Press release | 28-04-2016,

Third edition of the Dark Ecology Journey takes place in and Russia from 8 till 12 June 2016 Presentation of new commissioned works by Justin Bennett, Nickel van Duijvenboden, Espen Sommer Eide, HC Gilje and Cecilia Jonsson, Signe Lidén and Dmitry Morozov

The third edition of the art, research and commissioning project Dark Ecology will take place between 8 and 12 June 2016 in the border zone between Norway and Russia. Over the course of five days, a group of more than 50 artists, researchers, curators, writers and organisers, will travel from Northern Norway (Kirkenes) to Zapolyarny and Nikel in Russia. While the previous Journey took place in the dark winter season, the third one will take place during the Arctic summer, with sunlight for most of the day and night. The programme includes the presentation of new commissioned works by Justin Bennett, Nickel van Duijvenboden, Espen Sommer Eide, HC Gilje and Cecilia Jonsson, Signe Lidén, Dmitry Morozov, as well as lectures by Heather Davis, Timothy Morton and other speakers, and discussions, walks, and performances.

Dark Ecology is a three-year art, research and commissioning project initiated by the Dutch organisation Sonic Acts and Kirkenes-based curator Hilde Methi, and in collaboration with Norwegian and Russian partners. Dark Ecology unfolds through research, the creation of new artworks, and a public programme that is presented in the zone on both sides of the border in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The 2016 Journey includes lectures, presentations of newly commissioned artworks, curated walks, a discursive programme, concert evenings and the launch of the Dark Ecology publication.

Dark Ecology is informed by the idea that ecology is ‘dark’ (as the American theorist Timothy Morton has argued), because it invites – or demands – that we think about our intimate interconnections with, for instance, iron ore, snowflakes, plankton, or radiation… Ecology does not privilege the human, it is not something beautiful, and it has no real use for the old concept of Nature. What we now know about the impact of human beings on the planet has led to the need to rethink the concepts of nature and ecology, and exactly how humans are connected to the world. This rethinking occurs in philosophy as well as in the arts.

Though these issues are relevant anywhere in the world, they are especially pertinent in the Barents Region with its pristine nature, industrial pollution and open-pit mining. Speculation on global warming fuels local economic growth as the prospects for both the exploitation of the oil and gas reserves below the Barents Sea and the trade through the Northern Sea route are rising. Disparate interests and ‘approaches’ from both sides of the border have to negotiate. This interaction informs the Dark Ecology project, and is a starting point to invite artists and theorists to develop new approaches and new works.

Preliminary Journey Programme

Researcher, writer, and editor Heather Davis starts this Journey with a keynote presentation. For Vilgiskoddeoayvinyarvi: Wolf Lake on the Mountains, Justin Bennett will take participants on a soundwalk exploring the area around the Kola Superdeep Borehole. Espen Sommer Eide and Signe Lidén will take participants on Altitude and History, a 3-hour evening trek in the mountains above Nikel, where they will investigate the acoustic phenomena in relation to the topography of the area while relating them to the local history. Dmitry Morozov will be undertaking a residency in April in the Pasvik Valley to create a new audiovisual installation, and Dutch artist Nickel van Duijvenboden will conduct a performative reading. Cecilia Jonsson has been doing intensive research in the Kirkenes area to explore suitable drilling sites and is preparing an installation created by drilling deep into the Earth’s crust. Prospecting: A Geological Survey of Greys is an interdisciplinary, site-specific art project that appropriates the scientific geological methods of extracting, analysing and categorising mineral specimens. Mikro is a series of improvised collaborative performances between HC Gilje (video) and Justin Bennett (sound) that draws its raw material from the immediate surroundings. On the last day of the Dark Ecology Journey, Bennett and Gilje will perform the latest version of Mikro using material gathered over the course of the Journey.

Dark Ecology Online Platform The results of the Dark Ecology explorations are distributed in the Barents Region and internationally. The online platform offers documentation and reflection through interviews, travel reports, videos, photos and audio recordings.

Further information on the project: www.darkecology.net www.sonicacts.com Facebook / Twitter / Vimeo / Flickr / Soundcloud

------NOT FOR PUBLICATION ------For further information please contact: : Bas van den Broeke: [email protected] / +31 6 54907788 Norway: [email protected] / +47 41649181

Download press releases and hi-res images here

Partners Arctic Encounters (University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University, the University of Iceland, Roskilde University, and The Arctic University of Norway), Fridaymilk, PNEK, Roman Khoroshilov, Visitor Centre of Øvre Pasvik National Park, Childrens’ Art School Nikel, School No 20 Nikel, Barents Travel (Nikel), Full of Nothing, the municipalities of Nikel and Sør-Varanger, Sør-Varanger Filmklubb, Landmark/Kunsthall Bergen and Borealis Festival.

Dark Ecology is part of Changing Weathers - networked responses to geophysical, geopolitical and technological culture-shifts across . It is initiated by the Arctic Perspective Initiative (API) and coordinated by Zavod Projekt Atol (SI) in partnership with Sonic Acts (NL), RIXC (LV), Finnish Society of Bioart (FI), Hilde Methi (NO), Time’s Up (AT) and Ljudmila (SI). Changing Weathers is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

Funders Dark Ecology is generously funded by BarentsKult, Public Art Norway (KORO/URO), Arts Council Norway, Creative Industries Fund NL, Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, PNEK (Production Network for Electronic Art, Norway), Mondriaan Fund, Paradiso, Finnmark County Municipality, Bergen Municipality, Norwegian Visual Artists Association (NBK), Nordland County Council and Troms County Council.