Skip to main content
— 

The Living Planet

A year of exhibitions, artworks and events presented online and in real life that explore our relationship with the natural world.

Whilst we stay home and stay safe, The Living Planet looks at how we can build a more sustainable, responsible global community. In the midst of a global pandemic, we are all trying to find ways to connect with each other and the world around us and although our building may be closed at times, we are still open, creating moments where people, art and technology meet and merge.

This programme now feels more real than ever before. In 2020 and 2021, we will be trying to think beyond the human, looking at ways in which wildlife, plantlife and other ecological systems have responded to the impacts of our actions. We are collaborating with local and international artists, filmmakers, educators and experts to commission and create artistic content that will be shared through our social media, website and weekly newsletters.

Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Email Newsletter

We wish all of you well in this period of uncertainty and hope you will join us in an exploration of what it means to exist digitally in our new shared reality.

Explore artworks, events, projects and resources that explore The Living Planet or take a look at some of the highlights below.

Animal Agency (2020)

Uma Breakdown is an artist, writer and researcher who uses horror studies, feminist literature and queer role-playing games to create art. Play the downloadable game, Animal Agency, online and find out more about the concept ‘ahuman’ which inspired the creation of the artwork

Highlights

FINALS WEB 1080px 72dpi FACT And Say The Animal Responded Rob Battersby 5

Exhibition

And Say the Animal Responded?

— 

Discover the exhibition online! Walk with the animals in a virtual tour and watch interviews with the artists as we explore the relationship between human and animal.

Augmented Empathy 2020 Keiken Sakeema Crook Ryan Vautier Photo by Drew Forsyth Installation view at FACT 11

Exhibition

Augmented Empathy

— 

Immerse yourself in this new free exhibition that uses Instagram to explore how social media can be used as a space for exchange and artistic creation. Created by artist collective Keiken with Sakeema Crook and Ryan Vautier.

Ars Electronica

Festival

FACT: Ars Electronica Garden Liverpool

— 

Online and Offsite

Ars Electronica Garden x FACT presents four days of performances, conversations and tours about The Living Planet.

Keiken Collective Feel My Metaverse Mind Body and Screen

Performance

Live Performance: Augmented Empathy

Offsite

Step into an augmented world that brings Instagram filters to life. Join us for a special event by artist collective Keiken and dance artist Sakeema Crook that uses augmented reality and your phone to present two live augmented performances.

Natural Glitch Title Card

Talk

Artist Talk: Natural Glitch

Online

Join us for an online conversation with Kasia Molga and Ivan Henriques as they discuss their work, Natural Glitches.

Shonagh Short PESTS Live Illustration by Rob Jackson

Talk

Online Event: PESTS Live

Online

Take your place around the table as either a human or a household pest as we attempt to negotiate a new agreement for sharing space.

Kuai Shen Ohm1gas 2012 Image by Rob Battersby Installation view at FACT 3 jpg

Conference

Framework for Resilience

— 

Online

Join us for a series of online conversations inviting you to think about the world we are creating, destroying and the systems behind this.

Black Obsidian Sound System B O S S The Only Good System is a Soundsystem 2021 Installation view at FACT Photo by Rob Battersby Courtesy of the artists

Exhibition

Liverpool Biennial 2021

— 

Liverpool Biennial 2021: The Stomach and the Port looks at the body and ways of connecting with the world with works from Black Obsidian Sound System (B.O.S.S) and Zheng Bo.

Soft Boys Kiara Mohamed 2 Photo by Jay Chow

Exhibition

Soft Boys

— 

Kiara Mohamed’s work examines the ways we exist alongside one another and our environment, as well as what happens when we readdress our traumas through moments of radical joy.

FACT Together exhibition

Exhibition

FACT Together

— 

This exhibition presents 10 digital artworks created by artists in the North of England during lockdown in 2020.

Latest articles

Online Workshops: You're On Mute

You’re On Mute is a series of online workshops and webinars specially designed for arts educators and practitioners with an interest in participatory and engagement projects that work with older people, or individuals that are isolated or vulnerable.

by Gina Schwarz

Watch: Framework For Resilience

Rediscover Framework for Resilience, our series of online conversations that invite you to think about the world we are creating, destroying and the systems behind this.

by Gina Schwarz

Artsformation Cover Image Framework for Resilience

Podcast: Framework for Resilience

Listen back to Framework for Resilience, our series of online conversations that invite you to think about the world we are creating, destroying and the systems behind this.

by Jess Fairclough

Artsformation Cover Image Framework for Resilience

Podcast: Accessibility as a Radical Creative Practice

On this episode of the podcast, Tammy Reynolds (artist and performer), Natalia Bedkowska (artist) and Dot Alma (queer audio describer and access worker) discuss accessibility not just as a basic right, but as a radical creative practice.

by Jess Fairclough

Tammy png

In Conversation: Uma Breakdown and Lesley Taker

Uma Breakdown has made a visual novel in the form of a downloadable game for FACT Together, released earlier this week, called Animal Agency. Lesley, our Exhibitions Manager, had a chat with them about horror, critters, love, and how this commission altered Uma’s approach to world-building in the game space.

by Gina Schwarz

Screenshot from Animal Agency 2020 by Uma Breakdown Image courtesy of the artist

How to Make an Instagram Filter with Keiken

Learn how to get a virtual glow up! This online tutorial will help you get started with Spark AR, the digital software that influencers and artists use to create augmented reality experiences such as Instagram filters.

by Jess Fairclough

Online Prototype Create An Instagram Filter Keiken

Virtual Tour: And Say the Animal Responded?

Explore a virtual tour of our timely exhibition, Any Say the Animal Responded? As we emerge from the isolation of Covid-19 and refocus our attention on a rapidly changing climate, this exhibition creates a space for the voice of the animal that we have gained a greater awareness of during this time.

by Jess Fairclough

Ariel Guzik The Nereida Capsule 2007 and Kuai Shen Ohm1gas 2012 Image by Rob Battersby Installation view at FACT

Birds in Poetry with Dr Bethan Roberts

Watch and listen to a poetry reading with Dr Bethan Roberts, William Noble Postdoctoral Research Associate in the English Department at University of Liverpool, as she shares a few of her favourite poems about birds.

by Jess Fairclough

Http voice gardenbird co ukall about the chiffchaff

Four Movements for International Dance Day

We celebrated #InternationalDanceDay with Liverpool dance artist Nicolette Whitley. Sway and stretch along at home with these four movements inspired by the theme of our 2020 programme, The Living Planet.

by Jess Fairclough

Nicolette Whitley

Build Your Own Terrarium with Gregory Herbert

Learn how to build your own terrarium using recycled materials as artist Gregory Herbert shows us how to explore and celebrate the different varieties of micro-ecological systems that exist in our everyday life.

by Jess Fairclough

Microecologies by Greg Herbert