PLANTS INTELLIGENCE
RIXC Art Science Festival 2025
Isop – a Danish artist duo and organisation working with relationship between humans and
other sentient- and non-sentient beings.
Isop is a Danish artist duo and organisation consisting of Sissel and Line Thastum. We
thematically work with the present global ecological crises and human understanding of and
relationship to nature and other sentient- and non-sentient beings, through the interplay
between the written word, photography, installation and video.We actively use our media to
create artworks as well as workshops and events in dialogue with the surrounding
community. Since 2013 we have created group residencies, master classes, exhibitions,
symposiums, book publications, network, seminars and workshops in Denmark and
internationally. As artists working for a paradigm shift in the way humans affects the planet,
we follow practical sustainable principles in our work in all areas and we aim to inspire other
art and cultural projects to do the same.
Our latest art project “Kin” focuses on the interaction between species – human and more-
than-human in a deep time and holistic perspective through installations, photography and
poetry. The project amongst other things contain images of cyanobacteria, lichen, moss,
nettle, cod and human blood, created by using a scientific biocrystallisation
technique. https://www.isop.nu/kin-1
We currently work full time with the project "Art and Nature with Children and Young People
in Focus". We work with children and young people through sensory presence in nature
combined with artistic creative expression through poetry, photography, etc. At the same
time, the project focuses on the state of nature and how we as humans can live more
sustainably.
Sissel Thastum (b.1987)
MFA, Trondheim Academy of Fine Arts, Norway, 2020. BFA Documentary Photography,
Newport University, South Wales, 2014. Photo school Fatamorgana, 2010–2011.
Sissel Thastum is a visual artist working with photography, video and sound.
Line Thastum (b.1959)
BA Human Ecology, Aalborg University, Denmark, Green Guide, Diploma program – Danish
Environmental Protection Agency, Education in organic farming – The Organic Farming school,
Adult pedagogical basic education, Silkeborg Seminarium. Line Thastum is a text
writer and poet, human ecologist, sustainability coordinator and communicator.
Institutio Media: from individual inquiry to socially engaged action
Mindaugas Gapševičius, Tūla Kristina
Institutio Media is a non-disciplinary art and research organization. Founded in 1998, it
originally aimed to translate the concept of an academic institution into the digital realm
and to explore the potential of the Internet as a space for knowledge production and
exchange.
Much has changed since its inception. Today, Institutio Media focuses on fostering creative
experimentation, advancing artistic research, and providing a platform for testing and
developing new ideas. In 2019, the organization established a biolab for non-disciplinary
research, offering an environment that supports experimentation and exchange across
multiple levels—from individual inquiry to socially engaged action.
Mindaugas Gapševičius delves into the intricate dynamics between non-human entities
and human creativity, while also examining humanity’s impact on the environment. He
completed his MA studies at the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 1999, followed by earning an
MPhil from Goldsmiths University of London in 2016, and defending his PhD thesis at
Bauhaus University Weimar in 2022.
Tūla Kristina is a machine learning engineer in private sector. Her previous experience
involves scientific modelling on open quantum systems in Vilnius University and working
as a videographer. She has been engaged in interdisciplinary project curation with Alt Lab
since 2021. She is interested in connections between scientific ideas, art, documentary and activism.
lab for non-disciplinary research. Photo: Andrej Vasilenko