RESEARCH PROFILE
Lona Gaikis (*1982 Toronto, Canada) is a writer, curator, and lecturer based in Vienna (Austria), where she offers lectures on current debates in philosophy, society, and the arts. She regularly contributes as an author to exhibition catalogues, academic journals, and anthologies (ORCID).
She obtained her doctoral degree (Dr. phil.) in Philosophy, Art and Cultural Studies from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 2017. Her research focused on the “new key” in the American philosopher Susanne K. Langer and the meaning of music in artistic practice. Lona is editor of the Bloomsbury Handbook of Susanne K. Langer (2024).
Lona’s commitment to research and academia is complemented by a curatorial engagement with media art and music sub-cultures. In 2009, she founded the platform czirp czirp – experimental and sonic arts. Oscillating between sound in experimental, synesthetic formats, and media art, this project has showcased various international artists such as Aïsha Devi (CH), Bergsonist (USA/MAR), Lucy Duncombe (UK) and Feronia Wennborg (NO), Islaja (FIN), Lucas Abela (AU) or Steve Roden (USA) among many others. Further collaborations in the digital involved Jasmine Guffond and Ilan Katin (USA/AUS), Claire Tolan (ASMR audio play) or artificialmuseum.com (AR project).
CURRENT RESEARCH:
BLACKBOX DES FÜHLENS [The black box of feeling: music between intuition and algorithms](German)
THE ‘PRACTICAL UNREASON’ OF A HARD-HEADED LOGICIAN:
SUSANNE K. LANGER’S RECEPTION, AND THE WOMEN OF THE VIENNA CIRCLE (1930-1940)
IVC Fellowship, University of Vienna (May-July 2026).
UPCOMING:
CONFERENCE | MAY 2026
“SUSANNE K. LANGER: Artistic Angles, Philosophical Circles, Poetic Dots, and Technical Lines.” International conference in Vienna. In collaboration with the Research Unit Architecture Theory and Philosophy of Technics ATTP, TU Wien (AT), and the Institute Vienna Circle, University of Vienna. Conference Committee: Prof. Vera Bühlmann (AT), Dr. Lona Gaikis (AT), Dr. Matthew Ingram (USA), Prof. Randall E. Auxier (USA), Prof. Christian Grüny (DE), Dr. Tereza Hadravova (CZ). Keynotes (confirmed): Salomé Voegelin (CH), Sander Verhaegh (NL), and Adam Nocek (USA).
TOPICAL ISSUE “OPEN PHILOSOPHY” | 2027
“SCHEMA AND PROCESS: On Form, Formlessness, and the Geometry of Feeling.” Edited by Lona Gaikis (Vienna), Vera Bühlmann (TU Wien) and Adam Nocek (Arizona State University). Open Philosophy (DeGruyter).
RECENT:
CONFERENCE | 8.-10. OCTOBER 2025
“Structuralism and Living Form: Susanne K. Langer and Ernst Cassirer in Dialogue”, held at the conference Myths and Rationality. 100 Years of Cassirer’s ‘The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, vol. 2: Mythical Thinking,’ organized by Dr. Luigi Filieri (IT/DE) and Prof. Anne Pollok (DE), Johannes-Gutenberg-University, Mainz (DE).
PUBLICATION | SEPTEMBER 2025
Gaikis, Lona. “Therapy-Poesis: Prosthetic Care for Damaged and Undamaged Bodies.” Feminist Encounters, 9 (2), special issue on “Feminist Techno-imaginaries.” Edited by Jasmina Šepetavc, Katja Čičigoj and Natalija Majsova. September 2025.
EXHIBITION TEXT | 11/03/2025 – 28/03/2025
BERND OPPL: eye work
bb15 – Space for Contemporary Art, Linz.
PUBLICATION | OCTOBER 2024
CICADA GAMES: ASMR AUDIO PLAY FOR ONE VOICE AND SEVEN SPIRITS. By Claire Tolan. Limited print edition coming out in 2024. Graphic design: Milena Georgieva. Editor: Lona Gaikis. Published by czirp czirp. With the kind support of the City Council of Vienna.
Further information:
ACADEMIC CAREER
FUTURE PROJECTS
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS