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The Biosymbiotic Exoskeleton is an inflatable spacesuit that makes it possible to coexist symbiotically in the radical extraterrestrial environment with the bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses that make up an individual’s microbiome. The spacesuit becomes an ecology of organisms, breaking down the human body into parts for which specific care and maintenance procedures can be established in order to prevent dysbiosis, which is detrimental to the normal functioning of the body. The body, dismantled per partes, thus becomes an organised system for which it is possible to create living conditions that are different from those we know on planet Earth, thereby transforming ways of existing. By reverse-engineering an imaginary situation in outer space where the human body changes its form, projections can be made about the possibilities of survival on an ecologically altered planet, where the human body is disassembled into functionalities rhizomatically linked between different species. The microbiome as an organ plays a crucial role in survival, not

only in an ontological sense but also in a very personal, intimate way. To be alive is to be in symbiosis with non-human living systems that extend far beyond the physical boundaries of the human body.

Biosymbiotic Exoskeleton:

Produced by: Ars Electronica within the framework of the EMAP (European Media Art Platform) | Coproduced by: Kersnikova Institute – Kapelica Gallery | Curators: Christl Baur, Martin Honzik, Jurij Krpan | Production support: Jessica Galirow, Sandra Sajovic | Expert collaborators: Anastasia Bragina, Manuel Selg, Kristijan Tkalec | Technical solutions: ::vtol:: (Dmitry Morozov) | Technical support: Simon Gmajner, Jure Sajovic | Inflatable structure: Ursula Klein (Schulteswien) | Acknowledgements: Gabriele Berg, Johannes Buchwieser, Gernot Grömer, RandolfHelmstetter, Leo Schatzl, Barbara Sušnik, Miha Turšič, Florian Voggender

The project was co-produced by the Ars Electronica Center and Kersnikova Institute within the framework of the EMAP residency 2023 , and co-funded by the European