Curated Expeditions project in collaboration between Capsula & Bioart Society

2º Curated Expedition

CURATED EXPEDITION TO THE BALTIC SEA
Turku2011 Foundation / Capsula  / Bioart Society Finland

This open call for  projects welcomes Finnish and Estonian artists to study and marvel at the Baltic Sea, during cross-disciplinary expeditions by sea-travel. The selected proposals will be realised in 2010, and exhibited during the year 2011 in European Capitals of Culture, Turku and Tallinn.

The Baltic Sea connects Finnish Turku and Estonian Tallinn, both     European Capitals of Culture of 2011. The unique natural phenomena, characteristic for Baltic Sea ecosystems, affects widely the life of inhabitants living in the area. Among it´s materialistic features and influences, the Baltic Sea have always been the sea of adventures and combats, even a necropolis of dreams. The heavy use of the sea as a traffic channel and a sewage drain reduces significantly it´s value. Today´s busy lifestyles don´t offer time for sea observation, and once our attention points to the sea, the changes appear as sudden and surprising. The Baltic Sea of our childhood felt, smelt and looked different.

Capsula´s Curated Expedition in Baltic Sea invites artists residing in Finland and Estonia to contemplate the natural phenomena and their own relationship with the changing sea.  Artists can decide, if the general state of the sea is the phenomenon studied, or if one of it´s numerous and singular phenomena and ecosystems will be under their exploration. The selected proposals will be realised and produced during the year 2010 in the Baltic Sea. The artists are asked to approach the sea from different levels of understanding, starting from the tangible distance measured from water surface to their intangible relationship with the marine nature. It is wished that the proposals gain their inspiration from science, but they will be intepretated and viewed in an art context. The Expedition Team will help artists in finding science partners for the four selected projects.

One of the key aspects of the marine expeditions is to travel slow, using methods of transport that only moderately burden the environment. The participants are encouraged to dive deep above the surface of Baltic Sea, down to the sea bed or to survey the sea from the sea gull perspective – and from all the levels in between. Canoe, balloon, dinghy, steamship or rowing boat are just some possible means of seafaring, used by artistic sea explorers. The realisation of the works is documented and shown as a part of future exhibition. Through the artworks, exhibitions, public debates and writings resulting, the recognition of the miracles of nature, and a consciousness of its extraordinariness and vulnerability, is hoped.

The new art works resulting of the Expedition, will be shown for the first time in Turku as a part of programme of European Capital of Culture 2011. After, the exhibition would move next to Tallinn, and later to other the Baltic Sea countries.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Curated Expedition to the Baltic Sea project is a continuation of Capsula’s first cross-disciplinary expedition, which was carried out during summer 2008 from Finland to the zone of total solar eclipse in Siberia.  The base of the expedition was set up at the Novosibirsk Zoo, from which it continued onto the Altai wilderness and all the way to the Moon. The expedition was organised by Ulla Taipale/Capsula and the artists participating were Agnes Meyer-Brandis, a German media artist, Mireia C. Saladrigues, a Catalonian visual artist, and Tommi Taipale, a Finnish photographer. The project produced three novel works of art, which were presented for the first time at the Expedition to the Total Eclipse exhibition displayed as part of Pixelache festival at Kiasma Mediatheque from 6 March – 7 June 2009. The exhibition and Eclipse Happening event at Kiasma Theatre and the URSA observatory in Kaivopuisto formed one part of the programme for the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
More information: http://capsulaexpeditions.com

For further information:

ulla@capsula.org.es