About
We are Nonhuman Nonsense, a research-driven art and design collective working in the realm of social dreaming and world-making. Our projects engage with the nonhuman: animals, objects, ecology, technology, and the spectres between and beyond categories.
We see nonsense as an antidote to โcommon senseโ โ embracing paradoxical stories to explore the ethical and metaphysical layers of our relationship with the (nonhuman) world. We create contradictory scenarios & propositions in which we appropriate ideas from fields such as science, computing, law and mythology. Our projects take various forms - interactive installations, workshops, short films, public sculptures, campaigns, chatbots and books.
We enjoy curiosity, cherish compassion, and recognize that separating the human from the nonhuman is nonsense.
Nonhuman Nonsense in studio. Photo Samuel Zeller
We frequently collaborate with other beings, including scientists, researchers and friends but at the core consist of 3 people - Leo Fidjeland, Linnea Vรฅglund, and Filips Staลislavskis, based between Riga, Malmรถ and Dharamshala.
NONHUMAN
Animals, objects, ecology, technology โฆ and the specters in-between and beyond.
NONSENSE
We take aim outside the status quo, challenging the power structures that uphold the common sense, to the point where some (humans) will call us nonsense. We seek the impossible - precisely that which escapes the current metaphysical paradigm.
NON NON
We are not nothing, we keep doing something.
HUMAN SENSE
We take our starting point in the senses and the affective - that which drives us towards motion. We explore meaning making, and wish to cultivate human sensibility/awareness.
NONHUMAN SENSE
We stay curious and humble to nonhuman sense, their umwelt and epistemology. We turn, with solidarity, to the nonhuman, allowing other entities to exist.
NON NONSENSE
We are not no-nonsense, but we are at least not only nonsense; non-nonsense lies somewhere between no-nonsense and nonsense - we want to start where language ends.
NON NONHUMAN
We are non-nonhuman - not only human, and not only non-human. We retain an experiential locus in the human subject.
EXHIBITIONS
COUNCIL OF FOREST
Hybrid Event
Prototype Launch and presentation
Stockholm, Sweden & online, 2 June 2025
COSMOPOLITICS
Kunstbruecke am Wildenbruch
Curated by Polynome collective
Berlin, Germany, 5 Apr - 1 Jun 2025
EUROPEAN OCEAN DAYS
GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts
Curated by Sabine Epple & Silvia Gaetti
Brussels, Belgium, 3 - 7 Mar 2025
THE SPIRIT OF ASILOMAR
Asilomar Conference Grounds
Presenting โCouncil of Foodsโ at the Summit
Pacific Grove, USA, 23 - 26 Feb 2025
FUTURES (ZUKรNFTE)
GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts
Curated by Sabine Epple & Silvia Gaetti
Leipzig, Germany, 21 Nov 2024 - 24 Aug 2025
CHIMERA ISLAND
Taiwan Contemporary Culture Lab (C-LAB)
Taipei Digital Art Festival
Curated by Kunag-Yi Ku & Hsiang-Wen Chen
Taipei, Taiwan, 2-17 Nov 2024
AFTER THE DINOSAURS, THE ANTHROPOCENE
Seodaemun Museum of Natural History
๊ณต๋ฃก ๋ค์, ์ธ๊ฐ
Seoul, Republic of Korea, 15 Oct 2024 - 28 May 2025
NATURARCHY
IMAL
Result of residency at JRC SciArt, Resonances IV
Brussels, Belgium, 25 May - 29 Sep 2024
COUNCIL OF FOODS
Studio Other Spaces
S+T+ARTS Residency: HUNGRY ECOCITIES
Berlin, Germany, 17 May 2024
ART SAFARI #39 KRรSA VESMรRNร
Studio Bubec
Curated by Daniela Kramerovรก
Prague, Czech Republic, 18-26 May 2024
FUTURE FOODSCAPES
University of Barcelona
MUSAE, S+T+ARTS Residency
Barcelona, Spain, 9-10 Apr 2024
DINOSAURE DOMESTIQUE
Museum of Postnatural History
Curated by Gil Oliveira, Museum of Postnatural History
Neuchรขtel, Switzerland, 16 Mar - 11 Aug 2024
RE:PUBLICA 23: CASH
Festsaal Kreuzberg
AI-Bertโs Fresh Place interactive installation
Berlin, Germany, 5-7 Jun 2023
THE ANIMAL FARM SIMULATOR
Hyundai Motorstudio
Curated by Evelyn Chen
Beijing, China, 28 Apr - 8 Oct 2023
BEYOND BORDERS AND BINARIES
MU Hybrid Art House
Curated by Angelique Spaninks
Eindhoven, Netherlands, 16 Dec 2022 - 16 Apr 2023
THE PLANETARIAN
751 d park, Beijing Design Festival
Curated by Anouchka Van Driel & Anne Zhou
Beijing, China, 28 Oct - 29 Nov 2022
SUPERMARKET OF THE FUTURE
Dutch Design Week
Curated by Chloรฉ Rutzerveld
Eindhoven, Netherlands, 22 - 30 Oct 2022
GENE CULTURES
MIT Museum
Curated by William Meyers
Boston, USA, 2 Oct 2022 - 2024
UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS
Triennale Milano
Curated by Ersilia Vaudo, Chief Diversity Officer for ESA
Milano, Italy, 15 July - 11 Dec 2022
COSMOPOLITICS
Buropolis
Initiated by Polynome
Marseilles, France 15 Apr - 14 May 2022
DRIVING THE HUMAN
Radialsystem
Initiated by Forecast, by Freo Majer, in collaboration with Jan Boelen (HfG/Atelier LUMA), Martina Schraudner (acatech/CERRI), and the curatorial team of ZKM.
