Nanosocieties and beyond
Kerstin Hamilton and Jonas Hannestad shared their thoughts about their collaborative project Nanosocieties and Beyond, an interdisciplinary project that bridges the gap between art and physics, connecting laboratory life to societies outside the institution.
The construction of new realities, the nature of knowledge and the workings and beings of technology will be discussed in a lecture where perspectives from art and nanotechnology meet. More specifically, the act of performing science or scientific practice. The lecture opens up for discussions on how art can shift focus from matters of fact to matters of concern.
Nanosocieties and Beyond, their collaborative research project, is an exploration of the (micro)scopic, architectural, economic and human landscapes of science laboratories, connecting molecules to larger societal structures. Terms such as choreography, representation and speculation will be highlighted in this investigation of nano technological environments, making links between nano technology and documentary photography.
Previous works by Hamilton include ethnographically inspired projects, tracing global capital flows and labour practices in a Sri Lankan fishing village and in a Swedish mining community, as well as charting the routines at a maternity hospital in Dublin.
About the lecturers
Kerstin Hamilton is a photography-based visual artist living in Gothenburg. Her research project Nanosocieties and Beyond, is developed as part of the PhD program at the Valand Academy. Kerstin holds a BA in photography from the Dublin Institute of Technology and an MFA in photography from the School of Photography, University of Gothenburg. Hamilton is interested in how materialities and processes can be caught using a camera, exploring the photographer’s reach both physically and ethically. Her video artwork Zero Point Energy, previously exhibited at Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Malmö, is currently on display in the Atrium at SSE.
Jonas Hannestad holds a PhD in physical chemistry from Chalmers University of Technology. His doctoral thesis "First as Probe, Then as Function - Fluorescence in Bio-inspired Nanotechnology" is published as part of the book series Springer Theses. Jonas has been published in multiple leading scientific journals and has contributed as author in a course book on the photophysics. Jonas Hannestad is currently a postdoctoral researcher as SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden.