26.2. - 31.3.2022 at the Swiss Pavilion / World Expo 2020 Dubai

as part of the "Blue Peace Exhibition"

curated by Irène Hediger and Flurin 

21.8.2021 - 28.2.2022

INTERFACING NEW HEAVENS

online exhibition on www.javettup.art: 24.6.2021 - 28.2.2022

physical exhibition at the Javett Art Centre: 21.8.2021 - 28.2.2022

with artworks from Tebogo George Mahashe and Vanessa Lorenzo

curated by Sinethemba Twalo, Irène Hediger and Flurin Fischer

presented by the Javett UP and the artists-in-labs program of Zurich University of the Arts

Introduction

As the earth rotates and spins, existing in a cold and infinite universe, each life force has their own singular and intimate relationship with the sky. We transfix our observations towards the stars and to an unknown and boundless elsewhere. Looking out towards the cosmos is one of the oldest shared experiences, the significance of observing the galaxy spans over thousands of years of cultural practice whether religious, artistic and/or scientific. The exhibition "Interfacing New Heavens" brings together two different positions that contemplate the entanglement of science, art and indigenous knowledge systems and their inquiry within the discursive terrain of astronomy.

Inquiring, connecting and questioning these practices through their own, contemporary artistic process, Tebogo George Mahashe and Vanessa Lorenzo contribute to the exhibition project "Interfacing New Heavens". The artists have exchanged and researched with astronomers in South Africa and Switzerland during their artists-in-labs residencies in 2018 at the South African Astronomical Observatory SAAO in Cape Town and Sutherland and the Astronomy Astronomy Department of the University of Geneva. The process and its results is are presented in exhibition format both online and in situ within the context of the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria.

All images by Anthea Pokroy.

Interfacing New Heavens is supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia Johannesburg and the Embassy of Switzerland in South Africa.

PROPOSITIONS FOR A POETIC ECOSYSTEM

A group exhibition with artists from the KAUST-Swiss Residency Exchange

as part of the 7th edition of 21.39 Jeddah Art

with 

Zahrah Al Ghamdi

Marie Griesmar

Muhannad Shono

Sandra Kühne

Nasser Al Salem

Nadya Suvorova

curated by Irène Hediger & Flurin Fischer

Light design by Massimiliano Moro

30th January - 31st of March 2020

Rubat Al-khunji, Al Balad - Jeddah

Opening: 29th of January 2020, 5 45 pm

Open from Monday to Saturday, 5 pm - 10 pm

Admission is free

Panel: 1st February 2020, 11 am at Saudi Art Council, Gold Moor Mall
Red Sea - White Mountains with artist Marie Griesmar, artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi, Michael Berumen, director of the Red Sea Research Center (KAUST), Christopher Robinson, senior scientist at Eawag (ETH Zurich), moderated by Irène Hediger

Curatorial Statement 

For the first time since its initiation in 2016 the artists-in-labs International Residency Exchange with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST is presented to an international audience.

The group exhibition “Propositions for a Poetic Ecosystem” is a speculative and vivid manifestation of transdisciplinary collaboration, uniting the site-specific works of six artists from Saudi Arabia and Switzerland in a unique setting. These works reveal the artistic inquiries they have made into leading ecological research, explored from the depths of the Red Sea to the peaks of the Swiss Alps.
These unique aesthetical and intellectual perspectives shed light on the importance of water, the fragility of the known, and the beauty of the unknown. In the middle of Jeddah’s old town, Al Balad, and dispersed over the ground floor rooms of the historic Rubat Al-khunji, visitors enter a space shared both by art and science.

The arts and the sciences are concerned with understanding and shaping the world in different ways. By working together, artists and scientists have the potential to shape a vision and share with society an understanding of how humanity can think about its role in the environment and how the changes on a global scale can be faced. The production of knowledge as well as artistic expression are always situated and we consider these different points of view as a fruitful ground for cultural dialogue and learning from each other at eye-level.
Artists and scientists alike share a strong interest in fundamental questions and they strive to find answers and evoke new questions driven by curiosity and creativity. There is an inherent beauty in the aesthetics of the knowledge they create, be it the next, maybe small, but important, fact revealed through scientific research which can bring us one step closer to completing our picture of the world in which we live. Or it may be a new and surprising interpretation of a fragment of this very same world as seen through the eyes of an artist.

