Emilia Tapprest

Repost @cinemaparentesi at @bratislavadesignweek ○ 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝟐𝟑’𝟓𝟕 A group of scientists attempt to study the foundations of consciousness by intervening in the neural activity of eight lab-born fruit bats. Using custom neural tags, their experiment aims to amplify known dynamics of interbrain synchrony. But when the bats unexpectedly flee the lab and disperse into the surrounding desert, something unanticipated occurs. As the scientists continue to monitor the colony through ambient, sensory feedback, they find themselves increasingly entangled with the bats’ altered condition. A question arises from an audience member of the Ambient Ethology salon: Could the feedback system be extended to include human neural rhythms? And if so, what are its ethical and cognitive implications? Project by Studio Øraya, Sakander Zirai & Emilia Tapprest, commissioned and produced by the EPFL-CDH Artist in Residence Program 2024: Enter the Hyper-Scientific with additional support from the Mondriaan Fund @mondriaanfonds . Sakander Zirai @suioni is a creative technologist and computer scientist based between Cologne and Palma. He studied Computer Science and Science Journalism at the TU Dortmund University and Media Science at Toyo University in Tokyo, Japan. In 2019, he co-founded BIAS Interactive which focuses on interactive experiences with technology for education, exhibitions and art. Studio Øraya @soeren_siebel_bas_grossfeldt is the sonic world-building practice of multidisciplinary artist Søren Siebel. With over a decade of experience composing for film, performance, video art, and record labels such as Metroplex (Detroit) and Drone (London), Studio Øraya explores sound as a force for meaning in technologically mediated environments

𝗦𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 - 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎 - 𝟱 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 ✣ 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎: 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟱, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝟲 𝗽𝗺 @epflpavilions – 𝗣𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 (𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙄𝙄) - 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚 opening on 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟱 as part of 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎 exhibition, in conjunction with 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝟮  organized by @mudaclausanne . In a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly applied to “decode” animal communication, 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐) – 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 interrogates the dominant framing of interspecies understanding as a matter of verbal translation. The film investigates how ambient technologies—interfaces that communicate through continuous sensory representations—might open up alternative ways to conduct research on more-than-human minds.The narration follows a team of scientists trying to map the collective cognitive landscape of eight lab-born fruit bats. As the study unfolds, the scientists find themselves navigating an emergent cognitive field where agency is diffused, and distinctions between human, bat, and machine intelligence begin to dissolve. ✣   Creative Technologist: Sakander Zirai @suioni Music and Sound Design: Studio Øraya / Søren Siebel @soeren_siebel_bas_grossfeldt Directed by: Emilia Tapprest @nvisible.studio 3D artist: Carlo Clever @carloclever Voice over: Natalia Jordanova @nataliyata Drone operator: Robin Cairo @afrorob , Sakander Zirai On camera: Sakander Zirai, Emilia Tapprest, Robin Cairo Additional voice: Joscha Bach © 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐) - 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, 2025 @epflcampus @epflcdh @the_solar_movement #ShapeOfLanguage #HALOS #EPFL #Mudac #SolarBiennale2 #Bats #Neuroethology #AmbientInterface #AnzaBorrego #EnterTheHyperScientific

A few impressions of the past three weeks in Bandung and Sumedang, starting up the research and development for 𝐹𝒾𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓁𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝒮𝓊𝓂𝑒𝒹𝒶𝓃𝑔 (working title) in collaboration with Teguh Permana @teguhpermana555 Grateful for the encounters and chance to be part of many special situations and informal gatherings! with @raden_bangun @kharismatj @venolisme @puspakarima @destyndes_ @angkultura @ip_permana @tintadanwarna @wnda_ag @dhiyasilmi @galihhmukti @akbarnamina @suryajow @rendrasipaling @robirusdiana @riyo_fajar @rizkilazuardi @denzkitea @danihuda (and many others — also thank you @aliansyahcaniago and @exotica_neurotica for insights and help connecting!)

