INL Gallery reopens with a new exhibition at gnration

From October 2nd until the last day of 2020, the INL Gallery at gnration Arts Center in Braga, Portugal, will feature “Approximation (TBC)” a media art installation within the INL Scale Travels program, that brings together Arts and Science.

This new exhibition is brought to us by Transforma, a collective created by Luke Bennett, Baris Hasselbach, and Simon Krahl, who work with a series of techniques in which matter takes on a supernatural appearance through specific observations using a camera. 

Over the years, this artistic collective has gathered and archived a diverse set of materials that have become the heart of the numerous installations, audiovisual performances and videos. 

Last May, in the midst of a pandemic, following the invitation made by gnration in close partnership with INL, these artists developed an artistic residency from their studio in Berlin, Germany. 

In “Approximation (TBC)”, the work they now bring us at the INL Gallery, the archival material from Transforma was literally placed under the microscope. As a way of opening a new visual dimension for family structures, the collective sent samples to the INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory to be digitized and measured. At the same time, additional analyzes of the samples' lumic properties were carried out, aiming to observe what happens beyond visible light. 

In parallel to these processes, Transforma created a series of new video pieces in their own laboratory in Germany, using larger samples of these same materials.

In the current pandemic context, which prevented any close contact with INL scientists and researchers, the group of artists developed this work using digital communication, with numerous and enlightening conversations with INL researcher Pedro Salomé and his team. As a result of this physical distance, they also collected data on the professional lives of the researchers through a questionnaire. This material is also used in the installation, adding another layer of inspiration to research and experimentation in the studio. 

This was, indeed, the first INL artistic residence carried out in full remote mode, proving that not even the physical distance imposed by the pandemic is strong enough to stop human will.

+ 2 Oct — 31 Dec
+ Artistic installation - INL Gallery
+ Free entrance

Scientific Supervision and Partner - INL - International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory | Artistic Direction and Production - gnration