| Keywords | Year | Type |
|---|---|---|
| All 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 | All 2015 2016 2017 2018 | All Artists/speakers Commissions Documentations Events Journey items Journeys News Panel Static pages Two columns Wide page |
Thursday 9 October 2014
The journey starts on Thursday 9 October in Kirkenes with a symposium featuring a keynote lecture by Timothy Morton, and several guided walks investigating different aspects of Kirkenes. In the evening the first ‘Secret Chamber’ concert, curated by Ivan Zoloto and Anya Kuts from Petrozavodsk, will take place at a secret location. It features Chikiss, one of the most versatile artists on the Russian electro-indie scene, and slow ambient techno by Sergey Suokas.
Drilling Deep / Knowledge from Underground
Notes on the Kola Superdeep Borehole
Until 2008, the Kola Superdeep Borehole near the Norwegian/Russian border was the deepest borehole in the world. Deep drilling is like inserting a telescope into the Earth. If you extract drill cores, you can see what is down there. And in that light no borehole is as legendary as the Kola Superdeep. It was drilled from the 1970s in the framework of the former Soviet Union’s programme Investigation of the Continental Crust by Means of Deep Drilling. The deepest of its boreholes, the SG-3, reached a final depth of 12,262 metres in 1989. Now it is a ruin.Dark Ecology reading list
By Arie Altena Here's an overview of some of the theories, ideas, philosophical directions and books that have guided my thinking for ‘Dark Ecology’. It contains pointers to books and online resources, and is ‘spiced’ up with a few provocative or informative quotes from the mentioned books.
Dark Ecology Interview Tim Morton
By Lucas van der Velden & Arie Altena On the last day of the first Dark Ecology journey, Sunday 12 October, Lucas van der Velden and Arie Altena sat down with Timothy Morton, author of amongst others The Ecological Thought and Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology after the End of the World, to reflect on the journey, his lecture and his experiences while there. Timothy Morton had opened the event the Thursday before with a keynote lecture entitled Human Thought at Earth Magnitude.
Friday 10 October 2014
On Friday 10 October the programme crosses the border to Nikel. Different aspects of Nikel, its history, industry, culture and environment are explored through guided walks, followed by the second part of the symposium with, amongst others, Dutch artist/designer Femke Herregraven presenting her latest research commissioned for Dark Ecology.
Saturday 11 October 2014
Nikel and Zapolyarny are the locations for the programme on Saturday 11 October, which include a visit to the new site-specific work by the Norwegian artist Signe Lidén. The symposium focuses on sound art and ‘dark acoustics’ and includes artist presentations by amongst others Espen Sommer Eide, Raviv Ganchrow, and Jana Winderen. The second ‘Secret Chamber’ concert has live performances by amongst others Love Cult from Petrozavodsk, and ambient hip-hop all the way from Komi by Mnogoznaal and TILMIL.
Journeys
The first edition of the art and research project Dark Ecology will be held between 9 and 12 October 2014 in the border zone between Norway and Russia, with events scheduled in Kirkenes (NO), Nikel (RU) and Zapolyarny (RU). Programme highlights include a keynote lecture by American philosopher Timothy Morton, author of Ecology without Nature (2007) and Hyperobjects (2013), several commissioned works, by sound artists Signe Lidén and Raviv Ganchrow, artist/designer Femke Herregraven and photographer Marijn de Jong, and new ‘Secret Chamber’ concerts.
Reise i grenseland
Ketil Nergaard Svett og kortpustet etter å ha løpt gjennom gangene til den mest fjerntliggende terminalen på Gardermoen, slenger jeg meg ned i setet ved siden av Ida Lykken Ghosh fra PNEK (Produksjonsnettverk for elektronisk kunst). Flyet er nesten fullt. En stor del av passasjerene er kunstnere, kuratorer og andre på vei til første del av kunst- og forskningsprosjektet Dark Ecology i Kirkenes og Nikel.