Thanks for their generous support and/or strategic advice:

Saudi Art Council, Zurich University of the Arts, KAUST Enrichment Office, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia

Hello World, opening 20 June 2020

online exhibition with Vanessa Lorenzo

Hello World is an online exhibition organized by TransCultural Exchange that connects hundreds of artists and arts and cultural venues from over 70 countries, as a way to demonstrate care and concern during this time of pandemic. Alongside artists from all around the world, former ail artist-in-resident, Vanessa Lorenzo, exhibited her work Always Calling Home.

Vanessa Lorenzo, participated in the artist-in-labs South African-Swiss Residency Exchange in 2018. The work presented in Hello World, extends from her research and collaboration with the team at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town and Sutherland.
Always Calling Home presents a series of sonifications produced from the photometric data of Near Earth Asteroids. These celestial bodies, wandering across the Universe, pass very close to our planet and have contributed to mass-extinction events.

An installation by Chi-yung Wong

Opening: 6th of November 2018, 6pm, Salle des Pieds Légers, Theatre de Liège, Belgium.

7th of November 2018, 2pm: presentations by Chi-yung Wong (artist), Irène Hediger (head of artists-in-labs program), Connie Lam (General Manager Hong Kong Art Center), Heidi Wiley (European Theater Convention).

Accessible from 7th of November 2018 to January 5th 2019

Open from tuesday to saturday, 12:00 - 20:00

Admission is free.

The installation “To See a World in a Grain of Sand” at the Theatre de Liège, Belgium was developed by Chi-yung Wong, cross-disciplinary artist and student of the MA Transdisciplinary Studies at ZHdK.

“To See a World in a Grain of Sand” is an experiential light installation informed by the artist’s questions and concepts on mindfulness practice which he explored during his 2017 residency with researchers of the Translational Neuromodeling Unit (University of Zurich/ETH) and the Sanatorium Kilchberg, Switzerland. This residency was organised by the artists-in-labs program in collaboration with the Master Transdisciplinary Studies of ZHdK and provided the artist access to scientific knowledge and technology as well as in-depth exchange with researchers.

Wong’s installation intends to send the visitors on a meditative journey of light, sound and touch. Its aesthetic aims to create a serene and contemplative atmosphere.

Presented by the Theatre de Liège, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Arts Center.

A Light Installation by Chi-yung Wong
Music Composer: An Tôn Thất
System Specialist & Programmer: Jose Ho
LED & System Sponsored by Philips Lighting

With the support of the Club des Entreprises partenaires du Théâtre de Liège ; Home Affairs Bureau | Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ; Arts Development Fund of the Home Affairs Bureau | Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Sau Ching Charity Foundation Limited; Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels.

An exhibition with the artists ZAHRAH ALGHAMDI & MUHANNAD SHONO, (Saudi Arabia)

Opening: 30 November 2017, 6-8pm (welcome and introduction 6:30pm)
Exhibition: 1-7 December 2017, 9am-5pm (closed Sat & Sun)
Atrium Forum Chriesbach, Eawag, Überlandstrasse 133, 8600 Dübendorf

***

Zahrah Alghamdi, South-western Saudi Arabia, draws on the idea of ‘embodied memory’ and experiments with translating memory and the feeling of place into spatial installations.
As a member of the Stream Ecology Group (Department of Aquatic Ecology), she has been accompanying and observing scientists on environmental sampling and field data collections. The artist’s personal experience and observations in this landscape inspired her to respond with her own gestures and develop minimal and poetic sculptural interventions on site.

http://www.zahrahalghamdi.com/

***

Muhannad Shono, naturalized Saudi citizen to Syrian parents, addresses themes of displacement, migration and identity throughout his work. He often works with ink and paper, incorporating sculptural, animated and acoustic elements.
In the course of his investigations at the microscopic level, Muhannad discovered an organism he claims is full of new ideas, The secret behind his claim were revealed at the exhibition opening on 30.11.17.

http://muhannadshono.com/

The KAUST-Swiss Residency Exchange is a cooperation with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Pro Helvetia and the artists-in-labs program, ICS ZHdK.

********

Travelling to Eawag:
By Train from Zurich HB:
By S-train (S3, S9, S12) to Stettbach. From there about 20 minutes’ walk to Eawag (see map), or by tram No. 12 to “Giessen” or by bus No. 760 to “Empa”.

DISPLACEMENTS – ART, SCIENCE AND THE DNA OF THE IBEX

2 September - 19 November 2017

Opening: Friday, 1 September 2017, 18-21h
Welcome and introduction by the curators at 18:30h. The artists will be present.

Special exhibition at the Zoological Museum of the Zurich University.

