I participated in a debate about art and science – the session was called “Laboratory of Risk” and so I talk about Puddle Drive-Through Simulation and Open Out of Body Experience from the perspective of risk-taking. This is in Wroclaw at the European Culture Congress 2011. They put us in a huge space and made a kind of tribunal with rows of empty chairs, maybe this looked awesome in the broadcasts… Other participants in the debate were Lukasz Turski, Eran Neuman and Graham Burnett. The full debate can be seen in English here.

My work is increasingly provoking the question “is it art or science”. This is a good question.

Recently I have been obsessed with functionality as an art concept. I used to say that I work with concepts from neurology, artificial intelligence research, aquaculture, amateur ichtyology, and other thresholds between culture and nature. This is still true, but increasingly I think it can be boiled down to the idea of functionality (for example, think of an airplane – it has a very specific functionality). Functionality tends to come with baggage, especially now when information, technology and its toolkits has undergone tremendous democratization in terms of intellectual and material accessibility.

Current projects borrow heavily from the citizen science concept, involving groups of people, using materials and technology readily available to anyone. No secrets, no clear delineation between performance and experience, and blurring the roles of audience, artist, participant.

Mateusz Herczka shows internationally in artspaces and museums as well as new media contexts. His work has been labeled BioArt, New Media Art, Video Art, Art and Science, Concept Art and other things. He also works as dramaturg with some of Swedens main dance companies, designing and exploring new systems for generating movement.