Slow Research Lab

Our new #SlowTechnologyReader opens with a fragment from the long-form poem ‘Mural’ by poet and author Mahmoud Darwish, as translated by John Berger and Rema Hammami: “How will my tomorrow be saved? By the velocity of electronic time or by my desert caravan slowness?” Darwish wrote ‘Mural’ as a reflection on his own mortality after suffering a heart attack and undergoing open heart surgery in 1999. The context from which the poem emerged was thus very intimate and personal, yet the experience it transmits is inevitably interwoven with themes of homeland, dispossession, exile, and belonging that were central to the poet’s oeuvre. His words also point to human and other-than human measures of tempo and duration, rhythm and timescale, all of which are themes running through our new book (and through Slow research more generally). As important is that ‘Mural’ is a poem about the present moment itself as a source both of strength and of liberation. Darwish writes, “I take Now’s hand to walk along the hem of history and avoid cyclic time.” Today we share the words of #MahmoudDarwish in solidarity with Palestine and with all liberation movements. They are accompanied here with music from @musex1 William Basinski’s four-album masterpiece #TheDisintegrationLoops—itself a kind of (Slow) lament reflecting on loss and liberation, life and death, and the unique spatial and sonic properties that sometimes emerge at the intersection of technologies old and new. Slow Technology Reader (2025) is published by @valiz_books_projects Design by @haller_brun CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDING @paulaaasalbuquerque @thekaderattia @buenozdiazbrazyl @derraiscarter @ravenchcn @LauraCoombs @siobhankcronin @daddariowill #SilviaFederici @iammarianafernandez @mashinkahakopian @dakinhart #FaïzaHirach @candicebhopkins @c.hvidt @TheunKarelse @daniellyak @kitekitekitekitekite @piushalindman @gleb.maiboroda @nanakonakajima @marina.or.not @rainbowsofgorse @elieli_._._ @miladyrenoirmiladyrenoir @studio.antimundo @mindyseu @camilasposati @foluketaylor @omonoyia #RolandoVázquezMelken @wanpye @arkadi_zaides #slowtechnology #slowresearch #freepalestine

A deeply touching opening move. At the Giardini della Biennale, @otobongnkanga has anointed the facade of the central pavilion with a tender gesture of love for her dear friend Koyo Kouoh. Titled ‘Soft Offerings to Silenced Voices and to All Who Have Turned to Dust’ (2026), the smooth, hard surfaces of the building’s entryway have become more porous and textured: softened by layers of clay and brick, poetry and plants, light and frequency. The artist’s offering here is one of care and of holding, of resistance and of solidarity—with @madamekoyo , of course, but also with the natural world, with realms that lie beyond visibility, and, importantly, within and among ourselves. We read the delicate, deliberate elements of the installation both as traces of Koyo’s vibrant existence, and also as portents of—or portals into—the worlds she saw for us. In this new artwork are echoes of several of Otobong Nkanga’s earlier works, among which, in particular, we recall ‘A Taste of Stone’ (2010-2020)—a project unfolding across multiple sites in which the intertwining temporalities of human, plant, soil, and rock create a condition, in her own words, “to slow down, to breathe, and to listen.” Visitors to the 61st Biennale d’Arte are invited to do that again now: to pause and take a deep breath as they ever-so-gently and steadily attune their presence to ‘the minor keys.’ Here, in the refuge of this threshold, the artist wraps us in a spell of protection and possibility. We experience it as a space of transmission, and perhaps even of initiation, presided over by magnificent Koyo and the potency of her vision.

