We see ourselves as unique individuals with our own character and personal traits. We live in a society where increased individuality is seen as a recipe for success. But who is this exclusive I? Recent research defines us humans as holobionts - biological composite beings. We have always lived in interdependence with many other micro-organisms. Is there already a WE in me?

Julia Katharina Thiemann's exhibition concept is based in part on the radical endosymbiotic theory of US biologist Lynn Margulis (1938-2011), excerpts from whose groundbreaking 1998 book The Symbiotic Planet have been republished in this publication. Are we complex ecosystems within ourselves, like coral reefs? The exhibition at the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, curated by Julia Katharina Thiemann, and the accompanying publication present aesthetic reflections on these multi-species relationships based on international artistic positions. The artistic works included in the publication combine scientific, cultural and medical aspects with sociological and political questions of our coexistence.

If we humans can only survive as symbionts in interdependence with other species, would we not also have to fundamentally rethink our view of ourselves and the world? In a digression, sociologist Andreas Reckwitz explains that the singularised and individualised society of late modernity only exists and can only exist through and within social - or symbiotic - relationships and communities. The publication not only provides a framework for aesthetic speculation on our image of humanity through contemporary art. It is also an interesting and successful example of a complex dialogue between art and science.