Public Artist Talk
Axel Straschnoy
26.11.2024
18:00
Camera Austria, Lendkai 1 8020 Graz
The European Spallation Source (ESS) is set to become the world’s most powerful accelerator-driven neutron source, capable of producing groundbreaking images and data. However, these experiments occur deep underground, hidden from view, embodying a paradox: an apparent stillness that belies the immense power driving profound transformations.
What does it mean to “see” under such conditions? What hidden structures frame these experiments? Could such a facility be pushed to its limits—to create a self-portrait and capture its essence within a plate of gold?
In The Source, Iain Sutton and Axel Straschnoy venture into a new realm of photography, replacing photons with neutrons and silver halides with gold atoms to render images of invisible processes that shape our understanding of the world.
Axel Straschnoy’s artistic practice examines the technological and social systems behind the images that define our reality. In his talk at Camera Austria, Straschnoy will present past projects that culminate in his ongoing collaboration on The Source.
Axel Straschnoy (b. 1978) is a visual artist and filmmaker from Buenos Aires, based in Helsinki. His work explores the intersections of social practices in science and art. His long-term, research-based projects span planetarium films, performances, film installations, editions, travelling exhibitions, museum collections, and VR films. Straschnoy is particularly interested in expeditions—both literal and metaphorical, scientific and artistic. He has participated in the Le Pavillon residency at Palais de Tokyo and studied Art History at the University of Buenos Aires.