[spectre] artist-in-residence (Modified by Geert Lovink)

[Joanna Griffin]

 Artist-in-Residence
 
Joanna Griffin will be the University of British Columbia 
Artist-in-Residence at the Great Northern Way Campus, Vancouver from 
January till June 2006.

  Her project there will be to explore the territory of the residency as 
a means to understand the remote environment of orbiting satellites.

  A satellite itself of the main campus, the residency studio is 
situated at the Great Northern Way Campus, a site currently in a state 
of transition and co-owned by four institutions University of British 
Colombia, Emily Carr Institute, British Colombia Institute of 
Technology and Simon Fraser University. Their collaboration aspires to 
make links between the Arts and Sciences and through the emerging 
projects carried out on site, to define its regeneration.

Vancouver is the ground station site for two satellites that will have 
a significant impact on the way we perceive our environment in the 
vertical plane. Radarsat 2 is an earth observation satellite due to 
launch at the end of the year, and will have the highest resolution 
imaging capabilities of any non-military satellite launched to date. 
The other satellite, MOST, is a space telescope trained on distant 
stars and able to detect fluctuations in light that indicate the 
presence of planets. The poetics and politics of these two satellites 
and their dual observations will be the focus of the residency.

  For many years Joanna Griffin has been using her role as an artist to 
explore issues that are important in the world we now live in. By 
positioning herself between the realms of art and science she has been 
attempting to bring scientific issues to the attention of a wider 
audience, to make people aware of the world behind the things they 
encounter on a daily basis. Her investigations into the barely visible 
orbits of satellites have become a pressing attempt to explore access 
to this domain for ordinary people outside of the scientific, 
government and military research institutions controlling this 
technology. It is intended that the residency will also generate links 
with the southwest of England, Cornwall and Devon, where she is from.

  For this residency she will take the role of 'satellite investigator' 
and attempt to use the resources available through the University to 
reveal more about the satellites, using conversation as a medium by 
which to gauge the possibility of a philosophical connection to this 
remote, almost imaginary, place.

There will be a presentation by the artist about the residency project 
at the main University campus on Thursday 2 March 12.15-1.45pm room 
109, building M18, University Boulevard. Everyone is welcome.

  To follow the investigation in real time please visit and feel free to 
contribute to:

http://www.aconnectiontoaremoteplace.net

The residency is funded by the Arts Council of England and the kind 
support of CD Evans.