INSTITUTE FOR TRANSHUMANIST CEPHALOPOD EVOLUTION

Due to the process-based nature of the Session program, this project will undergo constant modifications; the features of this page provide accruing information on the project’s developments.

“This is not just about learning about cephalopods—it’s about adopting their way of thinking, feeling and moving in order to evolve into a new kind of human. Cephalopods represent a frontier in adaptability, distributed intelligence, and consciousness - all things we humans need to survive - and thrive - in our rapidly changing technological and ecological climate. We invite participants to push the boundaries of their own neurobiology and embrace a new paradigm of existence." - Miriam Simun

Recess presents the INSTITUTE FOR TRANSHUMANIST CEPHALOPOD EVOLUTION (ITCE) founded by interdisciplinary artist and researcher Miriam Simun.

In a future marked by polycrisis brought on by rapid climate technological development and climate change, ITCE is dedicated to evolving the human species based on the role model species one the oldest and most adaptable species on planet earth: cephalopods - octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish. Through research, education, and experiential programs, ITCE seeks to expand the boundaries of human perception and intelligence. Committed to developing biotechnologies of practice within existing human bioavailabilities, the Institute fosters radical new perspectives on aptation and self and group transformation. While in residence at Recess, ITCE will expand and deepen its work with collaborators from the fields of invertebrate biology, neuroscience, freediving, somatic practices and group psychology, among others.

On view inside the Session space, will be a series of drawings and paintings made since the inception of the institute, some depicting practices of transcendence, and others made in the altered states of being and sensing developed by the institute. Over the course of the residency, the works on display will change and grow. Also will be the film YOUR URGE TO BREATHE IS A LIE, made with synchronized swimmers, scientists and dancers with whom the original practices were developed.

The space itself will be part somatic playground, part working artist studio. Visitors will be invited to rest in a diversity of architectures made for the body, and explore the library of the INSTITUTE FOR TRANSHUMANIST CEPHALOPOD EVOLUTION.

From May 10 to June 14 ITCE will also introduce the public to the extraordinary adaptations of cephalopods through weekly workshops How to Become an Octopus (and Sometimes Squid). Guided by ITCE founder Miriam Simun, attendees will foster a new kind of listening and connection to the self, the environment, and the other beings in our midst. The workshops unlock enhanced bodily awareness, decentralized cognition, and shapeshifting capabilities.

Workshops topics include:

• Embodied Cognition: Unlike humans, cephalopods engage with their environment primarily through their skin and suckers, effectively thinking through touch. We expand our abilities in both tactile perception and interoception, leading to new modes of awareness and interaction.

• Shapeshifting Capacities: Cephalopods are masters of transformation, altering their form, texture, and behavior to navigate complex environments. By studying these mechanisms, we learn to heighten our situational awareness and cultivate fluidity and adaptability in relational presence.

• Distributed Intelligence: Octopuses possess a radically decentralized nervous system, with the majority of their neurons residing in their arms. Some say the octopus is a single organism with 9 brains. From another perspective, we can say it is nine organisms housed within a single skin. How can multiple humans come to inhabit a single organism with distributed sensory and decision-making capabilities? How is cognition located in the network that spans bodies and environments? Beyond negotiation, beyond collaboration: toward shared cognition.The workshop is informed by insights from cephalopod biologists, neuroscientists, engineers, freedivers, choreographers, and synchronized swimmers, creating a rigorous yet deeply embodied learning experience. Participants engage in a series of exercises that integrate movement, sensory exploration, and speculative research, fostering a profound connection between the human and more-than-human world.

Workshops will last two hours. We will work alone, in partners, and as a group. Please wear clothes you feel comfortable moving in, be prepared to take off your shoes and spend time on the floor. There will be an invitation to come into touch with yourself, your environment, and the others around you.

For those with physical limitations working in a chair is also possible. For specific disabilities please email info@recessart.org ahead of time and we will do our best to accommodate.

Thursdays-Saturdays, 12-5 pm

Viewers are welcome to enjoy and play inside the soft laboratory space. The video work YOUR URGE TO BREATHE IS A LIE as well as an ever-shifting series of drawings and paintings will be on view. ITCE’s library will be available to the public to read, and tea will be served.

ITCE was founded at the MIT MEDIA LAB, Design Fiction Group. The foundational work was created under the guidance of choreographer luciana achuagar, with the participation of scientist, engineers, dancers and synchronized swimmers, and in conversation with cephalopod husbandry expert Bret Grasse, philosopher Peter-Godfrey Smith, and in deep indebtedness to Vilém Flusser, among many others.

Additional support has been provided by Now + There, La Becque, Gulbenkian Foundation, and Headlands Center for the Arts. Workshops have been commissioned by the Berggruen Institute, New School for Social Research, Ritvelt Institute, Berlin Somatics Academy, Hypnos Theatre, MIT List Center for the Visual Arts, Parsons School of Design, Bogata Museum of Modern Art, and Waking Life.