kennedy+swan (founded in 2013) comprises the work of the two artists Bianca Kennedy and Swan Collective. In their joint work, they explore the future of non-human intelligence and its impact on plants, animals, machines and humans. These utopias are liberated from human domination, examine the ecological benefits of hybrid life forms and address the twisted relationship between humans and biotechnology. For their videos, VR and AR installations, the duo uses a variety of animation techniques: drawings, stereoscopic film material, 3D scanned landscapes and self-built characters create a dense network of analogue and digital images. Their recent works reflect the exponential rise of artificial intelligence and its impact on biology.

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Starting point of the VR installation ‘ANIMALIA SUM’ (Latin: I am an animal) in the foyer of the Stadtgalerie Kiel is a dystopian vision: In a few decades, natural disasters and resource scarcity will force humanity to feed on insects. Through virtual reality glasses, viewers perceive the future world from an animal perspective, being confronted with gaping human mouths and overcrowded insect farms. In the further course, the insects organise themselves and advocate that humans should eat proteinrich whales instead of them. Why should a single whale be worth more than a billion friendly beetles?