Guido Baselgia. Als ob die Welt zu vermessen wäre (Fotostiftung Schweiz, Winterthur, bis 16. Februar 2020)

Der Fotograf als Forschungsreisender: In den vergangenen zwanzig Jahren bewegte sich Guido Baselgia mit seiner Kamera in geologischen Randzonen, tastete die karge Erdoberfläche ab und beobachtete Lichtphänomene in den Alpen, den Anden und im Norden Norwegens. Seine Studien übersetzte er in die Bildsprache einer langsamen, analogen Fotografie. So entstanden schwarzweisse Tableaus an der Grenze zur Abstraktion, ausgeführt als grossformatige Silbergelatineabzüge oder Heliogravüren, die sich durch ihre Detailliertheit und materielle Beschaffenheit auszeichnen. Die Ausstellung knüpft an die bekannten Werkzyklen – «Hochland», «Weltraum», «Silberschicht« und «Light Fall» – an und stellt erstmals Baselgias neuestes Projekt vor. Dieses führt ihn nach Ecuador und Peru, ins Amazonasbecken. Auf seinen Expeditionen setzt sich der Fotograf mit der Darstellbarkeit des tropischen Regenwaldes auseinander. Die flirrende Dichte und Vielfalt der Vegetation verwandelt er in Kompositionen grösster Ruhe und Konzentration. Porträts der indigenen Bewohner und Stillleben aus dem Umfeld der Siedlungen werden zu Reflexionen über die fotografische Repräsentation dieser bedrohten Lebenswelt. Wie ein Memento Mori würdigt Baselgias Arbeit diesen Landschaftsraum, dessen wirtschaftliche Ausbeutung sich längst auf das globale Klima auswirkt. Fotostiftung Schweiz

PolARTS – Arts meet polar science. Call for Proposals. A pilot project from Pro Helvetia and the Swiss Polar Institute

Background
The interface between art and science opens new frontiers and potentials for both fields, which can contribute to the genesis of inspiring art forms as well as offer innovative perspectives on knowledge production and dissemination. Scientists and artists alike work with ideas and hypotheses reflecting their understanding and various models of the world around them. Even if their methodologies are very different, both disciplines can question existing orders and realities. Yet, art and science cooperation are limited and barriers between these two worlds remain. Transdisciplinary approaches between art and science on a mutual level can help to bridge boundaries, overcome distrust, nurture progress in individual work, and create new insights into shared research interests. In order to offer a platform for the interplay between art and science, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Arts Council) and the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI) have launched a joint initiative aiming at mediating partnerships between polar scientists and artists and supporting the exchange between the two communities. The goal of the programme is to enable dialogue and the exchange of ideas between polar science and art practice.The proposed format aims to support the cooperative process between disciplines and to create space for new collaborative and explorative practices.

Proposed formats of exchange: Polar scientist-artist tandems
The PolARTS programme will fund up to three transdisciplinary tandems composed of an artist and a polar scientist over a period of about eight months in order to enable mutual exchanges and facilitate interactions between art and science. The tandems will meet on a regular basis on different sites (laboratories, ateliers, scientific and artistic events and gatherings, etc.) and exchange on their research interest, professional activities, career perspectives, work background, etc. Each tandem is requested to propose a collaborative process over a period of approximately eight months, defining the format, the aims and the motivation of the participants. The tandem’s proposal has to engage with issues and topics linked to polar regions, the Arctic or Antarctic, or in remote high-altitude regions, the so-called “Third pole”, such as the Andes or the Himalaya. The overarching aim of the collaboration is to inspire each other across disciplinary boundaries and to promote mutual understanding by perceiving one’s own activity through the eyes of the tandem partner. A further aspect of the collaboration is to explore how new creative linkages can be created between the fields/worlds of science and art. This could either be explored by developing a common approachor by working side by side on existing projects, inspiring, challenging and supporting each other.

Deadline for applications: 30 January 2020, 14:00 (Swiss time)

Swiss Polar Institute

Switzerland in Greenland. Alfred de Quervain's rediscovered mountains in East Greenland, by Jan Løve and Hans Christian Florian Sørensen

«The book describes the Swiss meteorologist Alfred De Quervain’s crossing of the Greenlandic icecap from West Greenland to East Greenland in 1912, and how a small piece of Switzerland came to East Greenland. The books two authors have through travels, historical sources and with the collaboration with the Greenlandic Place Names Committee, rediscovered the almost unknown Switzerland in East Greenland north of Tasiilaq. Through expedition history and place name research, the two authors have also managed to make this piece of history relevant in our time. As a result of their work, Alfred De Quervain’s place names have been placed on a modern map, and some of them have been officially recognized as the name for the place. The book is richly illustrated with maps and photos.» (The Greenlandic Society)

Käuflich kann dieses Buch hier bezogen werden und in einer Bibliothek in der Schweiz ist es hier einsehbar.