(In)visible Dialogues was an art project realized at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 2011. It was initiated by artist Per Huttner and biochemist

Elias Arnér Elias Arnér (Elias S. J. Arnér; born 2 March 1966) is a Swedish professor in biochemistry active in the fields of redox biology and cancer research. He studied medicine at Karolinska Institutet and became a medical doctor in 1997. He received h ...

. The project was transgressing the boundaries of

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, articl ...

and

lecture A lecture (from ) is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theo ...

s in order to stimulate dialogues between art and science. The project was a sequel to the project

Begrepp – En samling Begrepp – En Samling (Concepts – a Collection) was an art project realized at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm in 1992. It comprised an exhibition, a publication and a lecture series that all focused on ...

from 1992''(In)visible Dialogues'', Ed. E. Arnér and P. Huttner, Published by Dent-de-Leone. and drew on Hüttner's experiences from projects like I am a Curator and Democracy and Desire. (In)Visible Dialogues was installed in three interconnected rooms. In the first, there were 120 fluorescent chairs facing a blank wall. On the back of each chair a copy of the project's catalogue had been nailed and officially signed by a Professor from

Karolinska Institutet The Karolinska Institute (KI; ; sometimes known as the (Royal) Caroline Institute in English) is a research-led medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area of Sweden and one of the foremost medical research institutes globally. ...

and approved for publication, following local academic protocol. Each chair was an authorized copy of Jonas Bohlin's Concrete from 1980 that had been customized by the design group Åbäke. The two flanking side rooms remained empty apart from a solitary lectern painted in the same color as the chairs and which was connected to speakers that emitted music and sounds composed by participating sound artists Andy Cox and Richard Allalouf, Natalia Kamia, Samon Takahashi,

Ebbot Lundberg Torbjörn "Ebbot" Lundberg (born 26 February 1966 in Västerås)''(In)visible Dialogues'', 2011, p. 170. Published by Dent-de-Leone. . is a Swedish artist, songwriter and music producer who lives in Gothenburg, Sweden. From 1995 to 2012, he was t ...

and Yan Jun who interpreted a text written by Hüttner and Arnér on the importance and difficulty of dialogues between art and science. A new sound piece was played back each week. Lundberg's contribution, ''There's Only One of Us Here'' was released in 2012 – his first solo album in a 25-year career. At 2pm, every Sunday in March 2011, a dialogue took place. The dialogues were devised so that a member of the scientific community dialogued with a member of the world of visual art. The audience could not see the two dialoguing people, who could not see each other either.

Dialogue schedule

6 March 2011 – Probing the Boundaries of Performance Predrag Petrovic, M.D. Ph.D., Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm and A Constructed World, Artists, Jacqueline Riva MFA and Geoff Lowe Ph.D., Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts d'Angers,

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

13 March 2011 – Probing the Boundaries of Insight Konrad Kaufmann, Ph.D., Max-Planck-Institut für biophysikalische Chemie,

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

and Arijana Kajfes, Artist, Stockholm, Sweden 20 March 2011 – Probing the Boundaries of Talent Sandra Masur, Ph.D, Professor,

Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City, New York, United States. The school is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sina ...

, Department of

Ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Laurent Devèze Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

Philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Art Critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

and Director of École Régional de Beaux Arts,

Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...

27 March 2011 – Probing the Boundaries of the Mind Veronique Wiesinger,

Curator A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...

and director for Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Hugo Lagercrantz Carl Hugo Lagercrantz (born 18 April 1945) is a Swedish pediatrician. He is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the Karolinska Institute and is a former member of both the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, which awards the Nobel Prize in ...

, MD PhD, Professor, Karolinska Institutet, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Stockholm

References

External links

Official website for the project
{{DEFAULTSORT:invisible dialogues Installation art works Conceptual art Swedish art