About
Dark Ecology is a three-year art, research and commissioning project, initiated by the Dutch Sonic Acts and Kirkenes-based curator Hilde Methi, and in collaboration with Norwegian and Russian partners. Dark Ecology unfolds through research, the creation of new artworks, and a public programme that will be presented in the zone on both sides of the border in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The programme for 2014 includes lectures, presentations of newly commissioned artworks, guided walks, a discursive programme, concert evenings, and a workshop.
Dark Ecology, First Journey Report
We hope that this encounter, examination, or exploration will take many forms. In this sense Dark Ecology and the first journey are an experiment. It’s about imagination as well, imagining a past, a future, a politics, our connections. It’s also about trying to imagine something larger than us humans.
Field Notes: Making Things Speak
By Arie Altena To provide some invaluable insights into the upcoming Dark Ecology Journey, Arie Altena wrote an essay on the notion of ‘making things speak’. Making Things Speak is about giving a ‘voice’ to the non-human. Things can speak of many connections, with many with different interests converging in a single thing.
A Dark Ecology Special: Lectures, Interviews and Recordings
To get you in the mood for the upcoming Dark Ecology Journey, Sonic Acts Research Series #19 includes recorded lectures, excerpts of live performances, sound recordings and interviews made during the 2015 festival The Geologic Imagination. With contributors such as Timothy Morton, Jana Winderen, Espen Sommer Eide, BJ Nilsen and Karl Lemieux, Raviv Ganchrow, Ele Carpenter and Graham Harman.
Dark Matters: an interview with Susan Schuppli
Susan Schuppli
by Lucas van der Velden & Rosa Menkman Dark Ecology Keynote speaker Susan Schuppli spoke with Lucas van der Velden and Rosa Menkman about what it means to be an artist and theorist working in the field of practice-based research and her concept of the Material Witness.
Nikel and Nikel Materiality
Nikel is a small Russian mining city near the border with Norway. It was founded in the 1930s after enormous quantities of nickel were found nearby. At the time the area was Finnish. An infrastructure for mining the nickel was built in the 1930s with help from Canadian companies. Mining operations began in 1940. In 1944 Nikel became part of the Soviet Union after the Red Army defeated Finland.
Nikel and Nikel Materiality
Nikel is a small Russian mining city near the border with Norway. It was founded in the 1930s after enormous quantities of nickel were found nearby. At the time the area was Finnish. An infrastructure for mining the nickel was built in the 1930s with help from Canadian companies. Mining operations began in 1940.
Dark Ecology Vimeo Album: A möbius research trip for thinking on objects beyond human perception
To sustain and develop ongoing ideas and conversations about some of the subjects within the three-year research project Dark Ecology, we invite key figures back to speak, reflect or create work in different settings. Philosopher and theorist Timothy Morton, from whom we borrowed the title 'Dark Ecology’, is one of the people who has been an integral part of this unfolding journey.
Notes gathered by Agatha Wara and Anna Mikkola
Agatha Wara and Anna Mikkola gathered notes throughout 2014 while they participated in discussions which took place during the first Dark Ecology event in Norway and Russia (October 2014), as well as during But Does it Float? at the Barber Shop in Lisbon (August 2014), and Emancipating the Concept of Freedom at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin (July 2014).
Friday Milk interview with Love Cult (video)
Ivan Afanasyev and Anya Kuts are Love Cult from Petrozavodsk, Russia, from where they also run their label Full of Nothing. In this interview at Friday Milk in Murmansk, they tell about the origins of the concert series called Secret Chambers. They developed two new Secret Chambers for Dark Ecology 2014 in Kirkenes and Nikel.
Jana Winderen - Pasvikdalen
Drifting away from a state of stability, blurring acceleration, moving out of sight, but not out of mind. Invisible but audible, the consequences reveal themselves through the silence of species we have never heard. Jana Winderen’s new work Pasvikdalen is based on recordings made both above and under water close to the border between Norway and Russia. The work is a commission of Dark Ecology/Sonic Acts.
Raviv Ganchrow: Long Wave Synthesis
Long Wave Synthesis is a land-art scale sound installation that investigates infrasound, and probes the relations between how we perceive the landscape and long-wave vibrations. The piece creates a complex topography of acoustic waves in a range of 4 to 30 Hz (mostly in the infrasound range, below the threshold of human hearing) spreading out from an array of custom-built, very low frequency generators. Long Wave Synthesis focuses on material properties of sound, and investigates ways in which a location manifests itself through interactions between walking, territory and sonic attention. The long waves physically interact with the topography and atmospheric conditions, while simultaneously ‘oscillating’ our sense of the surroundings.
Publication: The Geologic Imagination
This valuable collection will soon become one of the first essential go-to texts for artists and scholars who want to think about the Anthropocene, global warming and ecological issues in general. A treasure trove of original thoughts and creativity. - Timothy Morton
Dark Ecology comes to the Sonic Acts Festival in Amsterdam
From 26 February – 1 March 2015, the Sonic Acts Festival will take place in Amsterdam. The research that we have been conducting for Dark Ecology, and the Dark Ecology Journey in October 2014, was crucial to the development of this year’s Sonic Acts festival theme The Geologic Imagination.
Journey 2014
The first edition of the art and research project Dark Ecology will be held between 9 and 12 October 2014 in the border zone between Norway and Russia, with events scheduled in Kirkenes (NO), Nikel (RU) and Zapolyarny (RU). Programme highlights include a keynote lecture by American philosopher Timothy Morton, author of Ecology without Nature (2007) and Hyperobjects (2013), several commissioned works, by sound artists Signe Lidén and Raviv Ganchrow, artist/designer Femke Herregraven and photographer Marijn de Jong, and new ‘Secret Chamber’ concerts.
Sonic Acts & EYE on Art: Weather Report
Following the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, on 15 December Sonic Acts and EYE on Art will host a Dark Ecology inspired evening on climate change. The programme explores the subject from the perspective of Dark Ecology. Included are works from EYE’s collection as well as contributions by artists who are part of the 2015 Dark Ecology Journey.
Dark Ecology Publication Party
Wednesday 8 June
21:00 - 00:00
NIBIO Svanhovd
Our welcome is a ‘Publication Party’ at the firepit at the NIBIO Svanhovd centre. We will celebrate the publication of Living Earth, the Dark Ecology 2014–2016 book, with contributions about (almost) all of the commissioned artworks and several essays and interviews.
Jana Winderen - Pasvikdalen
Friday 10 June
09:00 - 20:00
Visitor Centre of Øvre Nationalpark Svanhovd
Sat 11 Jun - Sun 12 Jun
10:00 - 18:00
Visitor Centre of Øvre Nationalpark Svanhovd
The installation version of Jana Winderen’s sound piece Pasvikdalen (2014) is playing all day at NIBIO Svanhovd. Pasvikdalen is based on recordings made both above and under water in the Pasvik valley.
1 – 3 February, Murmansk
The audiovisual festival, Inversia, organised for the second time by the Dark Ecology partner Fridaymilk, is the first of its kind in the European Arctic. It represents a platform for researching the phenomenon of darkness, coldness and isolation, and it aims to bridge the gap between traditional culture and new media and DIY culture. Here, Living Earth will showcase works by BJ Nilsen, Justin Bennett, and the Vertical Cinema, with screenings of seven experimental films made for the vertical screen format. Living Earth will also offer two workshops; a Critical Writing Academy, and a Field Recording Lab.
8 February – 13 May, Oslo
SALT is a nomadic arts venue that launched in Sandhornøy in Northern Norway in 2014. In 2017, it opened at Oslo harbour, just opposite the Opera House in Bjørvika. Inspired by the traditional fish drying structures used on the Norwegian coast, SALT’s architecture points back to its original site: to the ocean and to the environmental concerns surrounding it. Living Earth will present seven Dark Ecology commissions at SALT, including both durational pieces occupying the SALT structures, as well as performances. This showcase will include works by BJ Nilsen, HC Gilje, Justin Bennett, Jana Winderen, Tatjana Gorbachewskaja & Katya Larina, Signe Lidén, and Cecilia Jonsson.