Art Forum

Art Forum

Art Forum article of Grimanesa Amoros Azkuna Zentroa Scientia

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• press release

“Creating immersive large-scale sculptures requires an understanding of how our environment affects our state of mind and wellbeing. My site-specific light sculpture SCIENTIA will engage visitors in a dialogue with the surrounding architecture and community, encouraging moments of self-reflection and personal realization while simultaneously creating connection through the medium of light.” The project’s name SCIENTIA is a Latin word that means knowledge, experience, and expertise. The word implies a socially interactive activity; the seeking and sharing of wisdom. This artwork will explore the human connection using our basic understanding of the world—fire, water, earth, and light. Through this primordial immersion, SCIENTIA provides a way of accessing our emotional beings that nurtures wellness and promotes community engagement.

This site specific installation is a part of the artistic program accompanying the first international congress “The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change” which was held in Bilbao from June 1st to June 3rd to discuss social and community change through collective action.

Grimanesa Amorós

Grimanesa Amorós is an American artist born in Peru whose work explores the connection with the community at the intersection of history, technology and architecture. Her monumental luminous sculptures incorporate video, lighting, and electronic elements to create immersive environments. Technology complements the concepts of her work without defining it. She is inspired by important cultural legacies. Still, she does not hold a nostalgic view of her subjects. In Grimanesa Amorós’ art, the past meets the future. Amorós is often invited as a keynote speaker at museums, foundations, and universities where her lectures empower young women, attracting future artists, students, and professors working in architecture, science, and technology. Amorós has exhibited in the United States, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Latin America. She was a guest speaker at TEDGlobal, a recipient of the ‘NEA Visual Arts Grants Fellowships, and has the distinction of being part of the ‘Art In Embassies Program of the U.S.’ and the Civita Institute NE Chapter Fellowship Grant. Her work has been exhibited in numerous museums including the Ludwig Museum, CAFA Museum, Katonah Museum, and Seoul National University Museum of Art. For more information about Grimanesa Amorós, visit http://www.grimanesaamoros.com

For more information about SCIENTIA, visit https://thewellbeingsummit2022.org/the-wellbeing-summit/page/artist-grimanesa-amoros

Azkuna Zentroa-Alhóndiga Bilbao

Azkuna Zentroa is Bilbao’s Society and Contemporary Culture Centre, with a local and international perspective open to dialogue with different community groups. Azkuna Zentroa is a place to take part in culture as a practice, process and space for experiences. We work with artists, agents and artistic communities with hybrid, multilateral programming models that showcase the day-to-day dimension of everything that is contemporary for reaching all types of audiences. We pay special attention to modern Basque creation and to feminist perspectives in art, with mediation and education as a way to generate critical knowledge and transform society through art and artists.

About The Wellbeing Project

The Wellbeing Project is a global initiative focused on catalyzing a culture of inner wellbeing for all change agents and structured in four pillars – model programs; research and evaluation; learning, convening and enabling; and storytelling and connection. The organization is inspired by love, care and compassion for all the people who work to build a better world, as well as to support numerous causes and movements for which we all work. The Wellbeing Project is co-created with Ashoka, Impact Hub, Porticus, the Skoll Foundation, the Synergos Institute, and Georgetown University. As part of this project, from June 1st to June 3rd, 2022, took place in Bilbao-Bizkaia, Spain, The Wellbeing Summit for Social Change, a global event that gathered social change, governmental, artistic and business leaders who work at the intersection of individual and collective wellness. This summit represents a critical moment to promote systemic cultural change to improve mental health and wellbeing for all change agents. Learn more at wellbeing-project.org

See the full article on Art Forum’s website here