The exhibition “On the Fringe” results from a project initiated by the Qolony Association that pursued the artistic investigation of grey areas in science.
“In a cultural context where the boundaries between facts and opinions are increasingly difficult to identify, the artistic team of the “On the Fringe” project investigates the grey areas, the points of confluence between science and people’s beliefs and the phenomena that appear in these mental spaces. From the unusual mix of scientific information and folklore related to fossilized shells to the mysteries of the “pyramid effect”, Andreea Medar, Mălina Ionescu and Floriama Cândea navigate the edges between disciplines, presenting a series of works that expose the fragility on which human understanding of the world rests.
The premise of “On the Fringe” research is that the boundaries between science and pseudoscience, between truth and myth, and between fact and fiction are more fluid than we like to think. The ability of the individual to distinguish between knowledge and speculation, especially in this time of oversaturated information that is difficult to filter, is a very tender topic of social and artistic meditation. However, the project team resists the temptation to succumb to a pessimistic perspective, inviting through these works not only reflections on how we distinguish between fact and fiction but also an appreciation of the cultural richness that develops from uncertainty.
One of the two research directions within the project brings together works under the name “Land under wave” and was undertaken by Andreea Medar and Mălina Ionescu in the town of Melinești in Oltenia, where shell fossils were discovered, which led to the generation of myths and local legends. These fossils also have an indisputable scientific value and a special cultural and imaginative significance, and the mixture of these valences gives them an extremely attractive cultural and artistic status.
In parallel, Floriama Cândea’s research focused on the pyramid in Prundu, Pitesti, in search of a cultural consensus based on which people believe in the pyramid effect, a collective attraction to fantastic explanations and magical thinking, following how uncertain information is integrated into community’s narratives.
The exploration of the limits and liminal spaces between science, pseudoscience, myth and art in this artistic project provokes a reconsideration not only of things known but also of the methods by which they come to be known, inviting a capitalization of ambiguity as a source of inspiration and learning and to an appreciation of the diversity of perspectives.”
Address: WASP – Working Art Space and Production (Strada Ion Minulescu no. 67 – 93, Flaros Factory, building E, floor 2, Bucharest).
More details about the project can be found on https://qolony.eu/en/, Facebook, and Instagram.
Afterland is organized by the Qolony-Colony Association for Art and Science and is co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration (AFCN).
