Banner - header

Lab Songs – The Laboratory as an Heterotopia

Fabricio Lamoncha, MA

Lecture

Abstract:

Traditionally dedicated to scientific inquiry and marked by rigor and commitment to experimentation, the concept of the laboratory has evolved into a dynamic, cross-disciplinary space that fosters creativity and collaboration. The term “laboratory” has been adopted in art and design as a metaphor representing the innovative and experimental nature of creative processes, enabled by new possibilities to access tools and resources for investigation. The advent of new media in the arts has disrupted all previous conventional boundaries, challenging all new attempts of categorising artistic and scientific disciplines. This expansion of artistic practices into non-artistic fields has blurred traditional distinctions, fostering novel interdisciplinary dialogues and more complex forms of articulation.

This lecture will examine the evolving definition of laboratory, exploring who participates in these spaces and what qualifies as a “lab” today. Building on Michel Foucault’s concept of “heterotopic spaces” from his essay “Des Espaces Autres”—spaces capable of juxtaposing several spaces in the same real place, which are in themselves often incompatible—we will consider how contemporary laboratories might become such spaces, promoting new structures and agendas for collective creation, fostering novel frameworks for collaboration and inquiry.

Bio:

Fabricio Lamoncha is an artist and researcher from Spain, based in Austria. After graduating with a PhD in 2024 from the University of Art and Design Linz with the dissertation titled “Interspecies Interstitial Interfaces: Why Do I Care for Indoor Plants but Let the Rucola Rot in the Fridge?”, Fabricio is currently Senior Artist at the Interface Cultures Master’s program, where he teaches, conducts research, and cares for the laboratory spaces. He is member of the Art|Sci Center at UCLA and co-founder of the Leonardo Laser Talks Linz. His research explores the entanglements of media ecology and bioethics. His practice has been exhibited internationally and awarded with the Art and Artificial Life International Award Vida14.