Extremely grateful for Mondriaan Fonds @mondriaanfonds for supporting my practice through the Artist Basic 4-year grant! In the past few years, my work has centered on world-making projects grounded in the real: fabulations shaped by cultural analysis and scientific collaboration. In the coming period, I intend to work in the inverse direction with the premise of ‘speculative documentary’. While the line between the two is fluid, the science fiction approach could be described to construct a world and enact it to life, while speculative documentary seeks ways to participate in existing realities, using cinematic techniques to defamiliarize and propose new relationships. This reconnects with my early projects in design anthropology, urge to ground the cosmic in the hyperreal, and move towards long-form formats. Boundary Problem (working title) will be my first collaborative research cycle in this mode. Images — collections of situations on set, on the road and “at the office”. Over the coming year, I have the wish to graduate from gimbal to shoulder mount and other more intimate techniques (expert tips and paid consultancy very welcome)! Music on cover video composed by Studio Øraya @soeren_siebel_bas_grossfeldt for Shape of Language ✣

𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴. Stanisław Lem in Solaris (1961) I’m excited to introduce a new project cycle with the working title Earth Embeddings (2026–2029), a feature-length speculative documentary composed of four interlinked chapters. Each is grounded in situated collaboration with experts who reflect on the boundary problem from distinct (and at times incommensurable) perspectives. Across the planet, growing networks of sensors and actuators draw diverse forms of cognition into shared affective circuits. This convergence further destabilizes the notion of the “mind” as something bounded to individual organisms: If cognition is relational and emergent across systems, it has never belonged to the individual alone; yet what shifts today is the intensity and scale of these recursive, computationally mediated relations. The spread of technical sensing gives rise to new subjectivities and uncanny effects: A forest drying under heat stress, a signal from a tagged bat crossing a desert, a sudden drop in phytoplankton – in a parallel present or possible future, these events arrive as flickers of light in an office, as a sonified livestream on social media, and as haptic pulses on the skin. The imaginary of a programmable Earth rests on the belief that planetary processes can be modeled and directed with accuracy. Often framed as necessary, this reasoning calls for the redesign of perceptual systems to meet accelerating crises. Such interventions may enable new modes of sensing, coordination, and care, yet their architectures are never neutral, feeding back in uneven and unpredictable ways. Earth Embeddings researches the generative potential of these conditions through collaborations with The Hyytiälä forest station, LoVe ocean observatory, hyperscanning research at Peking University, ICARUS/MaxPlanck, and Tarawangsawelas is West Java. Writing this text, I’m about to start preliminary research for the first chapter together with Teguh Permana @teguhpermana555 @tarawangsawelas with spark from the work of Luigi Monteanni @exotica_neurotica Cover composite visual @serenespaces_

暗科学：影中遥感 Latent Science: Telepathy in the Shadow 2025.8.24 - 2026.1.10, HERmit Space, Beijing Curator: Iris Long @xingru_longiris Artists: Riar Rizaldi @riarrr Anaïs Tondeur @anaistondeur Emilia Tapprest & Valerie van Zuijlen @valerievanzuijlen Björn Dahlem @bjorndahlem Clara Imbert @claraimbert Katalin Kortmann-Járay&Karina Mendreczky, Katie Paterson @studio.katie.paterson Elisa Storelli, Alchemyverse @alchemyverse One detail of Alan Turing’s foundational experiment on machine intelligence is frequently overlooked: he proposed that the human subject be placed in a room protected against telepathy—a sealed space designed to eliminate the possibility of non-verbal or extrasensory communication. Paradoxically, this precaution was not grounded in any scientific consensus on the nature of telepathy itself. Rather, this so-called psychic phenomenon—ever-evolving at the intersection of mysticism and technoscience—was treated as an unverifiable yet potentially disruptive form of communication. It was cast as an ineffable interference, to be contained and excluded, a spectral unease beneath the surface of rational inquiry. The exhibition Dark Science: Telepathy in the Shadows contemplates this subtle, ever-shifting technicity of the psyche, probing how scientific discourse has both expanded and complicated the cultural significance of telepathy. It asks how such a notion, long dismissed or rendered spectacular, might instead suggest new possibilities for experiencing the world—through the reactivation of occluded senses, the extension of perception, or the redefinition of what it means to feel across distance. This is a form of mutual attunement that operates beyond the visual field, beyond the retinal, premised not on certainty but on subtle interferences and tacit recognitions. Super happy to be part with Our Side of the Moon (2022), a collaboration@with Valerie van Zuijlen, starring Kiki Gordon @kikiagordon ✦ In-person visit, interview and workshop made possible by Mondriaan Fonds’ travel voucher @mondriaanfonds