“Technology ties us to capitalist time.” With this sentence, Evelyn Wan (@wanpye ) opens her thoughtful and thought-provoking contribution to our #SlowTechnologyReader. Her essay, ‘Restoration, Rest, and Respite: A Decolonial Praxis Against Capitalist Time’ warns against following the artificial cadences of digital technologies that—historically and by design—are imposed to control living systems and subjugate the bodies that move within them. She encourages the reader instead to rediscover their own personal pace by tuning into the unique needs of the body, #realigning with rhythms of the natural world and the cosmos, and exploring (or even inventing) alternative shapes of time and temporality. The perspectives Evelyn shares are born not only of her scholarship, but also from personal experience as she reflects on her own ancestral and cultural #inheritance entwined with Hong Kong’s history—including the legacies of labor and exhaustion passed down to her as a colonial subject. The essay points to resources such as Black feminist calls for rest and Arturo Escobar’s notions of ‘sentipensar’ and ‘pluriversal time’ as potent #medicines for resisting oppressive forces, while simultaneously promoting somatic practices for grounding the body in new forms of knowledge. As such, Evelyn’s passionate advocacy “for the body, against the clock” is a bid not only for freedom and creative expression, but also offers a roadmap for enlarging the borders of the self. The first image here shows a display of lunisolar calendars, a basic tool for reattuning awareness to cycles of the sun and moon. Courtesy of @wanpye . The second image, of a dahlia @shaffystuinamsterdam , is a reminder of the universes enfolded and unfolding all around us, beyond the reductive confines of the fast world. Courtesy of @slowresearchlab . - Slow Technology Reader: A Tool for Shaping Divergent Futures is published by Valiz with design by @haller_brun . Ask for it at your local bookshop! #slowresearch

A new episode of our podcast @ai_murmurings is now living out in the world. It dives into the multifaceted artistic practice of Margret Wibmer (@margret_wibmer ) whose work—spanning sculpture, video, photography, and participatory performance—facilitates dynamic relationships between bodies, objects, and spaces. Powerful carriers of both presence and absence, the physically tangible and the unquantifiable, her artworks challenge perceptual and experiential frameworks—inviting us instead to inhabit alternative realities in which objects become subjects, temporalities intertwine, and bodies expand to reveal new forms and intelligence(s). Have a listen on your preferred podcasting app (or via link in bio) to learn about Margret’s strategies for disorienting the gaze, re-enlivening machine artifacts, and centering love as “a transformative force in a polarized world.” - Images courtesy of Studio Margret Wibmer: 1) PERFORMANCE FOR NO AUDIENCE II, 1998, duratrans in welded aluminum frame, 100 x 80 cm 2) 5 P.M., 2005, plastic, metal, fabric, digital print on paper, 62 x 32 x 20 cm 3) BLACK CLOUDS # 2, 2023, Archival pigment fine art print on Hahnemühle Baryta photographic paper 100 x 120 cm 4) Detail from the SALON D’AMOUR PUBLICATION, 2025, a collaboration with @peach_wien 5) RELAY_MICHAEL, 2020, archival pigment print on Hahnemühle FineArt Baryta photo paper, 40 x 48 cm - Others mentioned in this episode: James Baldwin, Reinhard Braun, John Cage, Ligia Clark, Julia Garimorth, John Halpern (@john.halpern ), Frida Kahlo, Ursula K Le Guin, Chus Martinez (@the_chus_martinez ), Suzanne Morianz, Gary Reck , Astrid Roemer, Sae Shimizu (@shimizu_sae_ ), Camila Sposati (@camilasposati ), Banana Yoshimoto, May Ziadeh - @ai_murmurings is a project of @slowresearchlab Music by the inimitable @tignortronics Support for this episode of the podcast generously provided by The Resonance Foundation

