Worlds at Stake – Revisiting Ecologies in Virtual Worlds
Conversation on art and science with Jakob Kudsk Steensen - SciArt SwitzerlAnd
The event took place on Wednesday, 15th of May 2024 at MASI Lugano, LAC Exhibition Venue, Piazza Luini 6 - Lugano
Jakob Kudsk Steensen (Denmark, 1987) stole the limelight at the first event of SciArt Switzerland, staged in partnership with MASI Lugano, which looked at the relationship between art and technology in its 2024 edition.
The talk was moderated by Maike Thies, researcher in Game Design and lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).
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 drew 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.
Jakob Kudsk Steensen (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.
Maike Thies is a Research Fellow in the Subject Area in Game Design at the Department of Design of Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). As the Head of Interdisciplinary Innovation of the Department of Design, she envisions and curates various international formats and projects around Design Realities and Possible Futures for the Arts and Design. She is responsible for REFRESH, an interdisciplinary, international festival initiated by the Department of Design and the Immersive Arts Space of ZHdK dedicated to Immersive Arts and the Future of Design. Maike (co-)/curated and/or (co-)/managed exhibitions and conferences in Switzerland and abroad, including the very successful and acknowledged exhibition «Game Design Today» at the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, the Design Biennale Zurich (guest curation in 2019 on the topic «PLAY»), Expanding Immersive Design (in 2017 and 2018), and an exhibition at the Design Museum in Copenhagen during 3Days of Design in 2018 with focus on the Future of Design, Immersive Arts and Swiss Emerging Talents on behalf of the Department of Design. In 2020, Maike was listed as a «Digital Shaper» in the Category «Creatives» – an initiative of the Handelszeitung, BILANZ Wirtschaftsmagazin and digitalswitzerland, presented by Credit Suisse.
What is SciArt SwitzerlAnd?
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 the arts have always coexisted through time and space. Albeit with different methods and for different purposes, artists and scientists both observe the world around them and open up new perspectives, interpretations and meanings for us to explore.
Using different event formats and digital products, SciArt SwitzerlAnd intends to focus on artistic creations that have been transformed as a result of interactions with scientists, new discoveries and research institutions.
The public will be offered a look at fascinating projects, the products of different dimensions intersecting, and will be able to listen to the voices of artists and scientists explaining the extent to which spheres that are so different can mutually influence one another.
The new project is perfectly aligned with the mission of the Foundation, which has been committed since 2012 to disseminating scientific culture that is trustworthy, sharing principles and knowledge using language that is accessible, and raising awareness of topics relating to science and culture as well as to personal health and well-being.