IF - THEN - ELSE. Welcome to Transciency

Addressing possible configurations of art and nature, Margit Busch, corecipient of the Kunsthalle Wien Prize 2016 and graduate of the University of Applied Arts Vienna, created a laboratory-cum-experiment that included mealworms and beetles that consume, and thus recycle, polystyrene plastic. By generating insights into the discipline of “transciency”—devoted to perspectives, research methods, and representations operating through and beyond science—Busch’s project sheds light on the meeting points of scientific, philosophical, artistic, and practical discourses. The catalogue contains an essay by art critic Roland Schöny and a conversation between the artist, curator Lucas Gehrmann, and Kunsthalle Wien director Nicolaus Schafhausen, along with installation images and a supplemental “transmap.”