Artists: Magda Drozd, Nicola Genovese, Edward Monovich and Aurélie Strumans

Exhibition design: Cornelia Zierhofer, BA Theatre, Scenography, ZHdK

Curators: Irène Hediger (Head of ail program) and Lukas Keller (Director Zoological Museum)

The special exhibition is a collaboration between the artists-in-labs program, Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts, ZHdK and the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich.

Download flyer and program.

The special exhibition „Entführungen – Kunst, Wissenschaft und die DNA des Steinbocks“ (Displacements – Art, Science and the DNA of the Ibex) aims to build a bridge between artistic and scientific investigation, based on current ecological and genetic research on the ibex. This iconic animal had been extinct in Switzerland 200 years ago and could only be resettled by the smuggling of animals from Italy. The American artist Edward Monovich and the MA Fine Art students from Zurich University of the Arts discussed with scientists the genetic consequences, the impact of human interventions as well as scientific methodologies and technology, used both in the laboratories and in the field. The exhibited video and sound installations, sculptures and images along with the documentation of the creative processes show the artists‘ views and interpretations of these encounters.

From the studios to the laboratories and back: „Entführungen – Kunst, Wissenschaft und die DNA des Steinbocks“ invites you to take a look inside the shared world of creative robbers and man-made evolution.

Opening hours: Tue-Fri 9-17h / Sat & Sun 10-17h
Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich

The opening of the exhibition is part of the Scientifica 17 - Zurich Science Days program.

Supporting Programme:

Workshop «In the art lab: Insights into the work process of an artist» cancelled!

21 September
18.30 - 20.30h
«In the art lab: Insights into the work process of an artist»
Take a look behind the scenes and explore the exhibition’s development. Together, we will investigate, describe and discuss the art works and the documentation. In the workshop, you will develop your own perspective on artistic research and how artists develop their ideas on the interface of art and science.

2 September
Zurich’s Long Night of Museums
19 – 02h

Workshop
«extravagant head-dress!»
19 - 01.30h
Inspired by numerous animals such as the ibex with its impressive horns or the cockatoos with their colourful hoods, guests are invited to create their own extravagant head-dress and to test its visual impact on the catwalk.

Short tours
«artists-in-labs» (20 minutes)
19h
21h
23h
01h

When art and science meet, what is the outcome? A guided tour through the exhibition with the artist Magda Drozd and the curators Irène Hediger and Lukas Keller. You will receive an exclusive insight about their ideas and inspiration and about the making of the exhibition.

Presentation
«Research on the ibex up close»
20h
22h
24h
The biologist Thomas Grubinger spends the whole summer in the alps collecting data on the ibex.
In his presentation, Grubinger will offer a unique insight into the daily challenges, tricks and experiences of a scientist in the field.

Public Tours:

10 September
11.30h
Sunday-tour with Magda Drozd, artist

1 October
11.30h
Sunday-tour with Lukas Keller and Irène Hediger, curators

22 October
11.30h
Sunday-tour with Cornelia Zierhofer, exhibition designer

12 November
11.30h
Sunday-tour with the biologist Thomas Grubinger about his research on the ibex.

Events:

9 November
18.30h
Podium «Science and Art – Art and Science»
mit Dr. Kurt Bollmann (WSL), Dr. Alice Brambilla (UZH), Magda Drozd (ZHdK), Nicola Genovese (ZHdK), Irène Hediger (ZHdK/artists-in-labs program), Prof. Dr. Lukas Keller (UZH/Zoological Museum), Aurélie Strumans (ZHdK)
The Podium will be held in English.

16 November
from 18h
Exhibition closing event
Invitation to celebrate with us the closing of the exhibition and to throw a glimpse into the future because on December 14, 2017, the exhibition will once again open its doors in the National Park in Zernez.
The artists, scientists and curators will be present.
The exhibition will continue to be open until November 19.

R<CONNECTING SENSES - an exhibition and artists laboratory
on perception and the relationship of art, science, technology and sensory systems

17 May - 21 May 2016
Daily from 11am - 7pm

with
Brass Art (United Kingdom)
Pe Lang (Switzerland)
Nicole Ottiger (Switzerland)
Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri (Greece)
Takuma Takahashi + Shugo Hirao (Japan)
Yuk-Yiu Ip (Hong Kong)

R<CONNECTING SENSES focuses on perception and the relationship of art, science, technology and sensory systems. Oscillating between kinetic mechanics, material collages and poetic acoustics, this selected group of artists share an interest in experimental concepts and transdisciplinary encounters. Thus, this exhibition is turned into a laboratory enriched by discussions and interactions. Artistic practices, aesthetic strategies and situated knowledge are exchanged between the artists and then shared with ISEA participants and exhibition visitors. Visitors are welcomed to challenge the visible and invisible in this show:
It is the curators’ aim to collectively generate new ideas and artistic outputs by crossing, blurring and re-connecting the borders of art and science, cultural perspectives and the human senses.
For the second time, the artists-in-labs program is present at the ISEA which in 2016 is hosted in Hong Kong. The Co-curators of R<CONNECTING SENSES, Irène Hediger (artists-in-labs program) and Harald Krämer (ISEA 2016 Hong Kong) present artworks and experiments of six artists/ artist groups from East Asia and Europe at Connecting Space Hong Kong.