spring-summer shuffle ✣

After wrapping up the 𝘏𝘈𝘓𝘖𝘚 exhibition at @epflpavilions last week, I wanted to take a moment to thank again the core team behind Shape of Language (2025): Sakander Zirai, Studio Øraya and Carlo Clever who each shaped the artistic and technical development of the project to the core. 𝑺𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒁𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒊 @suioni is a creative technologist and computer scientist based between Cologne and Palma. He studied Computer Science and Science Journalism at the TU Dortmund University and Media Science at Toyo University in Tokyo, Japan. In 2019, he co-founded BIAS Interactive which focuses on interactive experiences with technology for education, exhibitions and art. 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐 Ø𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒂 @soeren_siebel_bas_grossfeldt is the sonic world-building practice of multidisciplinary artist Soeren Siebel. With over a decade of experience composing for film, performance, video art, and record labels such as Metroplex (Detroit) and Drone (London), Studio Øraya explores sound as a force for meaning in technologically mediated environments. 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒐 𝑪𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 @carloclever is a 3D Artist and Motion Designer based in Cologne. He studied VFX and Animation at the ifs internationale filmschule köln, where he focused on bringing immersive human and animal characters to life. Since then, he has been working across different fields of media, including film, advertising, and music videos. With additional thanks to Matthew C. Wilson @matthew_c_wilson sharing the Enter the Hyper-Scientific residency with our joint research “Interspecies Interfaces”. Curation by Giulia Bini @giulia__bini , production assistance by Alison Carré and Christian Farget, Pavilions technical support by Ryan Jones, EPFL HALOS joint show with Sahej Rajal @sahejrahal , and important contributions to the work by Nataliya Jordanova @nataliyata (Voice over) and Robin Cairo @afrorob (Drone videography, production). Shape of Language (2025) was commissioned and produced by the EPFL-CDH Artist in Residence Program 2024: Enter the Hyper-Scientific @enterthehyperscientific , with additional support from the Mondriaan Fund @mondriaanfonds . Thank you ! ✣

𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 (Interspecies Interfaces Part II) has been one of my favorite projects since a long time. First, for to the fluid and iterative process working as a small team of artists, makers and researchers whom I very much look up to: creative technologist Sakander Zirai @suioni , composer Studio Øraya @soeren_siebel_bas_grossfeldt , and 3D Artist Carlo Clever @carloclever , with voice over by Natalia Jordanova @nataliyata and production support (including drone!) by Robin Cairo @afrorob . Second, thanks to the very special context being part of the last round EPFL’s @enterthehyperscientific residency and the opportunity to engage with its many experimental labs. The program was curated by Giulia Bini @giulia__bini together with the wonderful team Alison Carré @alisoncarre_ , Christine Farget and Ryan Jones, and with the amazing cohort Alice Bucknell @alicebucknell , Matthew C. Wilson @matthew_c_wilson and Sahej Rajal @sahejrahal . And last but not least, for all of the topical exchanges on computational ethology, bats, cognition and ambient interfaces with scientists and research groups, some whom I have been following for many years and some whom I had the luck to discover as part of the process. On view one more week at the EPFL Pavilions in a site specific 2-channel installation! Commissioned and produced by the EPFL-CDH Artist in Residence Program 2024: Enter the Hyper-Scientific, with additional support from the Mondriaan Fund @mondriaanfonds Opening images courtesy of Marc Delachaux

𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎 - 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗟𝗘 𝟱 𝗝𝗨𝗜𝗡 ETHS x @mudaclausanne Solar Biennale 2 𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 ! 💫 Vernissage le 𝟱 𝗷𝘂𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝟭𝟴𝗵𝟬𝟬 – Vernissage à @epflpavilions – Pavilion A En présence des artistes. Rejoignez-nous pour l'ouverture de l'exposition 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎. Organisée dans le cadre de la deuxième Solar Biennale du @mudaclausanne , l'exposition présente en avant-première 𝘈𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪 de 𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗷 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗹 (@sahejrahal ) et 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐) - 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 d'𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁, les nouvelles œuvres produites dans le cadre de la troisième édition d’@enterthehyperscientific le programme d'artistes en résidence de l'EPFL-CDH. _____ 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎 - 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝟱 𝗝𝗨𝗡𝗘 ETHS x @mudaclausanne Solar Biennale 2   𝗦𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘! 💫    Opening on 𝟱 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱  𝟲.𝟬𝟬 𝗽𝗺 – vernissage at @epflpaviliions – Pavilion A In the presence of the artists.   Join us for the opening of the exhibition 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎. Organised in conjunction with the second Solar Biennale at @mudaclausanne , the exhibition premieres 𝘈𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪 by 𝗦𝗮𝗵𝗲𝗷 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗹 (@sahejrahal ) and 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐) - 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 by 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 (@nvisible.studio ), the new works produced for the third edition of EPFL-CDH's Artist-in-Residence program, @enterthehyperscientific . Curated by former curator & head of program: Giulia Bini (@giulia__bini )   @epflcdh @epflcampus @the_solar_movement    © 𝘏𝘈𝘓𝘖𝘚, visual by Jakob Kirch, Lamm & Kirch  @lammkirch © 𝘈𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪, Sahej Rahal, 2025 © 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐) - 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦, Emilia Tapprest, 2025, and in collaboration with creative technologist Sakander Zirai (@suioni ) and with additional support from the Mondriaan Fund (@mondriaanfonds ). #SolarBiennale2 #MudacExhibitions  #EPFLPavilions #ArtAndTechnology #EmiliaTapprest #SahejRahal

𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 (𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙄𝙄): 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙇𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙜𝙚 by 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮 𝗧𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 (@nvisible.studio ) explores alternative ways of relating to nonhuman cognition, more specifically, that of bats. In collaboration with creative technologist 𝗦𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗭𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗶 (@suioni ), Emilia prototypes what an ambient interface paradigm could look like in the context of scientific research. This approach, which she defines as ambient ethology, proposes a shift away from conventional ethological practices that rely on conceptual categorization and externalized observation of behavior. Instead, it explores how more tacit, embodied modes of attending might offer access to the complex internal processes underpinning other animals’ intelligence — patterns of neural activity, emotional valence, and social coordination that resist translation into predefined models of cognition or communication. Rather than outsourcing interpretation to artificial intelligence, the project explores how ambient interfaces can render typically imperceptible dynamics —such as neural activity or micro-patterns in behavior—perceptible through continuous, peripheral mediation. These systems use real-time sensing to log behavioral and physiological signals and convert them into ongoing tactile, visual, or auditory cues. Emilia recently presented this research at “AI for Animals”, a conference dedicated to rethinking human-animal relations through the lens of artificial intelligence and ethics. The project will be presented for the first time on 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟱, as part of the 𝙃𝘼𝙇𝙊𝙎 exhibition at @epflpavilions , in conjunction with the 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝟮, organized by @mudaclausanne . ©️𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 (𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘐𝘐): 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 by Emilia Tapprest ©️sound by Studio Øraya (@soeren_siebel_bas_grossfeldt ) #EnterTheHyperScientific #EmiliaTapprest #ShapeOfLanguage #EPFL #ArtAndScience #InterspeciesCommunication #AmbientEthology

Moments from the first week on the road for Enter the Hyper-Scientific @enterthehyperscientific Best collaboration reunion going back 10 years with Sakander Zirai @suioni ○