How can climate change be studied from space? What form do knowledge and experiences from the Oulanka Research Station and the Pyhäsalmi Mine take in the hands of contemporary artists? How do research data, environmental sensor and satellite information and local knowledge come together through art and how can they change our view of the local environments and areas?
Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre’s More Than One Understanding of Planet Earth project launch will take place on 12 December 2022 at 2 p.m. in Cinema Studio at Culture House Valve (2nd floor, Hallituskatu 7, 90100 Oulu, Finland). The event will feature excerpts from the works of media artist, filmmaker Minna Långström with the artist in attendance and a presentation of the project and its future directions by More than Planet project director Antti Tenetz.
The More than Planet call for international resident artists to the Oulanka Research Station and the Pyhäsalmi Mine for 2023 opens on 15 December 2022 online on the Photo North – Nordic Photographic Centre website. The project builds and promotes environmental literacy through space exploration, artistic work and multi-disciplinary collaboration from 2022 to 2025. Artistic thinking and perspectives linked to world-changing technologies and research are explored to open new horizons for both individuals and communities in a world that struggles with environmental change and climate crisis.
Combining information from satellite imagery with artistic research, citizen science and photography, the More Than One Understanding of Planet Earth project will incorporate discussions, podcasts, a seminar complete with a seminar publication, artist and researcher residencies at the Oulanka Research Station and the Pyhäsalmi Mine, a number of research and development laboratories, and exhibitions in Linz, Austria (2023) and the Photo North – Northern Photography Centre exhibition space (2024). The project is a prelude to the Oulu Capital of Culture year 2026.
Photo North’s partners in the More than Planet project are Waag Society in the Netherlands, Ars Electronica Centre in Austria, Leonardo/Olats and Makery in France, and Project Atol in Slovenia. Local partners include Oulanka Research Station (University of Oulu), Callio Lab research and testing organisation in the Pyhäsalmi Mine and the Kerttu Saalasti Institute (University of Oulu).
Minna Långström is a media artist and a filmmaker. Her artistic work consists of short fiction films, documentaries and film installations that combine moving image with spatial elements. Her processes are long-term, thoroughly researched and cross-disciplinary. Her works focus on social perspectives in technologically mediated narratives and visual technologies, political histories and their cinematic implications in the present moment.