Responding to the contemporary desire to go "back to nature," Adaptation: Between Species highlights interspecies encounters. What happens when humans, animals and the natural world encounter one another? What forms of communication, miscommunication, intimacy and exchange ensue? Drawing on the work of philosophers ranging from Jacques Derrida to Donna Haraway, Roger Caillois to Giorgio Agamben, the exhibition considers how adaptation functions as a form of biological and cultural survival.

The exhibition featured work by Allora & Calzadilla, Francis Alÿs, Cory Arcangel, John Bock, Olaf Breuning, Marcus Coates, Robyn Cumming, Mark Dion, FASTWÜRMS, Michelle Williams Gamaker, Shaun Gladwell, Lucy Gunning, Nina Katchadourian, Louise Lawler, Hanna Liden, Hew Locke, Sandra Meigs, Rivane Neuenschwander and Cao Guimarães, Jeff Sonhouse, and Javier Téllez.

The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue.

Public programmes included a panel discussion chaired by Helena Reckitt on inter-species relations, featuring philosopher Karen Houle, artist Annie Dunning, and biologist Burton Lim; a performance event programmed by Reckitt with FastWurms and Annie Dunning; and a night of artist films, programmed by Jon Davies in collaboration with PleasureDome Collective, 'Animal Drag Kingdom,' including work by Douglas Gordon, Kristin Lucas, Guy Ben-Ner, Kathy High, and Steve Reinke and Jessie Mott.

19 June / Between Species with

9 July FASTWÜRMS: DJ Set and Skry-Pod
Come down to the waterfront to join legendary local artists and witches FASTWÜRMS as they spin tunes and revise their 2009 Nuit Blanche social performance, Skry-Pod. Featuring free public tarot readings, Skry-Pod creates an open-air zone for divinatory encounters. For FASTWÜRMS, a “positive economy” is created in Skry-Pod through a combination of paranormal and environmental activism: true prosperity is only gained by enhancing the personal freedom and well-being of others. Formed in 1979 and based near Creemore, Ontario, FASTWÜRMS is the cultural project, trademark and joint authorship of Kim Kozzi and Dai Skuse. Their retrospective DONKY@NINJA@WITCH was shown at the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto (2007), Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2008), and Plug In ICA, Winnipeg (2008). Skry-Pod Tarot Readers: Jenn E. Norton, Bradley V. Benedetti, R. M. Vaughan, Amber Landgraff, Jacob Ireland, Elinor Rose Galbraith, and Beth Stuart.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/7631