This body of work explores various aspects of surgical culture, and the relationship between (non)human animal bodies and food.

Project lead: Kaisu Koski

Citizen Surgery Collective members: Noémie Soula (L4L), Anne van Veen (Radboud University Nijmegen) and Anna Harris (Maastricht University).

Funded by: Research England

This body of work explores various aspects of surgical culture, focusing especially on surgical literacy, sensory skills acquisition, simulation, and the relationship between (non)human animal bodies and food. The research is conducted by the Citizen Surgery Collective, an interdisciplinary practice-based research group consisting of artists, critical posthumanists and anthropologists. The collective was initiated in 2020 by Kaisu Koski, and its work develops practices and methods to democratize and redistribute surgical skills, discuss asymmetric interspecies power relations at the dinner table, and develop methods for collaborative (remote) practices.

Outputs

Publications

Koski, K. (under review) Challenging animal-based food systems: Citizen Surgery on vegan body simulators. RUUKKU Studies in Artistic Research.

Koski K. (2021) Citizen surgery: a framework for uncanny operations. Leonardo 54(6).

Byvanck, V, Harris, A., Koski, K, and Schrier, B. (2023) Podcast: Training the Senses – Operation Mango. Interview with Anna Harris, Kaisu Koski, and Bart Schier, Marres House for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht.

Film-based output

Lunchtime Surgery Class (2021). A film by Kaisu Koski, Noémie Soula, Anne van Veen and Anna Harris. Screenings:

2023 Bizarrya Short Film Festival, Porto, Portugal
2022 BIDEODROMO International Experimental Film and Video Festival, Bilbao, Spain
2022 THE BODY ELECTRIC LE CORPS ÉLECTRIQUE, Montreal, Canada
2022 Whitebox gallery Art Film Festival, Pietarsaari Finland
2022 Emerge 2022 Film Fest: Eating at the Edges, Arizona State University, US

DermaBread (2021). A film by Kaisu Koski. Screenings:

2022 International Festival of Science Documentary Films, Olomouc, CZ
2022 XPRMNTL the anti-film festival, London, UK

Conferences and symposia

Koski, K. 2021. Invited speaker at Health Humanities and the Arts Spring Symposium, Center for Health Humanities at MCPHS University, Boston, US.

Koski, K., Soula, N., van Veen, A. & Harris, A. 2021.Clinical Dinner: A Virtual Citizen Surgery Training Session, 4S Annual Meeting The Society for Social Studies of Science), Toronto, Canada.

Performative workshops:

Koski, K, Soula, N, and van Veen, A. 2023. Bone Cracker: Surgical Training with Edible Body Simulator. Making Together Festival at the Dutch Conference for Medical Education. The Social Hub Maastricht, Netherlands.
Koski, K. Harris, A. 2022. Clinical Dinner, Marres House for Contemporary Culture, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Lunchtime Surgery Class (2021) screening at Bizarrya Short Film Festival, Porto, Portugal. March 15 2023. This is a film by Citizen Surgery Collective (Kaisu Koski, Noémie Soula, Anne van Veen and Anna Harris)
The work has also been introduced and trialled at a Lab4Living team event in October 2021.

Prizes

2021 STS Making and Doing Award, Society for Social Studies of Science, Toronto, Canada.