‘The Alchemy Between Us’
Tate Exchange, at Tate Liverpool (1st floor gallery)
Wednesday 14 December, 12.30 till 2.30pm

‘The Alchemy Between Us’ is an exhibition and series of events hosted by Laurence Payot in Tate Exchange, inviting gallery visitors and invited guests, scientists, artists, philosophers, writers to explore the invisible exchanges traded between artists and people through the medium of the artwork.

“Art as Symbiosis” will be the second open discussion to take place in the gallery, arising from Laurence Payot’s current collaboration with evolutionary scientists from University of York, exploring parallels between art and mutual symbiotic relationships in nature. In microbiology, symbiosis describes the potential for two organisms to become one, each making up the other’s deficiencies to form a new, complete entity. Scientists have recognised the potential of this collaborative model to challenge the progressivist, individualistic logic that dominates post-capitalist societies. By maximising the mutual benefits of cooperation and exchange, symbiosis (from the Greek for ‘living together’) offers a formula for a more democratic way of life. This open discussion will bring together artistic and scientific perspectives in the context of Payot’s interactive work, and ask the question of how we might better operate within communities and societies. A culmination of dialogue between Payot and scientists Pr. Michael Brockhusrt and Ewan Minter, this interdisciplinary event is open to all and encourages further productive interactions.

13 December : Why do artworks need people?
14 December: What happens in the process of creation-reception?