Back in February, we wrapped up Slow Technological Imaginaries, an elective course at the Royal Academy of the Arts in The Hague (@royalacademyofart.thehague ), led by #CarolynFStrauss who has been a guest teacher for BA and MA students in the ArtScience Interfaculty since 2022. During the course, we were graced with the presence and creative brilliance of artists Lakisha Apostel (@lakisha_apostel ) and Elisabeth (elieli) Raymond and who joined us online from Curaçao and Sweden, respectively. Lakisha shared about some of the tools born of her project ‘We Shared a Belly’ (2023 - ongoing) which grapples with issues of #belonging and remembrance, interrogating unseen forces of #rupture as well as of life. Her beautiful drawings, ceramic objects, site-specific performances and rituals link human experience with bodies of water and the body of the Earth, recovering traces of the transatlantic slave trade while tapping into #ancestral intelligences of the archipelago. In an equally compelling bid for Slow imagination, @elieli_._._ made an offering to the class of of ‘Heavy Metal Clouds,’ a performance and guided meditation inspired by their essay-contribution to our #SlowTechnologyReader, ‘Conjuring AI.’ Both text and performance encourage us to explore states of intimacy and tangible exchange with the minerals in our digital devices, as well as with the toxic materials left in the wake of their extraction. As always, it was an honor to be entrusted with attending to the hearts and minds of another brilliant group of young artist-scientists, and to bear witness to the new paradigms of living they are unfolding in their creative practices. If this resonates with you and/or your own institution, please feel free to reach out via DM to discuss possibilities for collaboration! - Screenshots here from the two artist presentations: images 1, 2 and 3: Lakisha Apostel presenting her work and process to KABK ArtScience Interfaculty, February 2026 images 3 and 4: Elisabeth (elieli) Raymond performing ‘Heavy Metal Clouds’ (2025) performance to KABK ArtScience Interfaculty, February 2026

SLOW LISTENING – A POSSIBLE DEFINITION — Slow Listening (2023) Slowness and listening exist as mutual tools, supports and enablers. Rather than a register of speed, slow listening advocates for a different way of listening, less orientated towards arriving and understanding, and more engaged in fostering and deepening awareness in process, not of, one’s expansive ways of being in and of the world. Slow listening invites one to allow the breaking of something of oneself, in the attempt of cultivating a presence of frictional not-yetness; a field of potential, generated by not-knowing. Listening as awareness in process. — Poem for slow listening: A pause in the naming Where resting creatures linger The world shift gently — Developed in the context of a series of online gatherings and workshops organized during 2023 and 2024 with Slow Research Lab and its director Carolyn F. Strauss. @slowresearchlab

“Now more than ever, embracing the dark challenges our habitual rhythms and thresholds of comfort.” Gather with us in Amsterdam on Saturday evening 28 March for ‘With Darkness: A (Slow) Listening Session,’ led by artist Christine Hvidt (@c.hvidt ) and convened in collaboration with @zone2source and @valiz_books_projects In her contribution to #SlowTechnologyReader, Christine approaches Darkness as a technology — where ‘Darkness’ (with a capital ‘D’) is understood as an entity, an ally, and a portal to other dimensions of experience. Her beautifully-crafted text oscillates between narrating personal encounters in the dark, offering theoretical reflections inspired by the likes of Simone Weil and Édouard Glissant, and probing the role of Darkness in ancient tradition. For this multidimensional artist, listening is an act of internal and external attention, a gesture of lending somatic and intuitive awareness to the places we attend to, and a bid to connect with worlds beyond. On the 28th of March, we venture into the Amstelpark after darkness has fallen, feeling into invitations from beings and energies that make themselves known only under the cover of night. These may be sounds that become audible when the city has quieted down or the stirrings of #nocturnal creatures, but also may be expressions of the participant’s own internal #shadow landscape that often speaks louder when darkness sets in. The session equally is inspired by ancient Norse #shamanic traditions for seeking advice or #guidance from spirits during the dark hours — especially the Sitting ritual (in Danish, ‘udesidning’). This (Slow) listening session encourages participants to open up to whatever may reveal itself in and through Darkness. It is an opportunity to give attention and time to ourselves, to attune to world(s) that normally are obscured—whether by the light of day or by the pace and upheavals of contemporary life. >>> Space is limited. RSVP to [email protected] >>> More info at /en/event/with-darkness/ or via link in our bio - Slow Technology Reader: A Tool for Shaping Divergent Futures (2025) is published by Valiz with design by @haller_brun

