Greywood Arts and the National Space Centre in Cork, Ireland invite expressions of interest from artists working in any visual, installation, or time-based medium who engage with themes of outer space, technology, and speculative futures in their work to apply for the residency ‘The Invisible Ether’.
This six-week residency from 15 October – 25 November 2022 is an incredible opportunity for an artist whose practice would benefit from observing the workings of a busy satellite groundstation campus before immersing themselves in the creative environment of The Residency at Greywood Arts. The award includes an opportunity for the selected artist to showcase their research and creative process, and to experiment with installation of work from the residency at the National Space Centre.
The National Space Centre’s Elfordstown Earthstation, a secure 5-acre campus and hub for space tech companies, is not typically open to the public. It is home to the 32m in diameter Big Dish, as well as 37 satellite antennas, bee hives, and a fascinating historic space flight collection.
The residency organisers are seeking imaginative proposals investigating big ideas – how can we conceive of the infinite possibilities the universe has to offer? What do our actions in outer space tell us about our relationship to Earth and to each other? From philosophy to science fiction, the complex themes that emerge might include space exploration and colonisation, space tourism, the regulation and control of outer space, satellite technology, space debris, radio and light pollution, climate change, planetary origins, asteroids, and the possibility of life in outer space.
The organisers encourage applications from early career, women-identified, and minority artists. This award is named for Agnes Mary Clerke (1842-1907), an Irish astronomer and writer from County Cork, Ireland. Through her quarter-century career, she became a leading commentator on astronomy and astrophysics in the English-speaking world. She was the author of Modern Cosmogonies, whose chapter ‘The Inevitable Ether’ inspired the title of this award.
The award includes:
- Access to the National Space Centre campus at Elfordstown Earthstation, Midleton Cork, Ireland.
- Accommodation and studio space at The Residency at Greywood Arts, Killeagh, Cork, Ireland.
- Transportation between Greywood Arts & the NSC.
- €2000 Stipend to be used for travel, per diem and materials at the discretion of the artist.
Applications from pairs of collaborators will be considered, but they must be willing to share a bedroom. Artists must be fully vaccinated to access the NSC campus.
