Hell of gnosis

The project aims to draw attention to the catastrophic condition of our planet and the coming changes the consequences of which we will probably not be able to reverse by any effort, driven by the force of our achievements at the expense of ecosystems and other living beings. The great extinction of species, which we are observing today – not the first on our planet – is now being juxtaposed to the self-awareness of Man, who, by his own actions, caused it and it is the Man who is able to delay or stop the process. The eponymous “gnosis”, as a philosophical stance, poses critical questions about the meaning of human existence marked by the constant suffering and violence inherent in the genes of almost all beings on our planet.
Can Man modify biological determinism and, equipped with consciousness, achieve
a higher – different level of life?
The works presented here do not offer definitive answers; instead, they may point to potential human possibilities of Man, which can be used to turn fears into something like a prophecy and a vision of the future, not entirely gloomy. 
Hell of Gnosis is a multi-element installation or, rather, an environment that absorbs the viewer-participant, asking for their presence and interaction on many levels. It is placed in the space of the LABOARTORIUM in a former factory building of the shipyard, with a dilapidated but authentic infrastructure, divided by walls and corridors of unclear and oppressive function. The choice of this site is not coincidental, the former Gdansk Shipyard is one of the more characteristic decayed post-industrial spaces, located practically in the city centre, bearing historical and symbolic significance. It contextualises the industrial aspect of human civilisation and visualises the costs of technological progress.
This intricate space creates disturbing contexts related to biotechnological, IT and medical issues. An undefined function and puzzling processes, which the viewer can modify in an unexpected way, using their own body and presence, so can induce another process or initiate interactions. The dexterity of the interactor, however, does not guarantee the certainty as to the process in which the interactor is participating, as some objects have an autonomous status managed by the algorithm of artificial intelligence. The causative impact of some elements is solely due to non-human causes, operating in real time and processed into creative impulses, modifying the features of the objects. The influence of selected elements, such as atmospheric temperature fluctuations, ocean plankton levels, ocean currents, and earthquakes, depends exclusively on real-time generated information. –  We receive data from meteorological satellites of the EUMETSAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) and these are transformed into impulses that creatively modify aspects of the installation. We remain uncertain as to whether the level of the reproductive capabilities and developmental potential of the 'bricks of life' in the 'primordial soup' of methane, hydrogen, water vapour and organic compounds, such as alanine, glycine, cysteine, methionine, has actually been achieved here and now, which achievement might facilitate its becoming the next Genesis at any time and place. Will we start the next cycle with the Proto-Ocean and modified atmosphere? 
Particular elements constitute here quasi-laboratory and research hybrid spaces, created in collaboration with biologists, chemists, and computer scientists. These clusters of devices and apparatuses form a machine, occupying our imagination, the human imagination looking into its own technosphere like a mirror. It is a specific kind of an augmented body that our civilisation has equipped us with over the last 300 years. The technology we have created is beginning to self-modify and gain autonomy, leaving the human mind outside the symbiotic community. 

Cooperation:
Doctor of Science Katarzyna Jankowska Gdańsk University of Technology Department 
of Technology in Environmental Engineering
Wojciech Tokarczyk - programmer
Marcin Zieliński - sound technology studio of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk

Mariusz Borzyszkowski - intermedia VR effec

The project was co-financed by the Cities of Gdańsk

Sposor _ALGA  Ania & Maciej Śmietańscy
Mariusz Borzyszkowski - intermedia VR effec