Name: A DIAGRAMMATIC FORAY INTO THE WORLD OF ANIMALS & MACHINES
Start: 2026-02-26T19:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-02-26T20:00:00+00:00
Location: Swedenborg House

A DIAGRAMMATIC FORAY INTO THE WORLD OF ANIMALS & MACHINES

A presentation by Dean Anthony Kenning drawing on cybernetics, biosemiotics, robotics and process philosophy.
About this Event

As part of the exhibition programme Swedenborg House is proud to present:

A Diagrammatic Foray into the World of Animals and Machines with Dean Anthony Kenning

Step into the world of animals and machines in this presentation by Dean Anthony Kenning, delivered with the aid of an overhead projector and a series of colourful diagrams. Drawing on cybernetics, biosemiotics, robotics and process philosophy, we enter a universe of signs, signals, interpretative actions and recursive loops; where symbols grow, intelligence emerges and subject-object distinctions collapse. Using the example of the artist’s own robo- ‘crawlers’ (in action in the Swedenborg House Gallery), sensory-mechanical creatures and living organisms will be compared.

DEAN ANTHONY KENNING is an artist, writer and educator. He has developed kinetic/sonic/robotic sculptures and he has a wide-ranging diagramming practice. His works have been exhibited internationally and acquired by the Arts Council Collection. He has co-curated group exhibitions including at Fruitmarket, Edinburgh and the ICA, London. He has written on the politics of contemporary art and art education and on the theory and practice of diagramming, including on diagramming as a pedagogical tool. He is co-author of Drawing Analogies: Diagrams in Art, Theory & Practice (Bloomsbury, 2025). He is Research Fellow at Kingston University where he supervises fine art practice-led PhDs. He is also Associate Lecturer in the postgraduate Fine Art programme at Central St Martins.