Two stills from ‘Non-conservation of energy (and of spirits)’ by Toril Johannessen, 2012

Uncertainty Scenarios - Session #6
Uncertainty Scenarios will host a session focusing on the Sun, its influences and repercussions of radiation on the future. The impact of the Sun on life on Earth has been recognised since prehistoric times. Our main star illuminates our planet with a duality of darkness and light. The Sun has been regarded by some cultures as a divinity, having influence on the course of our future by predicting misfortune or promising rising prospects. The Sun has supported the evolution of life but can also become a destructive force within the changing climate of our planet. It's energy is more than sufficient to supply us with all we need, but at the same time one big solar storm can wipe out vital life supporting technologies like electricity and Internet networks.

The conversation will include contributions by: Amélie Bouvier, Cosco (Louis de Cordier), Alexis Destoop, Marjolijn Dijkman, Kris Dittel, Toril Johannessen and Pádraic E. Moore.

This session is accompanied by the finissage of the solo exhibition by Amélie Bouvier, a continuous screening of ‘Non-conservation of energy (and of spirits)’ by Toril Johannessen and a presentation by Kris Dittel and Marjolijn Dijkman of the recently published publication 'Radiant Matter'.

Uncertainty Scenarios - Amélie Bouvier
Amélie Bouvier has developed a strong interest in aerial and outer space imagery and its ramifications on our perception and use of history, geography and power. While the aerial and outer space views are a magnificent instrument in the evolution of human knowledge, it also suggests a potential absence of limitations, which filled with unpredictability our close futures.  The exhibition includes a series of works produced during her residency at the Frans Masereel Centrum in 2017.

'Non-Conservation of Energy (and of Spirits)', Toril Johannessen, 2012
The 24-minute video Non-Conservation of Energy (and of Spirits) is a transcribed dialogue between Johannessen and a clairvoyant medium where the artist asks questions addressed to the late physicist Niels Bohr. The dialogue is presented as subtitles, and the answers from the spirits are in the form of knocking sounds. One knock means yes, two knocks means no.

The subject for the dialogue is energy, as a physical phenomenon, and implicitly as a spiritual phenomenon. A central question addressed to Niels Bohr is: What if energy is not conserved, but to the contrary can be produced and destructed? Bohr allegedly once played with such an idea; quite to the contrary to the law of the conservation of energy that says that the total energy in a system remains constant.

Throughout the conversation, the clairvoyant, the ghost and Johannessen discuss  what kind of impact such a model of energy would have on our world view and the way resources are distributed; if the energy conservation law is a false axiom; if there is such a thing as perfect balance.

'Radiant Matter', edited by Marjolijn Dijkman & Kris Dittel, Onomatopee, 2017. Wandering stars have occupied the human mind across centuries and millennia, along with the quest to explore and colonise cosmic space. Is there something in us that refuses to believe that we are alone in the universe? Does our longing for the stars conceal something different? To what extent can fiction shape future realities? The construction of such inquiries are at the centre of Marjolijn Dijkman’s work, which pivots around humankind’s fascination for cosmic space, the position of our planet in the universe, and human subjectivity in relation to celestial bodies. Radiant Matter comprises a series of recent artworks that desire to analyse and reflect on the nature of scientific inquiry, the role of speculation, fiction and spiritualism. Together with a poetic image essay and a conversation between the artist and the editor Kris Dittel, this widely illustrated book includes texts by Maarten Vanden Eynde, Ken Hollings and Raqs Media Collective.