“The answers to regenerating the planet may come not only from major political and technological changes, but also from a radical transformation of the sensitive, spiritual, and cosmological fields that go through the heart.” - Cláudio Bueno and Moisés Patrício Even as violent forces of authoritarianism attempt to destabilize humanity and the bros of Big Tech hope to convince us that their way of doing things is humanity’s only path forward, artist and educator @buenozdiazbrazyl and artist and babalorixá @moises.patricio remind us that “When cell phones no longer work, the water no longer comes from the taps, the roads are broken, and the planes stop, we will need to reactivate elementary social technologies of collective care among all beings, against modern forms of systemic isolation.” Invoking the orixá Éşù, guardian of the crossroads, their jointly-written essay in our #SlowTechnologyReader invites us to consider alternative spaces and times for living, growing, and healing together, such as those found in the terreiros de Candomblé in Brazil. Their text highlights ancestral collective knowledges and practices of communitarian care linked to the ground, while simultaneously leaning into states of uncertainty, mystery, and haunting that today’s dominant grids and infrastructural technologies are unable to control or predict. “There is a certain pleasure,” they write, “in imagining the possible fragility of Silicon Valley, sitting on countless geological faults, collapsing in the face of an unpredictable response from the Earth itself.” 🌋 Image 1 is of graphics designed by @ritin for the exhibition Fields of Invisibility (2018) @sescbelenzinho curated by Cláudio Bueno and @ligia_nobre ❤️ Image 2 is of a collective reading-performance by Explode! Platform (Cláudio Bueno, João Simões + collaborators), inspired by Abdias do Nascimento’s poem ‘Padê do Exú Libertador’ (1981), which took place in the ‘Passagem’ installation during the opening of Seeing Through Stone @ucscias (2024). 📷@dimi2027 Image 3 is of visual artist and babalorixá Moisés Patrício’s performance Exu, Orality and Ritual also as part of the ‘Passagem’ installation. 📷 Daris Jasper

As digital infrastructures become increasingly entwined with every aspect of planetary life, how might artistic practices reconfigure the conditions through which technology is sensed, shaped, and understood? How might we amplify perspectives that have long remained at its margins? With over 60 artistic essays, Slow Technology Reader: A Tool for Shaping Divergent Futures (2025) explores what technology is and what it can be, offering a glimpse into alternative futures. Join us tomorrow at 17:30 to celebrate the launch of this publication, co-curated with @slowresearchlab and @valiz_books_projects . Alongside Temporary Bookshop XX, a film installation and a durational performance, the programme opens with a conversation between editor Carolyn F. Strauss (@slow_carolyn ) and contributing essayists and artists Gļeb(s) Maiboroda (@gleb.maiboroda ) and Camila Sposati (@camilasposati ), who will delve into their research, with particular emphasis on embodied practices as sites of transmission across human and non-human worlds. The conversation begins at 18:00 and will be followed by a Q&A session, concluding with drinks, bites, and an opportunity to explore the publication and its process materials in detail. Image: Gleb(s) Maiboroda, ‘Dobby Loom In My Bedroom,’ 2022, courtesy of @slowresearchlab and the artist. Admission is free, but seating is limited. RSVP to [email protected]

“My intention for the Earth Anatomical Theater was that the conical shape descending into the crust of the Earth could serve as an eye, engaging the Earth as a witness of what had happened there, and also as a device for the amplification of sound coming from the planet outwards. [...] As I dug into the ground, it unleashed energy and made sounds. All of these converged and found form in tubular shapes that are also the Earth’s internal organs. Just like humans, the Earth has its body, its eyes, and its ears.” - Camila Sposati, ‘Phonosophia’s Bodies’ in Slow Technology Reader: A Tool for Shaping Divergent Futures Come meet @camilasposati in person this Thursday 19 February 2026 @looiersgracht60 for the book event BODIES OF SLOW TECHNOLOGY. From 18:00 onward, Camila will be in discussion with artist @gleb.maiboroda and the book’s editor #CarolynFStrauss. A related film installation and durational performance unfold in the space throughout the event, alongside a book shop and display of archival printed matter relating to #SlowTechnologyReader’s design by @hallerbrun Doors open at 17:30. Please RSVP to [email protected] - Images here: 1) Camila Sposati, digging the Earth Anatomical Theater, Bahia 2014 2) Camila Sposati, ‘Guts,’ 2020

