An international art and science collaboration between CERN and FACT supported by the University has announced the winner of its competition to support an Artist in Residence.
South Korean artist, Yunchul Kim, has been announced as the winner of the COLLIDE International Award and will now take up a two-month fully funded residency at CERN in Geneva, and one month at FACT, the Liverpool-based media arts centre as well as receiving a prize of CHF15,000.
Yunchul Kim’s work focuses on research towards new materiality, the artistic potential of fluid dynamics and metamaterials. During his residency at CERN, he will develop his project proposal Cascade, which looks at the possibility of controlling the propagation of light through colloidal suspensions of photonic crystals.
In the following months, Yunchul Kim will join the community of around 14,000 scientists at the world’s leading particle physics laboratory. This experience will immerse the artist in a journey of fundamental research, allowing him to use these ideas as springboards to his imagination, taking his artistic work further.
Arts@CERN
Liverpool Physicist, Professor Tara Shears, who is part of the competition jury, said: “Yunchul’s work is not only beautiful and mysterious, it opens up questions about the nature of matter and materiality.
“These are questions that occupy us too in our work at Liverpool and CERN and it’s going to be thrilling to have Yunchul’s perspective. Science and art are both explorations of the world around us, and I can’t wait to see what this award allows their collaboration to achieve.”
Monica Bello, Head of Arts@CERN, said: “Art and science are extraordinary ways of exploring knowledge, and Arts@CERN exists to encourage a dialogue and exchange. I am thrilled to announce this year’s COLLIDE result and to welcome Yunchul Kim. His proposal will certainly open up new ways of working alongside CERN scientists.”
Professor Mike Stubbs, Director of FACT, said: “We very much look forward to Yunchul Kim joining us at FACT, and especially for him to develop his practice in our experimental making space FACTLab, which encourages and nurtures all creative artistic and scientific ventures.
“It’s FACT’s mission to bring people, art and technology together, and the partnership with CERN is the perfect example of what incredible opportunities can arise when we work across both geographical and disciplinary borders.”
The competition attracted 904 entries from a record of 71 countries around the world, including entries from Aruba, Kazakhstan the Philippines and Zimbabwe.
The Mexican conceptual artist, Julieta Aranda, received an Honorary Mention acknowledging her unusual ability to create situations and site-specific projects that reveal meaningful social interaction in the techno-scientific culture.
The British artist, James Bridle, currently based in Athens, received an Honorary Mention for his innovative proposal on modern networks and the emergence of uncertainty.
Image: Previous work by Yunchul Kim
