The exhibition "From Light and Water. In Pursuit of 'Superficiality'" shows from 7 December to 26 January at theKunstverein Ulm five artistic perspectives on artificial photosynthesis. To this end, artists have worked together with researchers from the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio CataLight at the Universities of Ulm and Jena and have delved into the border area between nature and artifice.The exhibition opening in the historic Schuhhaussaal is on Saturday, 7 December, at 6:00 p.m. Admission is free!
Humans consume too much fossil energy and urgently need new ways to produce sustainable energy from the sun, water, and wind. Plants, algae, and certain bacteria obtain their energy from light, water, and carbon dioxide. In the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio 234 (SFB/TRR) CataLight, researchers from Ulm and Jena as well as Vienna and Mainz are developing molecular building blocks for chemical solar energy conversion based on the model of natural photosynthesis. The goal is green hydrogen modelled on nature.
In order to show how important CataLight research is and to engage in a dialogue with the public, the scientists, together with the team from Künstlerische Tatsachen, sought ways to make the CataLight topics of light, colour and dyes visible through art.
In discussions with the researchers, the artists Vanessa Amoah Opoku, Lyndsey Walsh, Andrea Garcia Vasquez, Claus Lam, and Margarete Jahrmann and Stefan Glasauer (The Psycholudic Approach) have explored the boundaries between the natural and the synthetic. Their works focus on dyes that, like chlorophyll, capture light and make it usable. The relationship between humans and photosynthetically active organisms is also addressed. The five works on display combine material studies, gaming approaches, 3D techniques and handicrafts.
During the exhibition in the historic Schuhhaussaal, visitors are invited to explore the topics of light and water individually and experimentally. Various materials are available in the lounge area for this purpose. In addition, the results of three workshops with children and young people from Ulm can be seen.
Event overview:
From Light and Water – In Pursuit of "Superficiality"
7 December 2024 to 26 January 2025
Kunstverein Ulm e.V.
Kramgasse 4
89073 Ulm
Opening hours: Wed. – Fri. 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. and Sat./Sun. 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Free admission!
Opening event: Saturday, 7 December, 6:00 p.m.
About the Transregio Collaborative Research Centre CataLight:
The joint Transregio-SFB "Light-driven molecular catalysts in hierarchically structured materials – synthesis and mechanistic studies" – CataLight for short – of Ulm University and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena has set itself the goal of researching the fundamental functioning of innovative and sustainable photocatalytically active materials, right up to their first applications. Inspired by the structural and functional principles of natural photosynthesis, CataLight is investigating the embedding of molecular photocatalysts and photosensitizers in functional materials and providing fundamental insights into the reactivity of these systems. CataLight's project partners are the University of Vienna, the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz and the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena. The German Research Foundation is providing more than €12 million in funding for the consortium until 2026.
Text and media contact: Daniela Stang