Las piedras saben dormir

Inspired by J. David’s 2016 article La vida privada de las rocas and by José Dávila’s exhibition Las piedras saben dormir at EstaciónMAZ, this workshop explores the philosophical concept of panpsychism* and other animist ideas to experiment with forms of communication with the non-human as tools for creation. Through exercises using open-source artificial intelligence trained offline, participants will explore possible visual, sonic, and written languages emerging from stones and their configurations.

Édgar Mondragón is an artist, writer, collaborator with robots, and observer of the animisms that inhabit digital devices. He studied Electronic Engineering at ITESO and participated in the Literary Essay Workshop led by Israel Carranza. He teaches Robotics at the Centro de Artes Audiovisuales and advises creative projects at ITESO. In his collaborative work, he translates concepts and emotions into digital art, exploring digital materiality and contemporary forms of electronic animism.

Since 2008, he has participated in the production of video art, interactive, and digital art, and has collaborated on projects for institutions such as the Fonoteca Nacional, the Museo de Arte de Zapopan, and Francis Alÿs’s studio. He is a digital copyist for MarginaliaMS, and his texts have been published in Luvina and various online magazines.

* Panpsychism is a contemporary philosophical current that proposes that all matter—even inanimate entities such as stones or atoms—possesses some degree of consciousness or experience, however minimal it may be.

— MAZ

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