Since the opening of the 17th Venice International Architecture Biennale, the Lithuanian Space Agency (LSA) has scanned over 30,000 individuals and groups whose digital bodies now form the Planet of People. With only a few weeks left to see the pavilion and join this unusual celestial body, the LSA is pleased to announce its final event, the result of an experimental study program Liquid Cosmos, initiated by the LSA and conducted by the KOSMICA Institute together with the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG). The event presents a multimedia work realized by a group of artists from the HfG, reflecting on the Planet of People and on spatial architecture and design.
LSA, a nomadic initiative, has set up its Venice laboratory in the Renaissance church of Santa Maria dei Derelitti for the duration of the 2021 Venice Biennale. There, the agency will run its Planet of People space program, a speculative extraterrestrial architecture project by artist and LSA founder Julijonas Urbonas that proposes to build a planet entirely of human bodies. At the center of the lab, designed by Isora x Lozuraityte Studio for Architecture in collaboration with artist Vladas Suncovas, is a 3D scanner developed by Studio Pointer. This scanner allows the LSA to test how Urbonas' proposal for the Planet of People would work and what impact it would have on humanity in general. Based on certain physical parameters corresponding to those of Lagrangian points (specifically L2), where gravity is almost nonexistent, visitors to the lab are scanned and projected into this space, where they slowly merge into a planet of people. This hypothetical architectural experiment has so far attracted the attention of 60,000 visitors!
During the final days of the 2021 Venice Biennale (November 19-21, 2021), the LSA will host a presentation of works developed by HfG and KOSMICA artists as part of their experimental study program Liquid Cosmos. In this program, through a series of seminars and discussions with Nahum, artist and director of KOSMICA, the artists explored how creatives throughout history have developed a variety of critical and poetic models for exploring space, including Planet of People. Their response is a group of interactive installations and performances that will envelop the LSA Lab in Venice. **The participating artists are: Éva Csonka, Juhee Han, Kimin Han, Anna-Lina Helsen, Iden Sungyoung Kim, Jungeun Lee, Christina Vinke, Alex Wenger, and Michael Bielicky.
Founded by Julijonas Urbonas, the Lithuanian Space Agency (LSA) is an organization concerned with space architecture and gravitational aesthetics. LSA recognizes the radical otherness of the cosmos and seeks to redefine the extremes of lived experience and imagination. The agency focuses on exploring the potential role of architecture, design and art in the new space age, both globally and in the context of Lithuania.
LSA's Planet of People exhibition is presented by the Lithuanian Cultural Council, organized by the Rupert Centre for Art, Residencies and Alternative Education in Vilnius, and commissioned by Julija Reklaitė. Curator of the exhibition is Jan Boelen, assistant curator is Milda Batakytė. Strategic partner: X Museum.
KOSMICA is a global institute founded in 2011 with the aim of creating a space organization for critical, cultural and poetic discourse on our relationship with space, space exploration and the impact of these activities on Earth. KOSMICA curates and produces original content, projects, and programs, bringing together experts from a variety of disciplines to explore the cultural implications of space exploration, the future of humanity, and the most pressing issues currently facing our planet.
