Sense Unknown

Art & Science Season

After a season dedicated to contemporary figurative painting in France, followed by an exploration of the links between art and literature, MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain is presenting three exhibitions this spring across its two art centers that delve into the relationships between art and science. This theme resonates with the history of the city of Montpellier, which has played a major role in education, the dissemination of knowledge, and scientific research.

At MO.CO., Sense Unknown brings together more than one hundred works by thirty artists, offering an open and porous journey between materials, experiments, disciplines, and eras, with the aim of testing reality – or what we know of it.

In Chaos : Making a New Science (1987), James Gleick points out that the development of a scientific theory is often based on the repetition of experiments and the recurrence of an event. An isolated event is therefore considered an error. However, in the research process, serendipity, chance discovery, accident, and the acceptance of a twist of faith open up new pathways that were beyond our predictions. We then move from known worlds into the unknown.

The artists in the exhibition Sense Unknown sometimes come from scientific backgrounds, while others have worked with scientists or are simply passionate about one of these fields. They share a common interest in experimenting with the unknown through the reinterpretation of scientific forms and processes.

Mary Maggic’s biohacking approach pirates biology with a sense of humour, proposing do-it-yourself methods of extracting oestrogen from urine as a means of emancipation from institutions.

Candice Lin challenges the hegemony of Western scientism, contextualising knowledge and materials within the history of domination through the process of fermenting tea into kombucha. Works produced specifically for the exhibition build bridges between disciplines. For example, a new installation by Roy Köhnke offers a sensual approach to evolution and cross-species relations. Morgan Courtois has devised a series of sculptures smeared with olfactory liquids, portraits and sensory memories of his loved ones, using processes taken from the pharmaceutical and perfume industries. Joey Holder adopts a speculative approach to zoology in order to imagine an immersive multi-screen installation with artificial intelligence, playing with both our fears and desires for control.

For this exhibition, MO.CO. presents artists from across different historical periods, ranging from the Renaissance, with Bernard Palissy (16th century), to a new generation born in the 1990s, and with the inclusion of emblematic 20th century figures, such as Nam June Paik, Tetsumi Kudo, Kiki Smith, and Alina Szapocznikow. Artists who were less identified with contemporary art during their lifetime are also present in the exhibition, including Anna Zemankova, H.R. Giger, Victorien Sardou, and Emma Kunz.

Finally, the collections of the Université de Montpellier underline the power of the cross-fertilisation of knowledge and forms, as well as the importance of historical markers (discoveries, concepts, objects), which are themselves sometimes doomed to a form of obsolescence.

Artists

With Isabelle Andriessen, Art Orienté Objet, Berdaguer & Péjus, Hicham Berrada, Morgan Courtois, HR Giger, Joey Holder, Tishan Hsu, Cooper Jacoby, Yunchul Kim, Josh Kline, Roy Köhnke, Kinke Kooi, Tetsumi Kudo, Emma Kunz, Candice Lin ; Pei-Ying Lin, Špela Petrič, Dimitris Stamatis & Jasmina Weiss ; Mary Maggic, Guadalupe Maravilla, Nam June Paik, Jean Painlevé, Bernard Palissy, Eduardo Paolozzi, Luboš Plný, Lea Porsager, Josephine Pryde, Victorien Sardou, Jeremy Shaw, Kiki Smith, Alina Szapocznikow, Haena Yoo, Anna Zemánková.

And scientific collections of Université de Montpellier :
Conservatoire d’anatomie, Faculté de médecine, Faculté d'Education : Dr. Louis Auzoux, E. Soumac & Dr. Paul Gilis
Institut de botanique : anonymes, Toussaint-François Node-Véran.
As well as loans from scientific collections of Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier : Dr. A. Zieger en collaboration avec Ernst Haeckel.

Curators of Art & Science season : Pauline Faure, Anya Harrison, Alexis Loisel-Montambaux, Deniz Yoruc

With the support of Fluxus Art Projects.

Roy Köhnke's Magnetic Tendencies project was selected by the Fondation des Artistes patronage committee, which provided support for the project.
Co-production MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain.

