Zurich, 1 June 2023 – Happening at the same time as this year’s Art Basel art fair, Swiss private bank Julius Baer is launching the third chapter of media artist Refik Anadol’s artwork ‘Glacier Dreams’ in Basel. Commissioned by the bank, it is inspired by the beauty and fragility of glaciers and is presented as a multi-sensory artwork, unveiled in several chapters at different locations around the world. ‘Glacier Dreams’ launched as an immersive space during Art Dubai 2023, followed by a large-scale projection at this year’s ‘i Light Singapore’ festival.
From 12 to 18 June – except for Wednesday, 14 June – each day at nightfall from 8.30 p.m. to 11.59 p.m. ‘Glacier Dreams’ will be projected onto the facade of Theater Basel.
Refik Anadol is a media artist, director, and pioneer of data and machine intelligence aesthetics, specialising in immersive media art installations. One of his most visually stunning works is the art commission ’Glacier Dreams’. ’Glacier Dreams’ was created as part of Julius Baer’s NEXT initiative, which examines the intersection of art, science, and technology and promotes the exploration of megatrends. The artist was appointed by a dedicated curatorial board advised by the artistic director of the Serpentine, London, Hans Ulrich Obrist.
For Glacier Dreams, Refik Anadol used machine-learning algorithms to process a dataset of visual material from online and institutional archives and images collected personally in Iceland. The resulting audio-visual artwork also includes an olfactory component generated using glacier data and a novel artificial intelligence model.
Larissa Alghisi, Chief Communications Officer, Julius Baer says: “Exploring trends that shape our future is part of our role as wealth managers. With his visionary work, Refik Anadol is the ideal ambassador for this endeavour. We are exceptionally pleased to be able to show the next chapter of ’Glacier Dreams’ in our home market, with this impactful public projection in Basel.”
Refik Anadol comments: “I am delighted to bring ‘Glacier Dreams’ to Switzerland for the first time. ‘Glacier Dreams’ is our studio’s long-term research and art project at the intersection of multi-sensory experiences, machine learning and environmental studies. We hope to illuminate the danger of glaciers disappearing across the globe but in a way that brings hope, inspiration, and joy to humanity.”
Blockchain meets Basel conference
The bridging between the art world and the latest technology will be underlined with the conference ’Blockchain meets Basel’ co-hosted by Julius Baer on 12 June at Theater Basel. Leading innovative figures, entrepreneurs, and artist Refik Anadol will discuss the opportunities and challenges that arise at the intersection of blockchain technology and sectors such as industry or finance, as well as the arts.
More information about the NEXT initiative:
NEXT – Exploring megatrends through artistic interventions
About Refik Anadol
Refik Anadol (b. 1985, Istanbul, Turkey) is a media artist, director, and pioneer in the aesthetics of data and machine intelligence. His body of work locates creativity at the intersection of humans and machines. In taking the data that flows around us as the primary material and the neural network of a computerised mind as a collaborator, Anadol paints with a thinking brush, offering us radical visualisations of our digitised memories and expanding the possibilities of architecture, narrative, and the body in motion. Anadol’s site-specific AI data sculptures, live audio/visual performances, and immersive installations take many forms, while encouraging us to rethink our engagement with the physical world, its temporal and spatial dimensions, and the creative potential of machines.