“The weaver is a world maker.” In their contribution to our #SlowTechnologyReader, ‘Automated Bodies and the Somatics of Weaving,’ artist Gleb(s) Maiboroda (@gleb.maiboroda ) traces histories of weaving across time and geographies, from the origins of hand craft during the String Age (ca. 20.000 to 6.000 BC) to the increasingly disembodied logics of machine weaving today. They describe how the loom went from being a force of liberation (pre-automation) to one of entrapment and dislocation as it systematically diminished the vital physical relations between the weaver’s body, the environment, and the thread. Even while their essay points to the roots of that decline in colonial and capitalist logics of extraction and accumulation, Gleb(s)’ stance is a hopeful one, asserting the weaver’s body as “a site of re-learning and resistance.” Their aim is not to reject technologies of automation—including those of emerging artificial agents—nor to return to pre-industrial forms of crafting, but rather to recuperate the tactile and rhythmic dimensions of weaving in direct collaboration with the machine. Theirs is a call for slowing down the pace of industrial production by re-enlivening the body of the weaver such that “the possibility of an alternative time and space emerges”: one in which to reimagine our relationships with technology and restore the generative potential of making. During our book event @looiersgracht60 in Amsterdam on 19 February, Gleb(s) will be in conversation with @camilasposati and #CarolynFStrauss to explore these topics and more. As the discussion unfolds, the space will be activated by a durational weaving performance by artists @nikkinettenart and Demetra Cuschera. To attend, please RSVP to [email protected] Image: Gleb(s) Maiboroda, ‘Dobby Loom In My Bedroom,’ 2022 - Slow Technology Reader: A Tool for Shaping Divergent Futures is published by @valiz_books_projects with design by @haller_brun Ask for it at your local book shop or order on the Valiz website via link in our bio.

Very happy to announce this very special book event in collaboration with the inimitable presenting space @looiersgracht60 and our wonderful publisher @valiz_books_projects ! The evening event in Amsterdam on Thursday 19 February features book contributors @camilasposati and @gleb.maiboroda , and includes a discussion with the artists, a durational performance, an audiovisual installation, and display of archival materials relating to the design and navigation of the book. Not least, of course, there will be a book shop to get one of these in your own hands :) The image here is Camila Sposati’s ‘Echo’ (2018) from her Phonosophia research project—about which she wrote for the book and will tell more at the event. The photo is by @victoriatomaschko RSVP [email protected] - Slow Technology Reader: A Tool for Shaping Divergent Futures is published by @valiz_books_projects with design by @haller_brun With contributions by @paulaaasalbuquerque @thekaderattia #AïstaBah @an_efflorescent_cosmos #PacômeBéru @buenozdiazbrazyl #DerraisCarter @ravenchcn #JoanaChicau GuyCools @LauraCoombs @siobhankcronin @daddariowill @EdwidgeDanticat ThiernoDia @MamadouTaslimDiallo HenrietteEssamiKhaullot SilviaFederici @iammarianafernandez EllaFiner JemFiner @mashinkahakopian @dakinhart FaïzaHirach @candicebhopkins @c.hvidt CarolRKallend @TheunKarelse @daniellyak @kitekitekitekitekite FranKourouma JaronLanier JasonEdwardLewis @piushalindman @gleb.maiboroda PierreMarchand MichaelMarder @nanakonakajima FlorenceOkoye @marina.or.not JogiPanghaal MoisésPatrício @rainbowsofgorse @elieli_._._ @miladyrenoirmiladyrenoir @studio.antimundo LaurelSchwulst @mindyseu @camilasposati @ChristelStalpaert CoreyStover MelitaStoverJanis @foluketaylor AlbertoIsifinTchama @omonoyia RolandoVázquezMelken @wanpye HalidouWuandaougo @arkadi_zaides