Sebastian has worked across disciplines to facilitate art and research. Previously they have worked with poetry, art writing, review, exhibition, lino-cutting, sculpture, CG art, and music. They view the curator as a co-conspirator and facilitator. Their previous research into curation addresses hierarchies of knowledge and participation. Specifically, they have used science fiction as a tool for critical engagement with the arts by studying the works of Octavia Butler, Ursula LeGuin, and Samuel Delaney.

This project is a culmination of that direction of research: Sebastian’s goal is to open up conversations around systemic valuing of scientific and artistic knowledges. To do this, they are drawing on Live Art practices in the form of the workshop. This will encourage a dismantling of pedagogical tradition in the form of broadcast teaching or consumerist practices of art generation where the artist is seen as a resource. To ensure this vision, Sebastian relies on the works of Karen Barad, Fred Moten, and Jack Halberstam as models for knowledge generation that resist current institutions.

Sebastian’s goal is to then coax these discussions forward. Through grassroots organisation and home-publication, these discussions on science, language, and the arts can be continued past the confines of the workshop time and space. The emphasis will be on pedagogical output rather than physical output; and it will almost entirely be directed by the artists and participants.

Sebastian is an independent exhibition maker and artist whose work pushes towards a softer world for research. Their practice is inherently interdisciplinary and their undergraduate degree is from the University of Saint Andrews with a specialisation in Nuclear Physics. They are originally from Bridgewater, CT in the United States and have worked with institutions such as NEW Inc in New York City, Atlas Arts in Skye, and the Counterflows Music Festival in Glasgow.