Li (理) - in Cantonese and classical Chinese cosmology—refers to the underlying pattern, principle, or texture of things: the intrinsic order through which life unfolds. It is not a fixed law, but a structure for living relational — the grain of reality, the flow of coherence that weaves beings, materials, and phenomena together.
In LIOS Labs, Li becomes both a spatial and temporal system—a way of perceiving and operating within the world that follows the inner pattern of ecosystems rather than imposing form upon them. Li guides how we inhabit time and space: through attunement, reciprocity, and co-creation with the elements.
Thus, LIOS can be read as a laboratory of Li—a field for sensing and enacting the deep structures of interbeing, where artistic, ecological, and social processes align with the subtle order of life itself.
LIOS Labs is a community, and, formally, an association, of artists, activists, and researchers from around the world. We came together in Berlin in 2019, inspired by the Błędowska Desert in Poland - a place that became both our starting point and the heart of our work. As a community, LIOS operates like an ecosystem: self-organizing, interdependent, and porous. Its members collaborate across geographies and disciplines, guided by a sense of planetary kinship and responsibility. Participation in LIOS means living and learning together, listening deeply to the more-than-human world, and experimenting with new forms of coexistence and collective imagination.
Today, we’re a network of agents living across the globe, connected through annual artistic residencies, workshops, and gatherings. Our focus is on shaping ways of learning with and creating with ecosystems that have been affected by desertification and ecocide. We believe that art and ecology can weave new worlds—worlds where regenerative ways of living become possible.
A methodology of co-creation rooted in ecological awareness and relational practice. We operate through Li - the underlying pattern, or living web that connects all beings and elements - and OS (operating system,) a dynamic space-time field where this pattern unfolds through artistic experimentation.
As a methodology, LIOS proposes a way of cohabiting (living, working, coexisting) that is at once spatial and temporal, artistic and ecological. It invites participants to tune into the rhythms of the life-giving forces — earth, water, fire, air, and ether — and to let these forces shape both the structure and the pace of collective work. Rather than designing from above, LIOS evolves from within ecosystems, following the logics of reciprocity, care, and regeneration.