Visual Noise
As visual artists we started our research in the Netherlands (2002) on research for an installation project and immediately after, a research residency. Through this fieldwork in and around Amsterdam, we started to observe the degree to which the advanced agro-industrial landscape of the Netherlands relied on 24 hour conditions for growing. Artificially lit greenhouses became a visual metaphor for the visual noise that we have been exploring since.
We obtained further insights from working with visual ecologists, and researchers from across environmental humanities, as well as enthusiasts and ecological custodians, monitoring and sharing information on the latest projects, technological developments and scientific insights.
In particular, our encounter with visual ecology enabled us to think through how other species sense the world. In particular, the relationship between what we call ‘visible light’ and the multi-spectral worlds in which a moth lives. As our nocturnal fieldwork took over, we became sensitised, understanding our own visual limits, and the sensory capabilities of the sensory apparatus we carry in our pockets.
Our research is still immersed in the nocturnal, but we remain fascinated by subjects ranging from avian magnetoreception and quantum sensing (how birds sense to aid bird migrations) through to the analysis of cortisol stress levels in the earwax of whales. We are absorbed by the night visions of moths and the echo locations of the bat, acknowledging other forms of knowing, linked to philosophy, indigenous practices and environmental stewardship.
In continuing this work, we draw inspiration from and acknowledge the importance of critical connections with artists, curators and projects linked into networks in South East Asia (Animistic) Global South / India (Soil Assembly) as well as with innovative artists providing new evidence through investigative practices in UK, Europe and USA.
Visual.Noise –Art Exhibitions / Projects / Reflections on More than SenseÂ
Afraid of the dark? A silent night without nature is much scarier.Latest update on University of Reading Website.
Sensational Nocturnal Ecologies. Presentation and project at World Biodiversity Forum in June 2024.Developed with support from Emmanuelle Briolat of Exeter Visual Ecology Research at Exeter University.
A Multispecies Red Light District for Amsterdam. A Propositional Image. Visual Essay for Journal of Cultural Politics. Duke University Press. Issue 20 (2024).
Soil Assembly at Kochi Biennale 2023. Artist presentation. Co-coordination of the event – for more information see the website.
Nature of Truth. Installation exhibited in the exhibition ‘Perfect Nature’. Co-curated by the artists and Alice Smits of zone 2 source, Amstelpark, Amsterdam 2022. Commissioned with support from Mondriaan Fonds and NL Stiftung.