Where do we perceive our bodies to end, and the environment to begin?

This question intrigues me deeply as it delves into the intricate dance of interconnectedness and interdependence between organisms and their environments. I often explore this tension through the concept of the Sentinel. In Environmental Science, 'Sentinel Species' are organisms serving as early indicators of environmental health hazards, offering insights into potential threats to both ecosystems and human well-being. Sentinels demonstrate that contamination is a shared condition, albeit unevenly distributed, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all species, including humans, with their surroundings. Viewing the world through the lens of the Sentinel gives power to sensitivity, receptivity, and emotion as essential tools for comprehending our collective survival in an increasingly polluted environment. Through this lens, I envision a redefined sense of self that transcends the conventional Western notion of the human body as a discrete, autonomous entity. Instead, this Sentinel Self demands a shift in awareness, acknowledging our inter-species interdependence within our bodies, encompassing viral, bacterial, and fungal symbionts, as well as on a planetary scale. 

Combining ancient and new technologies I tell stories about what it means to be human, now. Collaborations deeply inspire me with practitioners in dance, music, and image-making. These ancient technologies serve as fundamental methods to express deeply rooted human desires to tell stories, connect with one another, and transmit knowledge across bodies, communities, and generations. Brought into tension with modern technologies, such as game engines, simulation, artificial life,  and scientific concepts and conventions, I explore what stories shape our reality, always aiming to find the poetic, strange, and profound. Science is not exclusively a source of rigor and truth-seeking, but also a socially constructed storytelling practice. It is woven into social relations, conventions, and ideology, and the stories science tells have a profound impact on society. I experience this first hand in my many collaborations and conversations with scientists. Together we invent new science fiction narratives that imagine new perspectives while questioning outdated ideas of the human body being separated from the surrounding environment.

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Sissel Marie Tonn is a Danish artist living and working in The Hague. Sissel has a bachelor in Film and Media studies from University of Copenhagen. She completed a master in Artistic Research at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague in 2015. She was the recipient of the Theodora Niemeijer prize for emerging female artists in 2016, resulting in her first solo show at the Eye in Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven. In 2017 - 2018 she was a resident at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht. She received the talent development grant from Stimuleringsfonds NL in 2019, and in 2020 she was the recipient of the BAD Award, together with scientists Heather Leslie and Juan J. Garcia Vallejo for their project “Becoming A Sentinel Species”. Her work is frequently exhibited in The Netherlands and internationally.

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