Artist Statement

My work has always been concerned with questions regarding ecology, according to its original meaning as the science about the relationships of different species or organisms with each other and with their natural or artificial environments. Above all, my intention is to question the anthropocentric philosophy that has shaped a big part of human behaviour towards the rest of the biosphere, to inquire the traditional definition of nature as a notion opposed to culture, as well as mankind’s mental, more than physical, approach to animal alterity. An essential part of my work within this perspective is the study of hybrid zoomorphic iconographies. As art history shows, we have always been likely to consider ourselves as ontologically distant or separated from the other animals: humans with animal features are usually depicted as supernatural idols, evil demons or instinct-driven primitives. My aim is to develop a different kind of imagery beyond the traditional moral connotations and the classical setup of human-animal relationships: no longer a zoo to observe (and control), but a reciprocal, horizontal flow of interactions. Theriomorphism in my work not only stands for contamination and cooperation with biological and social alterity, but for the necessity, inevitability and priviledge of being hybrid.

Biography

Karin Andersen (Burghausen, Germany, 1966; degree Academy of Fine Arts Bologna, 1990) is a visual artist and video/filmmaker. She mainly explores human-animal interactions and the nature-culture dialectic. Her works in different mediums have been shown internationally (venues like Guidi & Schoen Arte Contemporanea, Genova; Artists Space, New York; Gallery of Modern Art, Bologna; Haus der Kunst; Munich) and she has been involved in artist exchange programmes and residencies (L’Europe d’Art d’Art, Niort, France 1990; HEART, Helsinki; BoCS Art, Cosenza, Italy and more). She has always accompanied her artistic practice with related theoretical studies and has been invited to lecture at several conferences and meetings. Her articles have been published on art and science magazines. Together with Roberto Marchesini she authored the book Animal Appeal, uno studio sul teriomorfismo (Bologna, Perdisa/Hybris, 2003). In 2006 she began her activity in the field of video/film/animation, realizing short films and music videos. She took part in many other artists’ projects, as director’s assistant, editor, animator, performer and sound/character designer (among others Christian Rainer, Cosimo Terlizzi, Andrea Facco, Marzia Stano aka UNA, Daniel Lee, Massimiliano Briarava). Together with italian novelist Gianluca Di Dio she is working at her first feature film project. Furthermore she has created scenery images and animations for performing art projects (for example Angelus Novissimus, directed by Alain Béhar, France, 2014) and designed visuals for philosophic-scientific publications (authors like Vincenzo Susca and Roberto Marchesini). Karin’s work received recognitions like the Premio Maretti art prize (2005, Galleria D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea San Marino).

Karin is a member of the Munich based artist association Münchener Secession (since 2011) and of the scientific committee of the Posthumanistic Philosophy Study Center directed by Roberto Marchesini and Manuela Macelloni (since 2023).

CV: for the latest updated version please contact Karin.