Josèfa Ntjam, Luciferin Drop, 2020, glass, metal, plastic & Myceaqua Vitae, video installation, Collection of the artist. Photo: Tim Forbes.
« Artists and physicists exchanged ideas and approaches to propel artistic speculation about
this (as yet) unknown matter. Given the outline of such a “known unknown,” artists Nadia Lichtig, Josèfa Ntjam, Anne Riley and Jol Thoms reflect on the “how” and “why” of physics and art as diverse and interrelating practices of knowledge. The artists’ distinct practices have led to varied and challenging expressions, such as new kinds of sensitivity, statements of poetic freedom, questions about the function of knowledge, and explorations of entangled social and ecological relations. Thinking across disciplines, they have created works that connect scientific ideas of dark matter with the pursuit of that which has never been sensed.
Bearing a glowing substance, her futuristic alchemical vessel takes inspiration from the liquid
argon scintillation of the DEAP-3600 dark matter detector at SNOLAB. It seems, however, to
be resting only temporarily on Earth. Josèfa Ntjam’s work provides a conduit for myth, a rhythmic and poetic space for the multiplication of voices, trance states and speculation about shapes of being. It considers science to be inseparable from aesthetics and narrative. In her video installation, a spacecraft console—the kind familiar from science fiction—is used to visualize “alien” signals. The video presents a story of unclassifiable bioluminescent organisms.»
this (as yet) unknown matter. Given the outline of such a “known unknown,” artists Nadia Lichtig, Josèfa Ntjam, Anne Riley and Jol Thoms reflect on the “how” and “why” of physics and art as diverse and interrelating practices of knowledge. The artists’ distinct practices have led to varied and challenging expressions, such as new kinds of sensitivity, statements of poetic freedom, questions about the function of knowledge, and explorations of entangled social and ecological relations. Thinking across disciplines, they have created works that connect scientific ideas of dark matter with the pursuit of that which has never been sensed.
Bearing a glowing substance, her futuristic alchemical vessel takes inspiration from the liquid
argon scintillation of the DEAP-3600 dark matter detector at SNOLAB. It seems, however, to
be resting only temporarily on Earth. Josèfa Ntjam’s work provides a conduit for myth, a rhythmic and poetic space for the multiplication of voices, trance states and speculation about shapes of being. It considers science to be inseparable from aesthetics and narrative. In her video installation, a spacecraft console—the kind familiar from science fiction—is used to visualize “alien” signals. The video presents a story of unclassifiable bioluminescent organisms.»