ABOUT

RESEARCH PROFILE

German

Lona Gaikis (*1982 Toronto, Canada) is a writer, curator, and lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (Austria) where she offers lectures on current debates in philosophy, society, and the arts. She regularly contributes as an author to exhibition catalogs, 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’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 experimental formats and dance music, this project has showcased various international artists in electronic musics and sound art such as Aïsha Devi (CH), Bergsonist (USA/MAR), EVITCELES (BGR), Islaja (FIN), Lucas Abela (AU), Steve Roden (USA), or Jasmine Guffond and Ilan Katin (USA/AUS) among many others.

Philosopher of the research group PHANTOM LAB with performance artist Barbis Ruder, industrial designer Walter Lunzer (Ottobock Healthcare Products).

Member of media artist collective #vaporfolk with Peter Moosgaard and Bernhard Garnicnig. Artistic research and media didactic workshops revolving consumer culture, branding, pseudo-science and pseudo-cultures.

COMING UP:

EVENT | 26. AUGUST 2023
CLUB RADIOKOJE | holding breath
czirp czirp is hosting sound and musics at the swimming pool: Zavoloka (UA), Alex Franz Zehetbauer (USA/AT) with Christian Schröder (AT), Clara Oppel (AT), Tahereh Nourani (IR), DJ KJOS (AT). Saturday, 26. August 2023, 13:00-19:30 @Kongreßbad, Julius-Meinl-Gasse 7A, 1160 Vienna.

EVENT | 17. JUNE 2023
CICADA GAMES | picknick
ASMR Audio Play For One Voice and Seven Spirits. Join czirp czirp for a rainbow picknick June 17th, 10:00-14:00, at Kongreßpark, Vienna.

GUEST LECTURE | 10. MAY 2023
NATURA CULTURANS:
FURTHERING LANGER’S PHILOSOPHY IN THE FIELD OF BIOACOUSTICS

Within the lecture, Susanne K. Langer and American Aesthetics of Her Days and Beyond, hosted by Dr. Tereza Hadravová @Charles University, Prague.

CURRENT PROJECTS:

BOOK 2023
THE BLOOMSBURY HANDBOOK OF SUSANNE K. LANGER
A collection of essays on new keys in the work of philosopher Susanne K. Langer. Authors: Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin, Donald Dryden, Christian Grüny, Robert Innis, Eva Kit Wah Man, Brian Massumi, Adam Nocek, Anne Pollok, Eldritch Priest, Martina Sauer, Helen Thaventhiran, Christophe van Eecke, Iris v. d. Tuin, and more. Edited by Lona Gaikis. London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2023. Funded by the FWF Austrian Science Fund [PUB 1012-G].
Download PDF with overview of chapters and abstracts: here.

TOWARDS AN AESTHETICS FOR PROSTHETICS | 2020-2025
Lona Gaikis is the philosopher in the research group Towards an Aesthetics for Prosthetics, along with performance artist Barbis Ruder and industrial designer Walter Lunzer (Ottobock Healthcare Products). We ask, “What haunts quantitative evaluation and qualitative assessment in the field of medical engineering?” This group and its endeavour are linked to the Angewandte Performance Lab (APL) at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna.

ESSAY 2023
RECYCLING CRISES: A ‘How To’ for the Precarious Subject
In WORK – CYCLE – BODY: 10 YEARS BARBIS RUDER. Edited by Madeleine Frey (DE/EN). Published by edition Die Angewandte/de Gruyter, 2023.

Further information:
ACADEMIC CAREER
FUTURE PROJECTS
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS