FUSION:AIR | Biophilia > Technophilia

FUSION:AIR | BIOPHILIA>TECHNOPHILIA | EXPO

→ Qolony and SAC@Berthelot invite you on Thuesday, September 17, 2024, at 19:00 for the opening of the exhibition

Fusion:AIR - artistic residencies in research institutes is one of the most important Qolony projects. It is aiming to promote the inclusion of artists in innovation and research activities.

This year’s edition is positioned at the crossroads of biophilia and technophilia, offering an innovative perspective on how contemporary art can help address the global ecological crisis. Inspired by the manifesto Living in the Anthropocene (Crutzen & Schwägerl, 2011), the exhibition rejects both the utopian idea of a lost natural paradise and the dystopian vision of a fully artificial world. Instead, it proposes a space of blending and hybridization between human and non-human, organic and technological. The participating artists draw inspiration from posthumanist and eco-phenomenological theorists, creating new relationships between what is born and what is built, between nature and culture. Fusion AIR: Biophilia Technophilia showcases creations that harness the laws of nature and technological innovations, reflecting both the beauty and complexity of the contemporary world. (Raluca Oancea, exhibition curator)

The residency brought together six artists: four from Romania—Alexandra Costea, Denis Flueraru, Mihai Popescu, and Zoița Delia Călinescu—and two international artists, Maria Nalbantova from Bulgaria and Ole Blank from Germany.

What you will see:

Alexandra Costea explores the memory and microscopic structure of stone in Immemorial Structures, an installation examining the conservation and transformation of zeolitic volcanic tuff through plasma treatment. Her work raises questions about perception and memory in the face of time’s passage. Denis Flueraru, through his interactive installation Solara, reveals the fragile relationship between humanity and the sun, highlighting how the source of life can also be a potential risk. Though no one knows the sound of solar flares, Denis invites visitors to explore it in his interactive piece. Bulgarian artist Maria Nalbantova centers The Pool is Never Empty around retrocausality, a quantum physics concept suggesting that effects can influence causes. “We still don’t know if the future can affect the past.” Her work delves into the history of the Oteteleșanu Manor, once a girls’ school, in the context of the many female researchers now working in Măgurele. Using water from Lake Oteteleșanu and microscopic imagery, her piece speculates on retrocausality and fluid connections between human and non-human. Mihai Popescu with his work - How long should art/memory last? contrasts the durability of traditional parchment with the fragility of modern digital media, inviting viewers to reflect on how art and memory might be preserved over time. Ole Blank presents The Midnight Feast, an interactive sculpture featuring earthworms as primary actors, symbolizing the transformation of natural materials into a new, fertile soil layer, embodying nature’s regenerative continuum. Zoița Delia Călinescu exhibits The Success and the Failures of a Beautiful Practice, which studies the impact of different irrigation methods on plants, including experimental techniques like plasma-activated water, seeking solutions for climate adaptation.

WHEN: → September 17 – October 12, 2024 | 16:00 - 20:00

WHERE: → SAC2 Berthelot

CURATOR: Raluca Oancea
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Mihaela Ghiță

SCIENTIFIC PARTNERS:
The National Institute for Research and Development in LaserPlasma, and Radiation Physics
The Institute of Space Science
The National Institute for Research and Development in Materials Physics
The National Institute for Research and Development in Textiles and Leather.
The Research Center for the Study of the Quality of Agro-Food Products

WITH THE SUPPORT OF