Sensing the Living: An Outside Multispecies, presents works by students of the Willem de Kooning Academy developed in collaboration with the Brienenoordeiland. The project centres on designing meaningful interactions with our often‑overlooked natural neighbours. Through practice‑based research and embodied, sensory engagement on the island, students explored nature not as a resource or backdrop but as a living world we are inherently part of. The project positions artists and designers as mediators who make interspecies relationships visible, tangible, and imaginable.

At the core of this project lies an urgent recognition: many of today’s environmental crises—climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution—stem from a deeply human‑centred worldview. We have long placed ourselves above the living world, rather than understanding ourselves as part of it. This project begins by challenging that assumption. Students were invited to rethink their ecological relationship with the island by asking: How can we see differently? How can we move beyond a purely human perspective? And how can we become more attentive to other beings and life forms that shape Brienenoordeiland? Through observing, smelling, listening, tasting and collaborating with the environment, students explored what it means to work with living systems rather than merely around them. Each group was assigned a species as a starting point, using their bodies, and—when needed—technologies to access forms of perception beyond human limits. Working outdoors was essential, encouraging them to slow down and attune to the environment.

In this exhibition, students present the results of their research by mediating the presence of several species found on the island: Japanese Knotweed, Marsh Marigold, Blackish Blunthorn, Woodpecker, Bat, Tick, and Common Frog. Each project offers a unique entry into these species, inviting visitors to encounter the island’s ecology through an expanded way of sensing.

Thanks to:

Students Willem de Kooning Academie: Emma Allegretti, Dani Anderson Athie, Dounia Atrar, Adomas Baublys, Fabian van Biene, Lu Challinor dos Santos, Dilara Ekici, Emma Fürstenzellerová, Caitlin Franke, Lefteris Giampoulakis, Cleo Kanafani, Guus Kentie, Noor Lekkerkerker, Mathis Peters, Mees Profittlich, Erykah Richardson, Manouk van Riet, Eve Rivlin, Amber Roos, Jana Roscam Abbing, Daria Sinelnikova, Dora Tertsch, K Tymoshchuk, Clemence Veilat and Hong Anh Vu, The Japanese Knotweed, Marsh Marigold, Blackish Blunthorn, Woodpecker, Bat, Tick, and Common Frog.

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