Scientific comity

In partnership with Université de Montpellier

Université de Montpellier

Pr. Agnès Fichard-Carroll
Vice-Présidente Formation et Vie Universitaire Université de Montpellier
Professeure de neurosciences.

Pr. Isabelle Laffont
Doyenne de la Faculté de Médecine Montpellier Nîmes
Professeur des Universités- Praticien Hospitalier (Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation)
CHU de Montpellier et CHU de Nîmes
Sciences du Mouvement Humain – Euromov Digital Health In Motion – Université de Montpellier

Pr. Gérald Chanques
Vice-président de l’Université de Montpellier délégué au Patrimoine Historique
Vice-doyen aux affaires générales, au patrimoine et à sa valorisation, à la vie de campus, de la Faculté de Médecine Montpellier-Nîmes Professeur des Universités - Praticien Hospitalier (Anesthésie - Réanimation), Département d'Anesthésie Réanimation de l'Hôpital Saint Eloi (CHU Montpellier) Unité de recherche : PhyMedExp, INSERM, CNRS, Université de Montpellier

Pr. Stephan Matecki
Vice-doyen, président du conseil scientifique Université de Montpellier
Physiologiste, responsable de l’Unité d’Explorations Fonctionnelles Pédiatriques et d’une équipe de recherche au sein de l’Unité UMR CNRS 9214-INSERM U1046. Co-responsable du Master Biologie-Santé.

Benoit Charlot
Directeur de recherche CNRS
IES Institut d’Électronique et des Systèmes, UMR 5214 CNRS Université de Montpellier.
Equipe Biomicrofluidique et Biophotonique

Caroline Ducourau
Directrice de la culture scientifique et du patrimoine historique, Université de Montpellier
Conservatrice du patrimoine

Muriel Guedj
LIRDEF (Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Didactique, Éducation et Formation), Université de Montpellier
Chercheure associée GHDSO (Histoire et Diffusion des sciences) EST, Université Paris Saclay

Gabriel Krouk
Directeur de recherche CNRS
Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Montpellier (IPSiM) - Unité Mixte de Recherche (CNRS/INRAE/Institut Agro/Université Montpellier) co-fondateur et directeur scientifique d'une start-up, BionomeeX ©

Ariane Abrieu
Directrice de Recherche BIOLuM (BIOcentre Lunaret Montpellier)
Aurélie Bessière
Chargée de recherche CNRS, Institut Charles Gerhardt de Montpellier (ICGM)
Jean-Olivier Durand
Chercheur CNRS, co-fondateur et conseiller scientiffique de NanoMedSyn
Chercheur à l’Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM)
Vincent Ladmiral
Directeur de recherche CNRS, Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM) - Chimie & Matériaux MacroMoléculaires , CNRS, ENSCM, Université de Montpellier.
> Groupe COSA - Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM), l’Institut d’Électronique et des Systèmes (IES), l'École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Montpellier
(Ensam) et l'École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts Montpellier Contemporain (MO.CO Esba) (Groupe de Recherche et expérimentations Sciences et Art)

Eléonore Szturemski
Responsable du Service art & culture, Direction vie des campus, Université de Montpellier

MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain

Agnès Robin
Vice-présidente de l’Epcc MO.CO Montpellier Contemporain, adjointe au maire à la culture Ville Montpellier
Maître de conférences à l’Université de Montpellier

Numa Hambursin
Directeur général de MO.CO. Montpellier Contemporain

Delphine Goutes
Directrice coordination générale et partenariats

Pauline Faure, Anya Harrison, Alexis Loisel-Montambaux, Deniz Yoruc
Commissaires des expositions

Stéphanie Delpeuch
Directrice des publics

Other scientific partnerships

Morgan Courtois – Résidence de travail avec Isabelle Parrot-Smietana, Pharmacienne. Professeure des Universités. Licence ProPAC Parfums Arômes Cosmétiques, Faculté des sciences, Université de Montpellier.

Joey Holder – Collaboration avec Benoît Charlot, Directeur de recherche CNRS. IES Institut d’Electronique et des Systèmes (CNRS UM 5214), Université de Montpellier.