About the Exhibit
Into the Realms of Possibility
June 28 - July 27, 2024
Time: Gallery Hours with additional programming
Location: Fuller Lodge Art Gallery
The exhibit includes science-informed artwork from a diverse range of perspectives and media, including sculpture, sound, robotics, bio art, short films, documentaries, and other media and performance. Presented at the historic Fuller Lodge Gallery in Los Alamos New Mexico, the work in this exhibit meets with contemporary research-based investigation at the intersection of art and science with a high level of aesthetic quality. The exhibit and events are open and accessible to all.
This exhibit is a partnership between SciArt Santa Fe and Los Alamos MainStreet & Creative District Los Alamos MainStreet and Creative District and the Los Alamos Arts Council
and is curated by Jacquelyn Connolly, Executive Director of the Los Alamos MainStreet and Creative District.
Events:
Friday, June 28
3-4:15 PM: Beyond the Realms of Possibility LASER Event at the Bradbury Science Museum with exhibition artists and local scientists. Registration is required here.
4:30-7 PM: Reception SciArt exhibition opening reception and Artist Mixer at the Fuller Lodge Art Center
Sunday, July 14
3-6 PM: "Beyond the Realms of Possibility", Artist Performance, Film Viewings, and Discussion at SALA, Free tickets here.
3-4 PM:
Artist Britney A. King (aka VJBK) will perform NA’IIDZEEŁ an experimental audio / visual experience that explores the relationship between human and machine. This project centers on Indigenous Futurism aesthetics by reimagining the realities of Diné and Chippewa Cree people within the digital realm. Using AI, the visuals are generated through a system of algorithms - VQGAN+CLIP - by prompting questions that involve these keywords: Navajo, Chippewa Cree, dreams, remix, archive. The audio is a lo-fi and ambient mix that samples Chippewa Cree drumming, futuristic tones and bass, and Neo-psychedelia musings. NA’IIDZEEŁ or in Navajo - dreams - is a form of cultural intervention that places Indigenous knowledge systems in juxtaposition with A.I. Through this collaboration of human and machine, programmable worlds of Indigenous futures are conjured into existence.
Britney A. King is a Diné digital artist that uses a variety of video, projection, projection-mapping, and glitch art techniques to create her work. She is influenced by the re-mix culture movement that she interprets as re-mixing her culture, emotions, and experiences that manifest themselves through abstract projection mixes.
The performance will be followed by a Q&A.
4-6 PM:
A screening of Michael W. Barnard's award-winning feature documentary Secrets of the Sun- Journey Into the Fire followed by a filmmaker lead Q & A and a special screening of a 20-minute in-process short film, Carlos’s World(s) – Art, Science and the Land of Enchantment, an Official Selection of the 2023 Santa Fe Int’l Film Festival.
Secrets of the Sun (79 minutes) explores the inception and creation of Secrets of the Sun – Millennial Meditations – a uniquely immersive and transformational solar spectrum environmental artwork by Peter Erskine with original music by Bruce Odland.
Producer/Director Michael W. Barnard initially made a 1/2-hour TV documentary about Erskine’s sculptural work aired on KOCE, the Southern California PBS. When he saw what Erskine was developing with his solar spectrum environmental art experiments, he decided to document the process and follow it wherever it might lead. This turned into a 30-year journey.
Michael W. Barnard is a master filmmaker and fine artist, as well as an author. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he continues to make films, and fine art, along with various book and online/new media projects.
Friday, July 26
2-4 PM: The Nature of Information: SciArt Closing event, Online Only
A conversation between local Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque scientists, artists, and community including Zoom Telluride conference leader and artist, Richard Lowenberg.
Press Release
Los Alamos MainStreet and Creative District and SciArt Santa Fe, in partnership with the Los Alamos Arts Council, announce the opening of “Into the Realms of Possibility”. This exhibit and accompanying programming feature the work of 12 contemporary Southwest artists who are expanding the boundaries of art and science. With an experimental mindset, they explore a variety of materials, media, techniques, and methods to move past limits across disciplines. They question what art can be, what science can be, and how the combination of the two can expand knowledge and understanding.