The week's program:

Tuesday, 17 May
8 30pm - 10 30pm

R<connecting Senses - Opening of exhibition and artists laboratory with performances

with Brass Art (UK), Pe Lang (CH), Nicole Ottiger (CH), Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri (GR), Takuma Takahashi + Shugo Hirao (JP), IP Yuk-Yiu (HK)

9pm: Untitled II - a live-performance of mechanical instruments by Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri and Pe Lang
Untitled II builds on modified membraphones developed by Papalexandri-Alexandri as main instruments utilizing Lang’s motor-activated devices. The work creates and explores a soundscape of mechanical-produced long sustained sounds and textures with organic character and without any post-processing.

9 30pm: Shooting Moments - an art experiment on perception by Nicole Ottiger. We invite all visitors to participate!
The artist invites curious volunteers to put their own perception skills to test in this art experiment – to sample a selected art image being flashed at the edge of eyesight, to the right or left visual field only and to paint/ draw what they perceived after a single visual exposure (up to 4 exposures allowed). Your paintings will become part of the running exhibition.

The artists and curators are present throughout the opening

Drinks and snacks offered by the Consulate General of Switzerland in Hong Kong

Thursday, 19 May
4pm – 9pm

Making of…: presentations and artists talk (4pm - 6pm)
Shooting moments – an art experiment by Nicole Ottiger: the artist invites curious volunteers to put their own perception skills to test in this art experiment – to sample a selected art image being flashed at the edge of eyesight, to the right or left visual field only and to paint/ draw what they perceived after a single visual exposure (up to 4 exposures allowed) (6pm – 9pm)
Sound performance - by Takuma Takahashi: experimental computer music (8 30pm)

Saturday, 21 May
10am – 2pm

Breakfast and Breakdown: closing of exhibition and artists laboratory. During the closing event, dismantling of R<CONNECTING SENSES starts.

The artists are present
The Brunch is offered to visitors and participants

A collaboration project between the ICS/ZHdK artists-in-labs program and Museum Haus Konstruktiv, curated by Sabine Schaschl and Irène Hediger.
Opening: 4th of February 2015 at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv

Featured Artists: Thomas Baumann | Cod.Act | Attila Csörgő | Alexandre Joly | Peter Kogler | Pe Lang | Carsten Nicolai | Semiconductor | Troika

The group-exhibition "Quantum of Disorder" and its supporting program are a result of the eponymous collaboration project between the ICS/ZHdK artists-in-labs program and Museum Haus Konstruktiv. Established ordering systems and design systems, the definition of algorithms and parameters, with which certain forms are generated or functions are activated, mathematical calculations, and scientific deductions all serve as a basis for constructivist-concrete art, and for the artists exhibited. Here, the incorporation of disorder and deviation is an essential and (to equal extent) inter-linking element.

The exhibition presents a number of artists, and groups of artists, who create their works by means of new technologies and programming engendered by the interplay between order and disorder, system and deviation.
This collaboration project does not put forth any hypothesis, and it is not intended to convey any fining. Instead, it is to be seen as an experiment, in which issues pertaining to art encounter the process and achievements of the natural sciences. Principles of oder emerge as a common denominator, providing the basis for both artistic and scientific practice. The exhibition presents nine artists, or artists' groups, who offer an insight into various possibilities regarding algorithmic and systematic applications. Here, the spectrum ranges from computer-controlled plotter images to kinetic installations where one geometric form is transformed into another, through to computer-generated all-over image that call our spatial perception into question, or to video recordings, in which invisible magnetic rays in a research laboratory are made visible.

The comprehensive supporting program, developed in cooperation with ETH Zurich and the University of Geneva, brings various disciplines together within talks, panel discussions, lectures and presentations pertaining to particle physics and cutting-edge robotics research, thus enabling an active exchange of knowledge. The publication "Quantum of Disorder" was released during the exhibition and features artist interviews and texts by various authors as well as comprehensive images of the installations in the exhibition.

A cooperation project with:

The collaboration project "Quantum of Disorder" is supported by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia as part of its "Digital Culture" initiative.

