How would a non-human science be like?
Claus Lam has worked with the Electron Microscopy Center (EMZ) of the University Hospital of Jena. He was particularly investigating the course of the scientific protocol as a tool of human knowledge production. His work Beast Science is both a documentary and a science fiction reenactment. A complete protocol of the sample preparation for scanning electron microscopy is performed in minute detail by a seemingly non-human agency. Furry paws and long claws prompt the question what science may become if it is devoid of humans, imagination or meaning. Could a beast engage in an intellectual practice like science? Or do we have to be beasts in order to be able to do our science? The shots in part are kept in extreme proximity and played back in slow motion, which relates the practice of filming to the documented practice of microscopy, but also creates a sense of haptic and materiality in the images. The prominent sound of the work, which by no means takes a back seat to the visual component, was composed by the artist specifically for the work. The moving images are paired with citations of interviews, which the artist conducted with scientists from EMZ. They point to the emotional and irrational side of human sciences, while hypothesising its universality.
videography by Julius Winckler and David Schnettler
