- Studios resident Sonya Dyer presents her first major solo showing in London: Three Parent Child, 29 September – 12 November 2023
- Cultural programming studio (A)WAKE to curate a one-day programme of workshops, discussions and performances on 9th September
- Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen presents May The Fox Take You, a new commission for online platform Channel, developed during the CCI x SHS Experimental Technology Fellowship.
- Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen in conversation about their new Channel commission on 20th September
- Our annual celebration of Somerset House Studios, AGM date confirmed for 13th October 2023
- Creative Technologies Fellowship announced in partnership with the UAL Creative Computing Institute (CCI)
- New residents joining the Somerset House Studios community include: Alice Bucknell, Elaine Mitchener, and Sin Wai Kin
Somerset House Studios invites the cultural programming studio (A)WAKE to curate a one-day programme of workshops, discussions and performances by artists, researchers and storytellers who will be bringing new perspectives on the social, political and cultural impacts of technology. From digital algorithmic processes that support systems of oppression, to the Eurocentric, English-language-centric digital spaces, Finding loopholes in the www land of the oppressed discusses the dismantling of these power structures and rebuilding positive new worlds in their place.
Representing the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) diasporic communities perspective, (A)WAKE consider the barriers between race and technology, taking into account particularities such as navigating in landscapes of war and conflict, the lack of access to proper Wi-Fi, the lack of Arabic translations and/or censoring of Arabic languages.
With contributions from artists and researchers Ahaad Alamoudi, Isshaq Albarbary, Miriyam Aouragh and Romy Gad el Rab (+ more TBC) across an afternoon programme that sees conversations span the influence of digitalisation in Palestine, algorithm swapping, and the potential of escape routes within the digital black hole. Finding loopholes in the www land of the oppressed is rounded off with an evening music programme headed up by cultural curator/ producer, sound designer and DJ Sarra Wild. More details TBA.
Curated by (A)WAKE with support of Romy Gad el Rab.
New Commission on Channel : May The Fox Take You by Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen. Available from 6 September 2023
May The Fox Take You is the new exclusive commission for Somerset House’s online platform Channel, from artists Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen, recipients of the CCI x Somerset House Studios Experimental Technology Fellowship. May the Fox Take You is an extended song of loss, guided by a text assembled from idioms, curses and blessings loosely translated from a language that is almost extinct. The work sits within the ambivalence of an ending, attempting to accept anger, fear, love and hope as one.
The film travels through a field of mustard, within the cavities and digestive fluids of carnivorous plants, to a moth that looks like twin snakes nodding in the wind. A robot dog is being kicked, a dancer is rehearsing a choreography taken from a pogo dance tutorial. The soundscape is composed of electronically arranged recorded drum beats, overlaid with strings formed by machine learning models.
May The Fox Take You by Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen: In Conversation | Thu 20 Sep 18.45 – 20.30 | £6 | Lancaster Rooms (tickets on sale Tues 18 July)
Join Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen as they share their ideas and process behind the commission.
Three Parent Child: Sonya Dyer | 29 Sep – 12 Nov 2023 | 10.00-18.00 daily | River Rooms | FREE
Studios resident Sonya Dyer undertakes a new commission to be presented throughout the River Rooms from September, marking the artist's first solo exhibition in London. The installation, Three Parent Child, will be the final stage of Dyer’s Andromeda trilogy, as part of her ongoing project Hailing Frequencies Open. HFO reimagines the history and radical potential of human space travel, exploring the intersections between scientific enquiry and science fiction. Sonya weaves influences including Star Trek, the legacy of HeLa cells, and mythology, to engage with ongoing conversations around monumentalism, memory and the role of speculation. Three Parent Child features two works: Action>Potential, and Lucy.
Action>Potential is a two-channel moving-image work centring Andromeda, the personified galaxy and constellation that shares its name with the Aiethiopian Princess Andromeda in Greek mythology. In Sonya’s work, Andromeda metaphorically embodies the reclamation of the neglected stories of Black women of science and mythology. In Action>Potential, Andromeda is trying to return ‘home’ to her galaxy after unexpectedly finding herself in a science lab, where she comes across a rogue mitochondria named Lucy. “Action potential” is a scientific term used to explain the brief electrical impulse cells use to transmit information from one place to another. This exchange is a key inspiration for the movement patterns in the film.
Lucy is a large-scale sculpture of the aforementioned rogue mitochondria, mutating through the three River Rooms and transforming into something new altogether. Lucy forms the last in a series of space vessel sculptures named after three enslaved women experimented on by a notorious 19th-century gynaecologist.
