Postdoctoral research project at HDK-Valand and Hasselblad Foundation
In my current postdoctoral research project, The Choreography of Science (2024–), I take as a starting point Berenice Abbott’s photographs of scientific phenomena made at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the late 1950s. Using pioneering photographic techniques, Abbott visualised physical mechanisms in the world – such as motion, magnetism, and light. For Abbott, photography was a vital instrument for fostering public understanding of scientific knowledge, which she viewed as essential in democratic societies.
My artistic research is based at the Onsala Space Observatory, located on the west coast of Sweden. I work with photography, film and montage and my methods include fieldwork at the observatory, archival research, curatorial practice and theoretical contextualisation. The research is visually and conceptually informed by Abbott’s progressive work between the 1930s and the early 1960s and seeks to reactivate the visual and ideological discourse she initiated.
The research posits that it is relevant to ‘see’ and consider the procedures of science: Scientific knowledge is grounded in rigorous and often time-consuming processes of experimentation, observation, and verification, designed to ensure that findings are robust and reproducible.
I refer to this as the “choreography of science”— a set of well rehearsed movements, interactions with instruments, routines, and methods that structure the production of scientific knowledge. These choreographies are embedded in the history and present-day practices of institutions such as the Onsala Space Observatory.
The Onsala Space Observatory | The twin telescopes and the 25 m telescope (offline) in between observations, June 2024
The Onsala Space Observatory | The twin telescope at night, December 2024
The Onsala Space Observatory | The 20 m telescope, January 2024
Work in progress:
2025
Below: Installation at the Onsala Space Observatory (May). Exhibition based on archive images from the Chalmers Central Archive.
Below: Installation at HDK-Valand Research days (January). Link to video documentation.
2024
Below: Link to public conversation (September) at Bokmässan: Photography and research: Between objectivity and distrust (in English)
Presented at the Gothenburg Book Fair, the panel brought together voices from philosophy, science, and the arts to explore the role of images in research and knowledge production. Central questions included: What role does photography play in efforts to understand the world? How may something as distant and intangible as a black hole be photographed—and how do we come to trust such an image? In an age marked by growing skepticism toward facts and knowledge, where both photography and science are subject to doubt, how can we navigate the complex relationship between image and reality?
Participants: Åsa Wikforss, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy and member of the Swedish Academy John Conway, Professor of Radio Astronomy at Chalmers University of Technology and Director of the Onsala Space Observatory Moderator: Kerstin Hamilton, researcher in photography at HDK-Valand
Below: Research trip to the New York Public Library and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
New York Public Library | Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R. Rose Main Reading Room
New York Public Library | The Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts
New York Public Library
New York Public Library | The Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts
New York Public Library | The Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts
New York Public Library | The Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room for Rare Books and Manuscripts
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Maclaurin Buildings (4)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bush Building (13)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics Academic Programs Office (building 4)