InterSensing Vol. 1

On June 2, Cluster member Léa Perraudin spoke at InterSensing Vol. 1, an interdisciplinary symposium at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, organized by Andrei Kalinichev and Jussi Parikka. The one-day symposium unfolded across two invited talk panels, a future sensing workshop, and a concluding roundtable that collectively explored the epistemic, technological, artistic, and political dimensions of environmental sensing.

Following opening remarks by Dr. Andrei Kalinichev (Aarhus University) and a keynote by Prof. Chris Salter (Zurich University of the Arts) on immersive sensing practices and research-creation, the first panel examined sensing technologies and their environmental objectives from multiple interdisciplinary perspectives. Assoc. Prof. Klaus Koren (Aarhus University) discussed chemical imaging and the capacities of sensors to render otherwise invisible processes in soils perceptible. Prof. Casper Andersen (Aarhus University) addressed questions of sensing and secrecy in the nuclear domain. Dr. Léa Perraudin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) examined environmental sensing through multispecies proxy stories and introduced collaborative speculation as a transdisciplinary methodology for engaging with uncertain environmental futures.

The morning session was followed by the collaborative workshop »Future Sensing Scenarios,« in which invited speakers and early-career researchers developed speculative scenarios for future environmental sensing practices. Drawing on the tested methodologies of the open-access handbook Co-Creating Futures, developed by the experimental laboratory CollActive Materials, participants translated ongoing research into speculative scenarios addressing climate instability, environmental contamination, extractive economies, and networked sensor ecologies. These scenarios functioned as shared epistemic devices through which scientific inquiry, artistic experimentation, and public imaginaries could engage one another.

The second panel expanded the discussion by addressing the conceptual, epistemic, and aesthetic dimensions of environmental sensing. Prof. Jussi Parikka (Aarhus University) outlined the transdisciplinary potential of environmental media theory. Dr. Aslak Aamot Helm (Copenhagen University) examined epistemic uncertainty through the notion of the »valley of underdetermination,« while Josefina Nelimarkka (artist, Finland) explored atmospheric data and environmental perception through artistic practice.

The symposium concluded with a public roundtable dedicated to reflection on shared interests, opportunities for future collaboration, and discussing the development of a joint position statement on responsible sensing.

The event was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation (grant CF26-0375), Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Environmental Media and Aesthetics research program at Institut for Kommunikation og Kultur - Aarhus Universitet, and Villum Fonden (grant VIL69911).