We are delighted to announce our first five artists in residence, selected from 35 international applications, who will be focussing on the theme of Space and Satellites data. These residencies will create a space for exploration and aim to create genuine collaborations between science and creative practice.

The chosen artists represent a wide range of disciplines, from sound artists to weavers, illustrators to dancers and photographers. Each of their projects responds to how satellite datasets are helping to track the changes of life on earth, from weather conditions to climate change and deforestation through to transport, including the impact that the Coronavirus has had on our city.

The residency ran from May-July 2020 and concluded with an on-line exhibition which you can visit here https://inspace.ed.ac.uk/exhibition-space-and-satellites-artist-residency/

Selected Artists:

Victoria Evans- contemporary artist and practice-based PhD researcher within the School of Design at Edinburgh College of Art. Evans will create a sound piece that asks: ‘‘What might a collective conversation across the solar system sound like?’ She will look at data relating to the positioning of the satellites and receiving stations.

Elaine Ford-  multidisciplinary artist and wildlife biologist. Ford will look at earth observation images of Scotland and satellite tracking data to map the movement of animals across Scotland. Ford will explore how technology can help illustrate the importance of wildlife conservation enabled by satellite data.

Stacey Hunter- design curator working with Weaver and Rug Tufter Ben Hymers.  Hunter will look at data sets associated with the Covid19 pandemic in order to track and map the impact of the virus over a 50 day period. This will be translated into a large scale woven tapestry cartoon.

Julia McGhee- dance artist working in collaboration with Geoff Robbins, science technician and John McGeoch, multi-media artist. McGhee will focus on satellite data from the North of Scotland where the team are based and use choreography, animation and film to chart changes at a local level.

Cécile Simonis- illustrator and visual artist. Simonis will create risograph zines and posters whose fictional illustrated stories reference satellite data as well as the science and processes behind the gathering of the data.

For further information on the artists and project follow this LINK.

“I am very excited to see a great set of artists working with our space and satellite data researchers – this highlights the important role artistic expression plays in navigating the new world of data we all inhabit. Exploring how humanity, our planet, and our universe evolves in these turbulent times through the lens of data will introduce many new audiences to our work towards becoming the Data Capital of Europe, in both the scientific and cultural sense – another great example of Design Informatics, the Edinburgh Futures Institute and the Bayes Centre working together to realise this vision.”- Michael Rovatsos, Director of the Bayes Centre.

The programme launches on the 1^st of May and will culminate in an exhibition in July with works in progress events and talks throughout June. Due to the restrictions of Covid19 these events and the exhibition will now take place on-line but it is hoped that a physical exhibition will be able to take place in Inspace later in the year when it is safe to do so.

The inspiration for our theme of Space and Satellites came from a Space Creative Mash-up event developed by Caroline Parkinson (Sector Lead for Creative Industries, DDI) and Terry McLarney (Envisage Space Ltd and meet-up group Space Tech Scotland) held at Inspace in November 2019. The University of Edinburgh (through the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal) is setting up a new Space and Satellites Centre at Bayes and this event included Dr Murray Collins who leads the innovation programme of the centre and who is a DDI Chancellors Fellow. As part of the residency project we will work with the Space and Satellites Centre at Bayes to involve university scientists and researchers including Murray Collins.

“This residency will support the development of our Space and Satellite sector in Edinburgh and across Scotland as the artists explore satellite data in new ways, engage new audiences, and inspire a new generation of space scientists.” – Murray Collins Lead, Space and Satellite innovation programme, Bayes Centre.

The project is funded by the DDI (Data-Driven Innovation) programme and supported by Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI).

“I’m delighted that Edinburgh Futures Institute is supporting the new Space and Satellites Data artist residencies at Inspace. Whether looking out to the universe or back down to earth, the view from space continues to inspire all of us. I’m very excited to see how the artists will be inspired by the different datasets they’ve selected.” – Dr Patricia Erskine, Director of Culture & Community, Edinburgh Futures Institute

Each of the artists will be supported by the skills of Brendan McCarthy and Sam Healy of Ray Interactive who are experts in data visualisation, motion graphic projection mapping, interactive lighting, working with sensors, and Python coding.

Thanks to the judging panel:

Caroline Parkinson, Sector Lead for Creative Industries, DDI

Dave Murray-Rust, Inspace Director and Senior Lecturer in Design Informatics

Suzy Glass, independent cultural consultant

Terry McLarney, Co-Founder Envisage Space Ltd

Jane Macdonald, Inspace Manager and Producer for Space and Satellites Artist Residencies

 

LINKS

Inspace- https://inspace.ed.ac.uk/

DDI (Data-Driven Innovation) Programme https://ddi.ac.uk

Edinburgh Future Institute https://efi.ed.ac.uk

Space and Satellites Centre at Bayes https://www.ed.ac.uk/bayes/about-us/our-work/space-and-satellites

Ray Interactive- http://www.rayinteractive.org

Space Tech Scotland – https://www.meetup.com/Edinburgh-Space-Technology/

Envisage Space – https://www.envisage.space