The title Three Parent Child takes its name from the recent scientific development of Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT), a new technique that incorporates DNA from three people to create a child, which mirrors Dyer’s adherence to trilogies throughout her practice. Whilst in residence at the Studios, Sonya Dyer’s research has been supported as part of the King’s College London x Somerset House Studios Programme.
Three Parent Child is commissioned by Somerset House, and is supported by Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and The London Community Foundation.
Sonya Dyer In Conversation | Tue 31 Oct 18.45 – 20.30 | £6 | Lancaster Rooms (tickets on sale Tues 18 July)
This event sees Sonya Dyer in conversation about her new Somerset House exhibition, Three Parent Child. Comprising of a two-channel moving image work and multi-room sculpture, the show forms part of her ongoing Hailing Frequencies Open project – a reimagining of the history and radical potentiality of human space travel, exploration of the intersections between scientific enquiry, the stories of Black women of history and mythology, and ongoing conversations around monumentalism and memory.
The evening will include a screening of the previous two films in Sonya’s HFO trilogy ('Andromeda' and 'The Betsey-Drake Equation') alongside late access to Three Parent Child through extended exhibition opening hours.
AGM 2023 | 13 Oct 2023 | 19.00-23.00 | New Wing
Save the date: Somerset House Studios proudly mark another year of its exceptional resident artist community with its yearly late-night party. Taking over the Studios’ ground floor, this year’s edition of AGM will be a night of collaborative energy, art installations, and captivating live performances, alongside a late opening of Three Parent Child.
Full programme to be announced.
This is an 18+ event
Creative Technologies Fellowship in partnership with the UAL Creative Computing Institute
Somerset House Studios in partnership with UAL Creative Computing Institute (CCI) open applications for a new Creative Technologies Fellowship. The fellowship offers a unique development and commission opportunity for an artist who is looking to explore the ways in which computational systems can be used as part of a critical practice exploring social, ecological, or environmental questions.
Over a 12-month residency across both sites, the artist will receive practical and technological support to develop a new work which will be presented at Somerset House in Autumn 2024. The Fellowship includes access to workspace, labs, technical expertise, and academic support to facilitate practice-led research, along with curatorial advice, producer support and studio facilities.
The opportunity follows the recent collaboration between the two organisations, supporting artists Revital Cohen and Tuur van Balen to develop a new work for Somerset House’s new curated online platform Channel which launches in September 2023.
New Somerset House Studios Residents
Somerset House Studios welcome artists Alice Bucknell, Elaine Mitchener, and Sin Wai Kin as new residents.
- Alice Bucknell is an artist and writer working primarily through video game engines. Her current work explores interconnections of architecture, ecology, magic, and non-human and machine intelligence. Last year, she presented the New Worlds programme at Somerset House Studios, a series of talks, screenings, and performances that critically imagined new and alternative future worlds.
- Elaine Mitchener MBE is a contemporary vocalist, movement artist and composer working between contemporary/experimental new music, free improvisation and visual art.
- 2022 Turner prize nominee and recent Baloise Prize winner Sin Wai Kin brings fantasy to life through storytelling in performance, moving image, writing, and print. Drawing on the experience of existing between binary categories, their work realises alternate worlds to describe lived experiences of desire, identification and consciousness. Sin Wai Kin’s “The Story Cycle” was the first commissioned film for Somerset House’s online platform Channel.
ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE STUDIOS
Somerset House Studios is an experimental workspace in the centre of London connecting artists, makers and thinkers with audiences. Located inside the repurposed former Inland Revenue building, the Studios offer space and support to artists pushing bold ideas, engaging with urgent issues and pioneering new technologies. It is also a platform for the development of new creative projects and collaborations. Up to 70 artists are resident at any one time and are supported to develop their practice for a defined period.
ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE
Step Inside, Think Outside
As the home of cultural innovators, Somerset House is a site of origination, with a cultural programme offering alternative perspectives on the biggest issues of our time. We are a place of joy and discovery, where everyone is invited to Step Inside and Think Outside.
From our historic site in the heart of London, we work globally across art, creativity, business, and non-profit, nurturing new talent, methods and technologies. Our resident community of creative enterprises, arts organisations, artists and makers, makes us a centre of ideas, with most of our programme home-grown.
We sit at the meeting point of artistic and social innovation, bringing worlds and minds together to create surprising and often magical results. Our spirit of constant curiosity and counter perspective is integral to our history and key to our future.