Worlds at Stake – Revisiting Ecologies in Virtual Worlds
Conversation with the artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen
Jakob Kudsk Steensen (Denmark, 1987) will steal the limelight at the first event of SciArt Switzerland, staged in partnership with IBSA Foundation for scientific research, which will be looking at the relationship between art and technology in its 2024 edition.
Steensen uses 3D animations, sound and immersive installations in his ‘environmental stories’ to deliver poetic interpretations about overlooked natural phenomena, and remote or liminal spaces. A keen observer of climate change and its consequences, the artist draws our attention to the things that remain on the fringes and are often unseen. Steensen’s starting point is always a long period of fieldwork, whether his focus is on Berlin's surroundings, the island of Kaua’i or the spectacular reconstruction of the Arolla Glacier in the Valais Alps, documented shortly before its melting. Using techniques borrowed from the world of gaming and virtual reality, the artist successfully fosters a new awareness and perception of our relationship with the environment around us.
Free event with free entry. Booking allows you to reserve a seat but is not mandatory for admission to the event.
The conversation will be held in English with simultaneous interpreting in Italian
SciArt SwitzerlAnd is a project by IBSA Foundation for scientific research, in partnership with LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura and MASI Lugano (Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana).
Science and arts have always coexisted across time and space. Though with different methodologies and purposes, artists and artists, scientists and scientists, observe the world around them, opening us to new perspectives, interpretations and meanings.
Through different event formats and digital products, SciArt SwitzerlAnd intends to cast its gaze on those artistic creations that have been transformed through interaction with scientists, discoveries and research institutes.
The public will be able to get close to fascinating proposal born from the encounter between several dimensions, and hear from the living voices of artists and scientists how very different realities influence each other.
The new project fits perfectly within the mission of the Foundation, which since 2012 has been committed to spreading an authoritative scientific culture, sharing principles and knowledge in accessible language, and raising awareness of issues related to science, culture, and the well-being of the individual.
(Denmark, 1987) is an artist who tells environmental stories
through 3D animation, sound and immersive installations. He
observes overlooked natural phenomena by carrying out fieldwork
in collaboration with representatives from other disciplines, from
biology to music and literature.
The main professionals he has worked with include the singer,
Arca; Michael Riesman, music director of the Philip Glass
Ensemble, and South Korean band BTS. Steensen has exhibited at
Serpentine Galleries, London (2019); ARoS Museum of Art, Aarhus
(2022); LUMA Arles, Arles (2021); Halle am Berghain, Berlin (2021);
PHI Centre, Montreal (2019); at the Venice Biennale (2019), and in
many other museums.
Cover image:
Jakob Kudsk Steensen,
The Ephemeral Lake (2024)
© 2024. Image courtesy of the artist