Further we thank: Bundeskanzleramt Österreich Kunst, Österreichische Botschaft Bern, Österreichisches Kulturforum, ETH Zürich-Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control (IDSC), Université de Genève: Faculté d. Sciences, Section de physique, Stiftung Erna und Curt Burgauer, Egon-und-Ingrid-Hug-Stiftung, Migros Kulturprozent

Please visit our website in German for more information

The touring exhibition Think Art – Act Science displays the artwork of the twelve Swiss artists-in-labs program award winner 2007 to 2009 as well as the four Sino-Swiss Recidency Exchange award winners 2009.

Featured artists: Monika Codourey, Christian Gonzenbach, Alexandre Joly, Roman Keller, Pe Lang, Wenfeng Liao, Alina Mnatsakanian, Nicole Ottiger

The exhibition is a selection of eight works which are shown from a total of twenty-four artists who have participated in the Swiss artists-in-labs program since 2007. Two of these works were realised during the Sino-Swiss Residency Exchange between artists and scientists in Switzerland and China in 2009/10.

22nd September - 12th November | San Francisco Art Institute
Opening: 21st September 2011 at 5.30 pm
with a sound performance by Alexandre Joly.

4th Mai – 5th August 2012 | Museum Leonardo, Salt Lake City
Opening: 4th mai 2012 at 8 pm 
with a sound performance by Alexandre Joly.

27th May – 10th July 2011 | Kunsthalle Luzern
Opening: 26th May 2011 at 7 pm 
with sound performance by Pe Lang.

18th December 2010 – 15th May 2011 | Arts Santa Monica Barcelona
Opening: Friday, 17th December 2010 at 7 pm 
with climbing performance by Hina & Mätti.

Visit the exhibitions website www.thinkartactscience.com

The exhibition 山水 SHANSHUI – BOTH WAYS 2010 when art meets science displays the artwork of the four Sino-Swiss Recidency Exchange award winners 2009.

Two artists each from Switzerland and China respectively explored and learnt about scientific environmental issues in renowned research institutes in their host countries during their 5 months residency. Whilst the resulting artworks accentuated the boundaries between art and science as well as China and Switzerland, they also helped to blur these differences. During their residencies the artists didn’t just learn about scientific processes, but were also exposed to subjects such as identity, culture, society or communication. This leaded to the development of works which were influenced in their own way by culturally specific attributes.

Press release (german): pdf

See the short documentaries below:

Alexandre Joly

Aline Veillat

Aniu

Liao Wenfeng

“山水 SHANSHUI – BOTH WAYS“
11th of september – 24th of september 2010 art gallery AroundSpace, Shanghai.

“山水 SHANSHUI – BOTH WAYS“
19th of november – 03th of december 2010 Stadtgalerie at PROGR, Bern. 

This project is part of the exchange and cooperation program Swiss Chinese Exploration» of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council and is supported by:

From November 10th to November 19th 2010, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and Swiss artists-in-labs program presented QUARC Quantum Art Cloud a light sculpture by Christian Gonzenbach at the premises of the SNF in Bern.

Christian Gonzenbach participated at the Swiss artists-in-labs program in 2009. During nine months he dealt with particular physics at the University of Geneva/CERN. While physicists are trying to explain the Universe with mathematical models, Gonzenbach tries to do so with experiments that he developed and conducted during his residency using objects of our everyday life. One of his resulting artworks has been adapted especially for this exhibition. QUARC Quantum Art Cloud is an installation with light tubes which are switched on and off by a random generator.

www.gonzenbach.net

An exhibition of media art works selected from the Swiss artists-in-labs Residency Exchange funded by the Ministry of Culture in Switzerland. Seven media artists re-interpret and question research about Artificial Intelligence, engineering, environmental science, human disease and biotechnology. Lucid Fields is about the hidden and factual fields: a ‘reality jam’ that exists in science today between ‘truths’ rather than between fictions. Through media art interpretation the artists question how empirical knowledge is situated and highlight the discourses surrounding "truth" in relation to technical progress in our information society. These artists use technology as a method to explore the potential for communication and combine art with scientific research in a clear way for the viewer, raising awareness of issues crucial to the future of society such as machine/human extensions, surveillance, control, energy, relativity, human eye disease and genetically modified agriculture. Lucid Fields accentuates the role of place, community and culture in relation to scientific ‘facts’.

Curated by Irène Hediger, a curator who is currently Co-Director of the Swiss artists-in-labs program at the Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts, University of the Arts, Zurich.

www.isea2008singapore.org