The exhibit opens with a special LASER (“Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous”) panel discussion featuring three of the artists from the exhibition and moderated by Susan Latham. This event will be from 3-4:15 p.m. June 28 at the Bradbury Science Museum. Although this event is free and open to the public, it does require advance reservations.
Please make reservations here.
Following the LASER event, many of the exhibition’s artists will attend the opening reception 4:30-7 p.m. June 28 in the Fuller Lodge Art Center Gallery.
From 3-6 p.m. July 14 at SALA Event Center the captivating “Beyond the Realms of Possibility” event will take place. In celebration of the annual Los Alamos ScienceFest, this special event will feature a performance and talk by VJBK aka Britney King, a featured artist in the “Into the Realms of Possibility” exhibit. Following that, filmmaker and artist Michael Barnard will screen his “Secrets of the Sun – Journey into the Fire”, which explores the inception and creation of “Secrets of the Sun – Millennial Meditations” – a unique and transformational solar spectrum environmental artwork by Peter Erskine. Q&A’s with both artists will be moderated by Jaquelyn Connolly of Los Alamos MainStreet & Creative District and Andrea Polli of SciArt Santa Fe.
About the Festival
Los Alamos ScienceFest is a signature event for Los Alamos and is now in its 17th year. It celebrates the history and science of Los Alamos through fun and engaging activities and events for people of all ages. This signature event of Los Alamos draws thousands of regional and local visitors from across the state of New Mexico and beyond. In 2024, the focus of the festival is on the many intersections of art and science, particularly in the biological and digital realms.
Collaborators
SciArt Santa Fe is a growing New Mexico-based non-profit that creates opportunities for the powerful exchange of ideas among practitioners in the arts, sciences, and technology through exhibitions and public forums. Founded in 2019, SciArt Santa Fe fosters artists across disciplines that reflect the cultural diversity of New Mexico, supports research that addresses issues that disproportionately affect people of under-represented races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, national origins, citizenship statuses and ages including climate change, species extinction and migration, that often do not fit within a traditional gallery framework. Four years ago, SciArt Santa Fe was invited by the International Leonardo Society for the Arts, Sciences, and Technology to represent New Mexico because of the high quality of our work. In addition to board members and interns, SciArt Santa Fe has dedicated volunteers who help us reach its goals.
Los Alamos MainStreet and Creative District serves as a driver for the economic vitality of Los Alamos and White Rock. They empower the ecosystem of their local business community through education, promotion, catalytic projects, and strong support of our creative sector for a better quality of life for our community and region. As an award winning accredited MainStreet America program with over 30 years of experience, they leverage state economic development programs and funding with local resources to support the entrepreneurial, the creative and the business-minded members of their community.
Los Alamos is a unique town, established over 70 years ago as a secret city during World War II. Los Alamos MainStreet (LAMS) focuses on this connection to history and science, facilitates community events, and supports the local business community that contributes to the vitality of downtown. LAMS provides locals and visitors a special place to gather, relax and enjoy the history and beauty of Los Alamos making it a great place to live, work, play & visit.
Since 1967, the Los Alamos Arts Council has been a catalyst for civic engagement through the arts, and we support lifelong creativity. With new ideas and a growing organization, we are expanding our offerings in the community and beyond, focusing on outreach to underserved populations and overlooked patrons beyond our borders, encouraging others to join us “up the hill.”
The Arts Council has recently absorbed the historic Fuller Lodge Art Center located in downtown Los Alamos, and added the Step Up Gallery found on the top floor of Mesa Public Library.
The Arts Council has historically provided enriching events that promote community engagement through the arts. Los Alamos residents look forward to our recurring annual events, arts and crafts fairs, monthly musical performances, and more.
