N-03X67 is a new work by architectural manipulator Sarah Oppenheimer that is currently on view at the Kengo Kuma designed Pavilion 5 of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Sarah Oppenheimer’s work is known for the manipulation of the built environment. Her newest work, N-03X67 encourages human interaction with EPFL Pavilions’ glass structure. It was commissioned in the framework of the second edition of the EPFL-CDH Artist-in-Residence (AiR) Program Enter the Hyper-Scientific, in collaboration with the EPFL Laboratory of Intelligent Systems (LIS) and EPFL Laboratory of Integrated Performance in Design (LIPID).
In this video, Giulia Bini (Curator & Head, EPFL – CDH AiR Program Enter the Hyper-Scientific), talks about Sarah Oppenheimer’s new work and the EPFL – DCH Artist in Residence Program. The exhibition runs until February 18, 2024.
Sarah Oppenheimer: N-03X67 / EPFL – CDH Artist in Residence Program 2023, Enter the Hyper-Scientific. EPFL Pavilions, Pavilion A, EPFL College of Humanities (CDH), Lausanne (Switzerland), January 25, 2024.
In this video, Giulia Bini (Curator & Head, EPFL – CDH AiR Program Enter the Hyper-Scientific), talks about Sarah Oppenheimer’s new work and the EPFL – DCH Artist in Residence Program. The exhibition runs until February 18, 2024.
Sarah Oppenheimer: N-03X67 / EPFL – CDH Artist in Residence Program 2023, Enter the Hyper-Scientific. EPFL Pavilions, Pavilion A, EPFL College of Humanities (CDH), Lausanne (Switzerland), January 25, 2024.
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CreativityTranscript
00:00 [SIDE CONVERSATION]
00:25 We are at the EPFL, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology,
00:29 Lausanne, and precisely at the EPFL pavilions,
00:33 Amplifier for Art, Science, and Society.
00:36 And here in pavilion A, we have the pleasure
00:40 now to present the work N03X67 by artist Sarah Oppenheimer.
00:48 This is a new production, a new work
00:52 that was produced in the framework of the EPFL Artists
00:55 in Residence program, Enter the Hyper-Scientific.
00:59 So this program is organized and promoted
01:02 by the College of Humanities at EPFL
01:04 and invites international artists as well as Swiss artists
01:08 to develop projects in collaborations
01:10 with the EPFL scientific community.
01:14 And so we had the great pleasure this year
01:17 to welcome for 2023 and now in 2024
01:20 to present the project Sarah Oppenheimer.
01:23 Sarah developed, let's say, a body of work,
01:27 let's say an idea for a new body of work,
01:30 in collaboration with the Laboratory of Intelligent
01:33 Systems at the EPFL and the Laboratory
01:37 for Performance in Design.
01:38 So Professor Dario Floriano and Professor Marilyn Anderson.
01:42 Sarah spent a few months at the EPFL,
01:45 really basically embedded in the Laboratory
01:49 of Intelligent Systems, basically
01:52 for a permanent exchange, knowledge exchange,
01:56 with the scientific community of the laboratory.
02:00 And these, basically, discussions
02:03 led to the conception of, let's say,
02:06 this project, which we could consider as a sort of also
02:10 prototype opening up to a new phase, a new body of work,
02:16 of which we have now a first example that
02:18 will be basically developed in the months to come.
02:22 In September, also, Sarah will be at the Atelier Carderre,
02:26 where basically this project will expand.
02:28 So what we see here is basically a networked system,
02:34 starting with a subtle architectural intervention.
02:38 So Sarah Oppenheimer's work deals
02:41 with existing architecture, but also with the relationship,
02:45 let's say, of the visitor's, viewer's body
02:48 and the, let's say, context, meaning
02:51 the architectural context, but also
02:54 the perception of our own body and how
02:57 we relate to each other through, actually, the activation
03:01 of these instruments.
03:02 And what we see, basically, is a networked system,
03:06 which develops in these seven instruments that
03:09 are presented on the facade.
03:12 And let's say this is a pneumatic--
03:17 this network is connected pneumatically,
03:20 meaning that the action on one of the elements
03:23 brings, basically, a reaction to the networked element.
03:28 Therefore, we understand immediately
03:30 that the aim of this project is also
03:32 somehow to question our sort of relationship with the context,
03:37 and therefore, also activating, also taking the time,
03:41 basically, to explore this installation
03:44 and interact with it, this work, this architectural work.
03:48 And we have also-- we present also a sort of network logic
03:52 simulation, meaning, basically, the logic of this network
03:56 that Sarah developed in collaboration
03:59 with Simon Jaeger, who's a PhD at the Laboratory
04:02 for Intelligent Systems, where there is, basically,
04:06 a presentation of many iterations
04:08 of this potential system.
04:11 This will be the base for the additional, let's say,
04:14 evolutions of this project.
04:17 In the framework of Enter the Hyper-Scientific,
04:19 we welcome very different artists,
04:22 in the sense artists conducting different practices
04:24 with different media.
04:26 And what was extremely specific and wonderful, actually,
04:29 of Sarah's research is also what we see here,
04:33 is that, let's say, in the context of science
04:36 and technology, Sarah developed what
04:38 we could consider a sort of analogic system.
04:41 And, of course, nurtured by, let's say,
04:45 the very advanced knowledge and science developed at the EPFL.
04:49 And it's a pleasure.
04:51 It's great for us to present this architectural
04:56 intervention, precisely because the aim of Enter
04:59 the Hyper-Scientific is to foster collaborations
05:02 between artists and scientists, spanning and expanding
05:07 broadly the notion of art and science collaborations,
05:10 meaning that it's not strongly related to the medium,
05:15 but it's actually related also to the content and to the,
05:18 let's say, concepts behind the projects.
05:20 So we have, let's say, a digital simulation
05:24 and the digital network logic developed
05:28 for this work, leading to an analogic architectural
05:33 intervention.
05:34 And for other artists, for instance,
05:36 we have actually works which develop more in the field,
05:39 for instance, of artificial intelligence
05:42 and digital practices or film practices.
05:44 So we aim at fostering, really, this variety of media
05:49 and dialogues among artists and scientists,
05:54 and therefore also productions that will basically
05:58 develop from these exchanges.
06:01 So in this pneumatic system, an architectural array
06:05 tips and turns in response to human action.
06:09 Linked by air, N03X67 is a pneumatic network
06:15 composed of actuators, cylinders, valves, and dampers.
06:20 Its kinetic permutations generate an exchange
06:25 among the different instruments that
06:27 are placed along the facets of Pavilions A at the EPFL.
06:32 The logic of this is both horizontal,
06:36 that you can actually see the element in connection
06:38 to the other elements on the windows,
06:42 as well as, of course, frontal.
06:44 When Sarah Oppenheimer decided to place this element
06:54 in the middle, we could say, of the exhibition space
06:56 and also at the entrance of the exhibition space.
06:58 It's, let's say, the beginning also of how visitors have to question the space, finding these new elements or instruments that requires their interaction.
07:05 And, of course, there is also the possibility of a kind of interaction between the two.
07:10 So, for example, in this case, we have a kind of interaction between the two.
07:15 So we have a kind of interaction between the two.
07:17 And we have a kind of interaction between the two.
07:19 And we have a kind of interaction between the two.
07:21 And also the idea of transparency, of exchange, let's say, between indoor and outdoor,
07:36 was an important part of Sarah's concept.
07:40 And how she actually interacts with existing buildings and architectures
07:48 to then change them through her architectural manipulation.
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