The subject of the first LASER talk in Brussel of this season was motivated by the artistic practice-based PhD-research “An Echo of the Sun” conducted by Pepa Ivanova at LUCA, School of Arts, and KU Leuven in collaboration with the Royal Observatory of Belgium (2019-2023).
Please find the video of the talk via this link.
While current research in artscience focuses on AI, bio media, and human-caused environmental changes, this talk discusses the sun-earth cohabitation. The research focuses on the physical processes of the sun captured by solar and earth observations which become creative mediums in the conception of the artworks dedicated to the interaction of the two cosmic bodies. In the contextualization of this research, Ivanova examines the holistic sun-earth dynamics from the perspective of more-than-human theories. According to these, all biotic and abiotic factors on the earth share equal importance and expand in an ecosystem with the cosmos.
Bridging Alexander Chizhevsky’s holistic interaction of cosmic bodies with Luciana Parisi’s autopoietic in algorithmic architecture in a dialogue between scientists and artists we look at the sun-earth intra-connection found in frequencies and pulsating in planetary processes. The artworks resulting from the research encompass various methods and media; from fictional solar data drawings translated by scientists, and mixed media installation touching on the solar surface; to interface composing the incoming solar events into soundscapes and an installation summarizing the entirety of the visual light on the earth.
Pepa Ivanova is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher based in Brussels. Her recent works question the epistemological values of numeric languages and their scientific and art translations. Fascinated by how to materialize temporality, she composes light and sound experiences, she constructs decaying installations as well as physical scenarios to interact with.
Ivanova’s current research on the light on earth is supported by KIKK, Namur, and funded by the Wallonie Government, Belgium. It is part of the objectives of her Ph.D. in LUCA, Ghent/ KULeuven with a focus on sun-earth cohabitation found in pulsating patterns in the living and nonliving.
Nicky Assman is an artist with a background in Film and ArtScience who combines artistic, scientific and cinematographic knowledge in experiments that use physical and chemical processes, such as turbulence and fluid dynamics. Topics that serve as a metaphor for the turbulent and fluid times in which we live. By implementing natural and optical phenomena she creates visual compositions for a sensorial experience and often ephemeral macro universes.
Assmann has exhibited her work worldwide in solo and group shows. She was longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2023.
Dr. Yana Maneva is a heliophysicist with experience in space weather forecasting currently working at the Technical Support for Space Weather Operations at Royal Observatory of Belgium. Maneva has taken an active part in the creation of the WARMTH installation by Pepa Ivanova. Her input is the discussion concerns the journey into the solar depth giving introduction of the physicality and behavior of the solar layers and plasma. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yana-Maneva-2 https://researchportal.be/en/researcher/yana-maneva
Dr. Jasmina Magdalenic is a scientist in the field of plasma astrophysics at the Royal Observatory of Belgium and an associate professor at KU Leuven at the Plasma-astrophysics Department. Her input in this discussion concerns the data analysis of the solar observation data and the methods of recognition and categorizing the different phenomena in the solar plasma. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jasmina-Magdalenic-2 https://researchportal.be/en/researcher/jasmina-magdalenic-zhukov
Moderator: Edith Doove
Organisation: Alexandra Dementieva
When: Tuesday 19th September 2023, 7pm
Where: NICC Brussels, Lambert Crickxstraat 1070 Anderlecht , http://www.nicc.be
For more info see Leonardo
Supported by
FÉDÉRATION WALLONIE-BRUXELLES CULTURE.BE and CYLAND-Media Art Laboratory
Images 1, 2 and featured: Pepa Ivanova, fragments of WARMTH glass surfaces, the visual and sound experience of being in the solar surface, 2022- 2023. With the support of KIKK festival, Namur, and the digital arts fund at FWB
Image 3: Pepa Ivanova, 3D visualization of WARMTH, a visual and sound experience of being on the solar surface, 2022- 2023. With the support of KIKK festival, Namur, and the digital arts fund at FWB
Image 4: Pepa Ivanova, suNEARth interface, composing the sun data with field recordings on the earth. 2021-2023. With the support of an IMPULSE grant at LUCA School of Arts
Image 5: Nicky Assman and Joris Strijbos, filming of liquid solid in very low temperatures
Image 6: Nicky Assman, The Abysses of the Scorching Sun, Macular Collective Galleries, Wood Street Galleries. Photo credit Joey Kennedy
Bureau Doove - creative consultancy 
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