Arts Catalyst

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The Arts Catalyst

The Arts Catalyst is a London-based contemporary arts organization, known for its commissioned artists’ projects, as well as being one of the pioneers of art and science in the UK.^[1] Directed by Nicola Triscott since the early 1990s, the organization works “at the frontiers of art and research”.^[2] Commissioned artists' projects include Tomas Saraceno's Poetic Cosmos of the Breath (2007), Aleksandra Mir's Gravity at the Roundhouse (2006), the Turner Prize shortlisted The Otolith Group (Kodwo Eshun and Anjalika Sagar)'s first film Otolith 1, Helen Chadwick’s Unnatural Selection (1996), and Critical Art Ensemble's Marching Plague (2006).^[3]

History of The Arts Catalyst

The Arts Catalyst was founded in 1993 by Nicola Triscott, who is the Director of the organization and its programmes.

Since 1994 The Arts Catalyst has commissioned artists from around the globe on over eighty different projects, produced by over 100 artists, arts organisations and performance groups from specialist fields such as Live Art (art form) and the sciences, such as Kira O'Reilly, The Critical Art Ensemble and The Otolith Group.

The Arts Catalyst not only commissions artists to develop performance based works, but is also strongly committed to education. Since The Arts Catalyst was founded, it has helped develop performances and experiments, as well as symposiums, workshops and group participation sessions, low gravity flight experiments, family days and conferences.

Artists

The Arts Catalyst commissions contemporary artist's projects that engage critically and experimentally with science. Notable artists the organisation has commissioned include Tomas Saraceno, The Otolith Group (Kodwo Eshun, Anjalika Sagar), Critical Art Ensemble, James Acord, Laurie Anderson, Marcel.li Antunez Roca, Lise Autogena, Brandon Ballengée, Anne Bean, Steve Beard, Andy Bichlbaum (Jacques Servin), Ansuman Biswas, Brian Catling, Oron Catts, Helen Chadwick, Gina Czarnecki, Beatriz Da Costa, Adam Dant, Jan Fabre, Simon Faithfull, Jem Finer, Alec Finlay, Vadim Fishkin, Stefan Gec, Jack Klaff, Tim Knowles, Andrew Kotting, Steve Kurtz, Yuri Leiderman, Aleksandra Mir, Kira O'Reilly, Marko Peljhan, Esther Polak, Snæbjörnsdóttir | Wilson, Ashok Sukumaran, Aaron Williamson, Carey Young

Projects

The Arts Catalyst has produced many contemporary art projects that engage with science and technology.

In the 1990s, its commissions included Helen Chadwick’s sensitive creations involving human embryos, James Acord’s radioactive sculptures, Kitsou Dubois’s award-winning choreography in zero gravity.^[4] An early project was Ansuman Biswas’ 'CAT' in 1997, which used the quantum physics 'thought experiment' Schrödinger's Cat as a provocation to explore the nature of uncertainty and unknowing on a human level. The artist contained himself in a windowless room-sized box for ten days in a durational performance that played on the notion of the Schrödinger's Cat experiment. The experiment was followed by three presentations considering non-western culture, sound and shamanic practices and Western science and Chinese medical practices.^{[5] [6]}

The Arts Catalyst has commissioned and collaborated with the US arts collective Critical Art Ensemble on a number of projects that critique developments in biotechnology. Triscott writes in her chapter in the book 'Interfaces Of Performance,' of the motivations for this work: "There has been a disconnect between science's progress and society's involvement and understanding, and that people may not understand the implications of biotechnology and its commercial applications."^[7]

The Arts Catalyst has also produced projects looking at culture, technology and climate change in the Polar regions, including Simon Faithfull's 'Ice Blink' in 2006, an interdisciplinary symposium 'Polar: Fieldwork and Archive Fever' in conjunction with the British Library and The Open University in 2007,^[8] and a related publication, 'Bipolar', edited by Kathryn Yusoff and published by The Arts Catalyst in 2008 to mark the International Polar Year 2007-8. The Arts Catalyst is also part of the Arctic Perspective Initiative,^[9] a project founded by artists Marko Peljhan and Matthew Biederman. Arctic Perspective Cahier No. 2: Arctic Geopolitics and Autonomy edited by Triscott and Michael Bravo reflects on "the necessity to discard simplistic perspectives on the Arctic region".^[10]

In 2009, The Arts Catalyst curated the exhibition and event 'Interspecies' at Cornerhouse, Manchester, and the A Foundation, London. This presented new commissioned works by Kira O'Reilly, Nicolas Primat, Antony Hall, Ruth Maclennan, and works by Rachel Mayeri, Snaebjornsdottir and Wilson, and Beatriz da Costa. Supported by an events performances, talks and workshops, the project explored the notion of artists working with animals as equals, the relationship that humans have with other species, and current discourse in animal studies and primatology. A special issue of Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, published in summer 2010, was devoted to the Interspecies project, and explored the artists' projects and concepts further.^[11]

References

External links

The Arts Catalyst website