NEWS ︎︎︎


︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

CONFERENCE:



“The Svalbard Science Conference – the only conference dedicated to Svalbard research – is a bi-annual conference arranged by the Svalbard Science Forum and the Research Council of Norway. This year's theme, Svalbard as an Arctic hotspot for climate change and international cooperation, underscores the critical importance of Svalbard research in understanding and addressing global climate challenges.

The conference brings together researchers at all career stages, research managers, policymakers and other stakeholders of Svalbard research. The aim is to build and strengthen multi-generational, interdisciplinary and international collaboration. Over the course of the conference days, there will be sessions covering all important aspects of Svalbard research.

Natural science often involves complex data that can be difficult for non-experts to grasp. Art – whether visual, musical, literary, or performative – translates this information into forms that are more intuitive and emotionally compelling. Art has the power to evoke emotions; fear, joy, hope, urgency, or inspiration that data alone may not. This year’s conference therefore also includes an art-and-science session. We have invited artists Torben Snekkestad, Morten Qvenild, Anja Lauvdal, Julie Freeman, Esther Horvath, Georgia Rose Murray, Olivier Morin and Jessica MacMillan to contribute to the session.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE CONFERENCE ︎︎︎







︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

ARTIST TALK:



Billedkunst LIVE: Excursion to Solobservatoriet, Harestua
25 August 2025 at 20:15

You are invited to yet another edition of Billedkunst LIVE, this time at Solobservatoriet — the Solar Observatory — at Harestua, while the artists are preparing the exhibition Sound of the Sun (opening 30 August). Being one of Northern Europe’s most prominent sites of solar research from its launch in 1954 throughout the 70s, the Solobservatoriet is today a preserved and protected technical cultural heritage. The exhibition, partly made as a site specific project, will take place in the observatory tower — a 20-meter tall construction — as well as the research facilities and the nearby forest.

For this Billedkunst LIVE, you will have the opportunity to not only visit this unique site, but also get insight in how science and visual art can intermingel and inform each other in some of the participating artist’s works. Pablo Castilla will give a presentation on his archival project from Solobservatoriets vast photographic collection, followed by a conversation between artists Jessica MacMillan and Maggie Coblentz.


Pablo Castilla Heredia (b. 1980, Granada) is based between Norway and Spain. His work is based on the direct exploration of reality and encoded in a documentary-based language through various disciplines such as cinema, performing arts and photography internationally. The use of a documentary style becomes in itself a strategy that reveals fissures in perception and challenges the boundaries between fiction and reality.  In 2019, after completing a postgraduate degree in the Management of Photographic Collections at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Castilla started a project focused on the preventive conservation, digitisation, and storage of the historic photographic archive of Harestua’s Solar Observatory. He has been working on highlighting the value of this heritage since then.



Jessica MacMillan (b. 1987, USA) is an artist and amateur astronomer whose work spans sculpture, installation, 3D animation, and light. Her works investigate astronomy and planetary science through ordinary found objects and optical instruments, creating experiences that connect our everyday lives with the vast cosmic scales that surround us.


Maggie Coblentz (b. 1988, Canada) is a researcher and multimedia artist. She draws inspiration from science fiction, outer space, and more-than-human worlds. What connects her work is an exploration of how humans relate to the cosmos. She has flown on parabolic research flights, led a fermentation study aboard the ISS, and led several field expeditions where she used cooking to connect people and place. Maggie works in the Science division at National Geographic. Previously, at MIT Space Exploration Initiative, she researched space food and culture and established an Arctic field school in Svalbard. She is the founder of Fieldscape, an interdisciplinary field program that brings together scientists, engineers, artists, and designers to improve accessibility to remote research environments. Maggie received a Master of Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work has been featured in publications such as WIRED, The Economist, Scientific American, BBC, NPR, CNN, and Popular Science.


CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THE EVENT ︎︎︎






︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

EXHIBITION:



Lyden av sola  -  The Sound of the Sun

Solobservatoriet  -  Harestua Solar Observatory
Saturday, August 30 - Sunday, September 7, 2025
OPENING: August 30, 12:00 - 23:00

FREE BUS from Harestua station to the Solar Observatory on the opening day, August 30th. Harestua station is a one-hour train ride from Oslo Central Station.

«The Sound of the Sun» brings together artists and researchers for an art exhibition, seminar, food experience, film screening, and an outdoor laser event that will take place throughout the Harestua Solar Observatory: inside the 20-meter Solar Tower, the research facilities, and in the surrounding forest. Astronomy, solar science, and the act of observation will be common threads throughout the exhibition, which will consist of sculpture, drawing, sound, photography, film, text, site-specific installation, and light. The exhibition explores the tension between art and science, where science seeks objective answers, and art opens up to wonder and imagination.

