The Centre for Non-Machines Research is an artistic initiative that brings together humans, non-human organisms, material objects, and places across physical and virtual environments. It investigates how computational systems shape forms of life, perception, and interaction.
It emerged through a series of collaborations, including the COST Action CA21102 Toolkit of Care and the Strategies for Non-Machines project, supported by the Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre. Its conceptual foundations were further developed during the Non-Machines conference and exhibition at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in 2023.
The notion of non-machines refers to actors and tools that are not yet integrated into machine networks or remain beyond continuous digital mediation. It includes living beings developing outside computational infrastructures, as well as practices that cultivate alternative forms of knowledge, interaction, and coexistence.
Living matter is explored through the lens of hybrid systems, where biological processes and machine-based operations intersect. Drawing from cybernetics, this research examines feedback loops between organisms, devices, methods, and concepts while exploring how different forms of existence emerge from these relations.
Rather than rejecting technology, the Centre seeks to understand changing relationships among living beings, machines, and their surroundings. Through artistic inquiry, artists, researchers, and practitioners are invited to investigate how knowledge is produced, how relations are formed, and how alternative modes of existence can be imagined.
The Centre for Non-Machines Research is directed by Lia Giannakou and Mindaugas Gapševičius.
Non-Machines Residencies
Originally established at Arkesinis 9 in Athens, the residency program has expanded to include a second location in Livanates, Greece. Together, these sites offer complementary environments for artistic research, experimentation, and collective practice. Conceived as an evolving network rather than a fixed destination, the program remains open to collaborations with additional residency spaces and partner organizations in Greece and internationally.
Each location provides a distinct ecological, social, and architectural context, encouraging different modes of working while remaining connected through the Centre for Non-Machines Research’s broader exploration of technology, ecology, and living systems.
Arkesinis 9
Arkesinis 9 is located on a 200 m² allotment comprising two interconnected houses and a shared garden. Each house accommodates visiting artists, researchers, and collaborators and includes a private bedroom and bathroom. One house contains a small library accessible to all residents, while the other provides an open studio for meetings, workshops, and experimentation. An outdoor kitchen serves as a shared workspace for practical and laboratory activities, complemented by an indoor kitchen for everyday use.
The property includes roof terraces and an enclosed garden with orange, mandarin, lemon, pomegranate, banana, avocado, and grapevine plants, alongside seasonal vegetables and herbs. Throughout the year, the garden becomes part of the residency experience, shaped by its local ecology, visiting animals, and changing seasons.
Residents have access to a DIY biolab, the four Introduction to Posthuman Aesthetics toolkits, the Artificial Jellyfish project, and a growing collection of tools and functional artworks contributed by previous residents.
Residency outcomes may be presented on site through screenings, installations, performances, discussions, or other public events extending into the garden and roof terraces.
Livanates
Livanates is a small coastal town on the Euboean Gulf, approximately 150 kilometres north of Athens. The surrounding landscape combines olive groves, agricultural land, and the sea, while the wider region is closely connected to the history of ancient Locris and Ajax the Locrian.
The residency space consists of a 90 m² apartment located approximately 100 metres from the beach. It includes two bedrooms, a spacious shared studio, and east- and west-facing terraces. A backyard with fruit trees and a nearby field of olive and pomegranate trees provide additional spaces for outdoor, ecological, and site-responsive research.
The two residency locations offer distinct environments that encourage different approaches to artistic research while remaining connected through the Center’s broader investigation into computation, ecology, and living systems.