Berlin, Germany 15โ17 Oct 2021
ALIENATED
Exhibition space 38CC
Curated by Isabelle Bisseling
Delft, Netherlands, 14 Aug - 10 Jul 2021
INTERSPECIES FUTURES
Center for Book Arts
Curated by Oscar Salguero
New York City, USA, 16 Apr - 26 Jul 2021
POST-SPECULATIVE DESIGN AND DECOLONIZATION OF THE FUTURE
Electromuseum
Curated by ะะปะธัะฐ ะกะผะพัะพะดะธะฝะฐ
Moscow, Russia, 5 Feb - 4 Apr 2021
YOUNG SWEDISH DESIGN 2020 TOUR
Rรถhsska museet, Gรถteborg, 3 Oct - 1 Nov
Utopia Galleria, Umeรฅ, 1 - 11 Sep
Form/Design Center Malmรถ, 13 Jun - 16 Aug
IKEA Museum, รlmhult, 29 Apr - 4 Jun
ArkDes, Stockholm, 3 Feb- 22 Mar
with Svensk Form
Sweden, 2020
DDW 2020: THE NEW INTIMACY
Dutch Design Week 2020
Online exhibition
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 17-25 Oct 2020
NATURE TAKES OVER
รsterรคngens konsthall
with Biosphere Area รstra Vรคtterbranterna
Jรถnkรถping, Sweden, 26 Jun - 23 Aug 2020
SUSTAIN ABLE VOICES
IKEA museum
IKEA x the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design
Sweden:
รlmhult, IKEA Museum, 5 Mar 2020-31 Jan 2021
Linkรถping, Linkรถping university 14-18 sep 2020 and Skylten 5-11 Oct 2020
Leksand, Wallรฉnhallen, Leksands folkhรถgskola, Oct 2020
Norrkรถping, Hallarna, 21-26 Sept 2020
รstersund, DIรS fastigheter, 16 โ 26 Nov 2020
Hรคrnรถsand, Vรคsternorrlands Museum, Bengt Lindstrรถm-rummet, 3 Mar โ 29 Aug 2021
Karlstad, Vรคrmlands Museum, 17 May-29 Aug 2021
รrebro, Kulturkvarteret, 15 jan-27 feb 2022
international:
Washington DC, USA, House of Sweden, 5 Mar-28 Jun 2020
Bukarest, Rumania, Romania Design Week, 4-13 jun 2021
St Petersburg, Russia, MEGA, jun 2021
Copenhagen, Denmark, 3daysofdesign, 16-18 Aep 2021
Kinshasa, Kongo-Kinshasa, Kinshasa Design Week, Oct 2021
THE AGE OF. | Chapter II
Stockholm Design Week
curated by Jenny Lee & Petra Lilja
Stockholm, Sweden, 3-9 Feb 2020
PRZEMIANY FESTIVAL | Appetite and Apathy
Copernicus Science Centre
curated by Michaล Grzymaลa & Patrycja Strzetelska
Warsaw, Poland, 3-6 Oct 2019
GOGBOT 2019 | BIO THE NEW DIGITAL
Festival for Art Music and Creative Technology
creative direction by Kees de Groot
Enschede, the Netherlands, 5-8 Sep 2019
THE AGE OFโฆ? โ A PROCESS EXHIBITION
Form/Design Center
curated by Jenny Lee & Petra Lilja of non:agency
Malmรถ, Sweden, 27 Aug - 6 Oct 2019
DA VINCI CREATIVE 2019 | Living Life
Seoul Art Space Geumcheon
art direction by Cheon Heahyun
Seoul, South Korea, 2019
DEEP TRASH Eco Trash
Bethnal Green Working Men's Club
Hosted by CUNTemporary
London, UK, 19 Apr 2019
Tlรถn โHuman Life Center: Dreaming, Trauma and Seeds (for futures to come)โ
Inkonst
Malmรถ, Sweden, 5-6 Apr 2019
ReShape: Mutating Systems, Bodies and Perspectives
MU Artspace
curated by William Myers and Angelique Spaninks
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 2018
United Nations: Convention on Biological Diversity
Conference of Parties (COP-14)
accredited by UAL
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 2018
BioDesign: From Inspiration to Integration
Rhode Island School of Design
Edna Lawrence Nature Lab
curated by William Meyers
Providence, RI, USA, 2018
United Nations: Convention on Biological Diversity
Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-22)
accredited by UAL
Montrรฉal, Canada, 2018
CSM: Degree Show
MA Material Futures
Central Saint Martins
University of the Arts London
London, England, 2018
DDW 2017: Embassy of Food
Dutch Design Week 2017
curated by Marije Vogelzang
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, 2017
Biosynthetic Futures (solo)
Biolab at Stockholm Makerspace
supported by RISE Interactive
Stockholm, Sweden, 2016
iGEM Stockholm
International Genetically Engineered Machine
SMITe - Spider Silk Mediated Infection Treatment
Team Members
Boston, MA, USA, 2016
Moving Art Project
Project โX/1872 X1 - No meaningful orbitโ featured
Stockholm, Sweden, 2016
Future Land
Museum of Work
Project โStadsbornas trรคdgรฅrdโ featured
Norrkรถping, Sweden, 2014 - 2018
CYKEL/BIKE
ArkDes: Swedens national centre for architecture and design
Project โCykelkollektivetโ featured
Stockholm, Sweden, 2014
Awards+
Honors
Bio Art & Design Award (BAD)
The BAD Award aims to stimulate emerging designers and artists to delve into the world of bio art and bio design, and produce new work in close collaboration with prestigious Dutch (life) scientists. Every year in winter, three winning projects are on show at MU Hybrid Art House, where they are presented in a thematic exhibition alongside other bio art & design works.
Award for Creative Technology (ACT)
The STRP Award for Creative Technology (ACT) is a prize for makers who connect art and technology in an authentic and original way. The 15,000eur award is granted for the realization of new work by young talents. STRP also offers productional guidance for the development, production and presentation of new work during STRP Festival which takes place from 2 to 5 April 2020 in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Ung Svensk Form 2020
The young Swedish Design award and exhibition was created with the aim of increasing the knowledge and widening the scope of new, innovative Swedish design; helping it reach new audiences and initiate dialogues. The works will be shown on the exhibition which will tour in Sweden and abroad for a year and a half.
Michael Treschow Scholarship
This award is presented annually to one person in Sweden who graduated from a design education within the last two years. It is selected on a collected portfolio that displays audacity, novelty and delight. Awarded 100000kr and invited to present at HDK in Gothenburg, Sweden. 2016
International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM)
The iGEM Competition is a competition in Synthetic Biology, where students work together to solve real-world challenges by building genetically engineered biological systems with standard, interchangeable parts. Our team, iGEM Stockholm 2016, was awarded with a Gold Medal, and was also nominated for โBest Presentationโ and โBest Education and Public Engagementโ. 2016
ARTS project
Project โBiosynthetic possessionsโ was selected as one of five winners in the ARTS (Accelerating and Rescaling Transitions to Sustainability) project: a three year long research project, funded by the European Commission through the FP7 programme, to understand how transition initiatives can accelerate sustainability transitions. 2015
Future Architecture Platform
The platform invites emerging creatives to apply with the ideas, visions and projects they consider important for the future of architecture. Project โBiosynthetic possessionsโ was selected as one of 25 winners out of 291 submissions, and was invited to speak at the Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubliana, Slovenia. 2015
Ulla Frรถberg-Cramerโs Scholarship
This award is presented annually to students of Konstfack Industrial Design who show exceptional promise. 2015
PRESS+
LINKS
Itโs Nice That: Pink Chicken Project
Dezeen: Driving the Human presents 21 Visions for Sustainable Cohabiting
Dagens Nyheter: Young Swedish form in successful exhibition at ArkDes
VICE Motherboard: These People Want to Genetically Engineer Pink Chickens
Gizmodo Earther: The Fossils of the 21st Century
Next Nature Network: Pink GM Chicken Marks Anthropocene
Makery: Who wants to eat flourescent pink chicken?
Dezeen: Creative Ideas to change the food system
SpeculativeEdu: Case Study: Pink Chicken Project
Discover Magazine: Scientists propose a new Marker for the Anthropocene: Chickens
Ahram Online: Swedish duo bring pink chicken to Egypt to raise debate about new gene editing tech
Education
Design Academy Eindhoven
University of Arts, Crafts and Design
BA Man & Leisure (Filips)
Eindhoven, Netherlands 2016 - 2021
Aalto University
School of Arts, Design and Architecture
Exchange semester (Filips)
Espoo, Finland 2018 - 2019
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
University of the Arts London
MA Material Futures (Leo & Linnea)
London, UK 2016 - 2018
Konstfack
University of Arts, Crafts and Design
BA Industrial Design (Linnea)
Stockholm, Sweden 2012 - 2015
Parsons
The New School for Design
Exchange semester in Product Design (Linnea)
New York City, NY, USA 2014
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
BSc Engineering Physics (Leo)
Stockholm, Sweden 2009 - 2012
Contact
@nonhuman_nonsense
hello@nonhuman-nonsense.com
+371 26204110
Say hello!
We are always interested in new connections, ideas, collaborations and invitations! :)