With artists, writers, and researchers:

☆  Hedvig Biong
☆  Bjørn Bjarre
☆  Marianne Bjørnmyr
☆  Pablo Castilla
☆  Maggie Coblentz 
☆  Kira van Hoegee
☆  Laila Kongevold 
☆  Jessica MacMillan
☆  Marius Moldvær 
☆  Kajsa Parding
☆  Katie Paterson
☆  Greg Pope
☆  Vegard Rekaa 
☆  Maria Dorothea Schrattenholz
☆  Frøydis Sollid Simonsen
☆  Katarina Skjønsberg
☆  Renate Soleng 
☆  Johan Österholm

The program is organized by Hedvig Biong, Jessica MacMillan, and Marius Moldvær in collaboration with Vegard Rekaa and Torstein Nybø of Solobservatoriet. The exhibition is generously supported by Akershus Fylkeskommune / Akershus County Municipality, ⁠Kulturrådet / Arts Council Norway, ⁠Kunstsentrene i Norge / Association of Norwegian Art Centers, and ⁠Norske Billedkunstnere / Norwegian Artists Association.







︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

ARTIST TALK:



REsCENTING RELATIONS

Saturday, June 14th, 2025
12:00 – 2:30pm (CET) / 1:00 – 3:30pm (EET) / 7:00 – 9:30pm (JST)
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/byv-ykhg-rpx

Join us Saturday the 14th of June for REsCENTING RELATIONS at the Bioart Society space SOLU and online. During the seminar, artists Jessica MacMillan (US/NO), Aaro Murphy (FI), Shota Yamauchi (JP) and researcher Greg Dvorak (US), will talk about their recent scent-related projects in and outside Japan.

Dr. Greg Dvorak is Professor of International Cultural Studies at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he is based in both the Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies and the School of International Liberal Studies.

Jessica MacMillan (1987, USA) is an artist and amateur astronomer based in Oslo, Norway. Through kinetic sculpture, 3D animation, and installation, MacMillan’s work investigates concepts in astronomy and planetary science. Using optical instruments, geophysical orientation, and ordinary found objects, she focuses on bridging the gap between our everyday lived experience and the context that contains us.

Aaro Murphy (1991, FIN) is a Finnish visual artist working between Amsterdam & Helsinki. Working across sound, video, scent and sculpture Murphy creates time-based installations that question boundaries between the organic and synthetic. In 2024 Murphy was part of the TOKAS Exchange residency program developing a new aroma related work, exploring the archiving or aromatic assets.

Shota Yamauchi (1992, JPN) based in Tokyo, Japan. Yamauchi graduated with an MFA in New Media from the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Film and New Media in 2016. He continues to work from various perspectives on the theme of the relationship between technology and humans. In recent years, he has been trying to draw today’s human condition by relying on haptic motifs such as ”skin” and ”smell”.








︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

EXHIBITION:



Infinity – Emptiness – Liveliness

Hamburg Planetarium  
January 25 - May 31 , 2025 

Vernissage: 24 January, 2025 from 19:00 - 21:00

The vernissage will include a film screening of Everyday Moons in the Sternensaal, followed by a panel discussion with Jessica MacMillan, and a musical performance.

—

Is the imagination of infinity an essential motor for scientific and sustainable development? And if so, how can it be critically updated with a view to history?

As part of the project ‘Infinity - Emptiness - Liveliness,’ an exhibition will be held at the Planetarium in Hamburg from 25 January to 31 May 2025. It brings together positions and scientific models on imaginations of boundlessness from artistic, mathematical and physical perspectives. Photographs of artistic works on the borderline of science and scientific models that provide an aesthetic experience open up a space for reflection for visitors to the exhibition regarding a responsible approach to this planet and its significance as part of this universe.







︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎

EXHIBITION:



Incense for the Mesosphere

京都芸術センター  /  Kyoto Art Center
November 20 - 24, 2024
10:00 - 18:00

The world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, has just been launched into space. Using hōnoki magnolia wood, the satellite was built by researchers at Kyoto University and local craftsmen using traditional joinery techniques. During the months of October and November, I was an artist-in-residence at Kyoto Art Center, and in my time there I visited both the researchers and woodshop, and was given a piece of the very magnolia wood that was used to construct the satellite. I have used this magnolia wood to create Japanese style senkō incense for a new scent installation at Kyoto Art Center.


︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎︎