to structure a theoretical-practical convergence, this article seeks to articulate Barad’s theory with aspects of contemporary art. In the first part, establishing connections with artistic practices in scientific laboratories, paying particular attention to microagencies and the dynamics of microperformativity, and in the second part, giving emphasis to laboratory staging in artistic exhibitions, to the scientific instruments and apparatuses used and the inherent aspects of biomediality. Concluding that the aforementioned artistic and curatorial practices are important mediation elements in establishing an articulation and understanding between the theory of Agential Realism and laboratory practices, not rarely, inaccessible to the public. In this way, it offers the possibility of knowledge and discernment of this continuous reconfiguration of the world, from a different perspective of the standard narrative that positions the human being as the epitome of the world’s becoming.