Fusion AIR, the only Romanian project of artistic residencies in research institutes, initiated and organized by Association Qolony (Colony for Art and Science), is coming to an end, and at the end of next week will take place exhibition opening which brings together the works of the four artists. The event will take place on Friday, 11 June, and Saturday 12 June, starting at 14.30, in the newest exhibition space in the capital, /BAG @ MALMAISON located at 137C Plevnei Street, 2nd floor. The exhibition will be open for free access for three weeks, until 3 July inclusive; visiting hours: Wednesday - Friday, 15:00 - 19:00.
The opening of the exhibition will take place in the presence of the four multimedia artists involved in the project - Aura Bălănescu, Ciprian Ciuclea, Floriama Cândea and Peter Gate - and scientists from the four partner research institutes: Institute of Space Sciences, Research and Development Institute for Textiles and Leather, National Research and Development Institute for Materials Physics-Magurele and National Research and Development Institute for Plasma Laser and Radiation Physics.
The curator of the exhibition and the one who proposed the theme of this year's Fusion AIR - Convertible Structures - east Olivia Nitis:
"Convertible Structures is a project that explores the relationship between art and scientific practices, as well as the context of content creation in a particular setting and local history. The concept of the exhibition is based on the flexibility offered by the notion of conversion and the individual working processes of each artist in collaboration with the scientists involved. Four artists instrumentalize scientific materials and technologies with a convertible, transformative purpose. The exhibition also archives creative processes and maps working trajectories as well as theoretical tools to better understand the complex relationship and narratives of art and science." she confessed.
The residencies were a series of meetings and discussions between creators and researchers from the four institutes, a programme that allows scientists and artists to work, communicate and research together, to benefit from both science and art, stimulating creative thinking and innovation.
The four works resulting at the end of the weeks of residency in the research institutes, following dozens of meetings and dialogues between artists and researchers, which the public will be able to see at /BAG @ MALMAISON for three weeks are:
- Archaeology of the invisible - echoes from the distant Universe. Ciprian Ciuclea presents a multimedia installation that refers to the concrete and conceptual dimension of the zone imperceptible to the naked eye around us into which particles of matter from the distant universe penetrate. The installation created by the renowned visual artist following his artistic residency at Institute of Space Scienceswhere he worked alongside Dr. Gina Isar, speaks poetically about possible ways of representing the interaction of high-energy particles with the Earth's atmosphere. The installation includes different performative situations, a video recording of a mini-experiment and a collection of scientific data reassembled in a minimalist logic with strong narrative accents.
- Manuspectrum - interactive artwork, a touch-sensitive parchment. Aura Bălănescu proposes a multi-sensory experience based on the concept of the parchment as a multi-substrate of information (genetic information, historical information, technological information, artistic and cultural information), defined as a result of the research carried out during the residency together with Dr Elena Badea, Drd. Iulia Caniola, msc. Simona Păunescu, msc. Emanuel Hadîmbu, from National Research and Development Institute for Textiles and Leather. A complex project that addresses the entire perceptual system, starting from the tactile and extending to the auditory and visual, even kinaesthetic - perceiving reality with the whole body.
- IMplant - installation exploring how different structures influence the materiality of different bodies. The work presents the results of an interspecies experiment proposed by bioartist Floriama Cândeain an artistic research project developed with dr. Adrian Enache, drd. Luminița Rădulescu, dr. Mihaela Beregoi, dr. Mihaela Bunea and dr. Ionuț Enculescu, scientific researchers within National Research and Development Institute for Materials Physics. IMPlant proposes a collection of iterated objects (natural and artificial) that cross the boundaries between species, between natural and artificial or between reality and fiction in an attempt to find new narratives about the human-nature relationship.
- [The Cell] or how living cells behave when subjected to sounds with specific frequencies. Peter Gateanthropologist and experimental musician, along with drd. Cristina Elena Staicu, dr. Florin Jipa and dr. Marian Zamfirescu, researchers at National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, designed and conducted an experiment in which living cells were immersed in an acoustic environment with sounds of predetermined frequencies and found that the cells reacted positively to these sound stimuli. In the exhibition, the result of a cymatics experiment of sonic generation of specific frequencies created on a classical canvas support with acrylic substance will be displayed. The project itself of "sonically infusing" living cells with the sounds created by the artist represents a higher level of scientific-artistic challenge.
/SAC @ MALMAISON is a space-context for co-productions, research and collaborative and transdisciplinary practices in the visual, performing and scenic arts. /SAC @ MALMAISON is the second space in Bucharest of /SAC after the one opened in 2018, on Berthelot street, nr. 5.
/SAC @ MALMAISON is located in a community-context - Atelierele Malmaison (an artistic community including workshops, project spaces and galleries) - recently founded in the Malmaison building with a history of almost 2 centuries, centrally located at 137C Calea Plevnei.
The Contemporary Art Space - /SAC - is a private independent initiative, a context-resource dedicated to the current needs of the producer and the public to establish a direct and formative dialogue through exhibition, research and promotion.
/SAC @ MALMAISON has been arranged with the support of URSA Romania and Policolor.
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