About

Nonhuman Nonsense is 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 specters between and beyond categories.

We see nonsense as an antidote to “common sense” – we embrace paradoxical stories to explore the ethical and metaphysical layers of the concepts that we normally take as reality: such as law, science, mythology, or consciousness. We enjoy curiosity, cherish compassion, and recognize that separating the human from the nonhuman is nonsense.

Nonhuman Nonsense in studio, with assistant Filips Stanislavskis. Photo Samuel Zeller — Nonhuman Nonsense in studio. Photo Samuel Zeller

Consisting of Leo Fidjeland, Linnea Våglund, and Filips Staņislavskis, it is based between Berlin, Riga, Malmö and Dharamshala.

hello@nonhuman-nonsense.com

NONHUMAN

Animals, objects, ecology, technology … 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

RE:PUBLICA
MU Hybrid Art House
AI-Bert’s 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 Chloé 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 15–17 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 Алиса Смородина
Moscow, Russia, 5 Feb - 4 Apr 2021

YOUNG SWEDISH DESIGN 2020 TOUR
Röhsska museet, Göteborg, 3 Oct - 1 Nov
Utopia Galleria, Umeå, 1 - 11 Sep
Form/Design Center Malmö, 13 Jun - 16 Aug
IKEA Museum, Älmhult, 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
Österängens konsthall
with Biosphere Area Östra Vätterbranterna
Jönköping, Sweden, 26 Jun - 23 Aug 2020

SUSTAIN ABLE VOICES
IKEA museum
IKEA x the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design
Sweden:
Älmhult, IKEA Museum, 5 Mar 2020-31 Jan 2021
Linköping, Linköping university 14-18 sep 2020 and Skylten 5-11 Oct 2020
Leksand, Wallénhallen, Leksands folkhögskola, Oct 2020
Norrköping, Hallarna, 21-26 Sept 2020
Östersund, DIÖS fastigheter, 16 – 26 Nov 2020
Härnösand, Västernorrlands Museum, Bengt Lindström-rummet, 3 Mar – 29 Aug 2021
Karlstad, Värmlands Museum, 17 May-29 Aug 2021
Örebro, 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 Michał Grzymała & 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 OF…? – A PROCESS EXHIBITION
Form/Design Center
curated by Jenny Lee & Petra Lilja of non:agency
Malmö, 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

Tlön “Human Life Center: Dreaming, Trauma and Seeds (for futures to come)”
Inkonst
Malmö, 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
Montréal, 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 “X/1872 X1 - No meaningful orbit” featured
Stockholm, Sweden, 2016

Future Land
Museum of Work
Project “Stadsbornas trädgård” featured
Norrköping, Sweden, 2014 - 2018

CYKEL/BIKE
ArkDes: Swedens national centre for architecture and design
Project “Cykelkollektivet” 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 “Best Presentation” and “Best Education and Public Engagement”. 2016

ARTS project
Project “Biosynthetic possessions” 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 “Biosynthetic possessions” 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 Fröberg-Cramer’s Scholarship
This award is presented annually to students of Konstfack Industrial Design who show exceptional promise. 2015