Friday August 4th, 2023
Doors at 8:30pm | Show at 9:00pm
Spaces are limited, RSVP here
The Museum of Human Achievement, 3600 Lyons Rd, Austin, TX 78702

"Gather 'round for a haunting storytelling drive-in at the end of the world.

We've developed the technology to commune with the mysterious, hidden mycelial intelligence under our feet. It seems to have an seismic wisdom about how to grapple with what feels like the end of times.

Unfortunately, we've discovered that this mycelium is quite hungry...for stories.

We need to figure out the language of the mycelium's plant partners to commune with this intelligence.

In the safety of their cars, participants will unlock the secrets of plant-mycelial communication, submitting their stories of climate-anxiety and livability along the way.

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Cathryn Ploehn is an interaction designer and professor. Her work interrogates how to design for livability in the midst of climate crisis and injustice. To this end, she creates data visualizations, taking the form of botanical simulations, to help de-estrange us from ecological community (humans and more).

cathrynploehn.com

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This project was developed for the CATS+ residency program. The Collaborative Art + Technology Situation (CATS+) residency program encourages thoughtful, critical, creative engagement with technology by pairing artists and tech wizards to learn together, make new projects, and share their process. We host collaborations, artist-led workshops, hangouts, public showcases, and a wiki to remove the mystery from tech and make magic together.

The CATS+ residents are Sebastien Hubiera, Temitrope Olujobi, Rose Ott, E Pettigrew, Cathryn Ploehn, and Miranda Viskatis. Contributing mentors and artists include Kristine Fernandez, Rachel Weil, Kristin Lucas, Cindy Popp, Jay Roff-Garcia and Rachel Stuckey.