SETI AIR Newsletter - December 2024

This year has been a milestone for the SETI AIR program, with three of our five new residencies successfully launched. In September, we announced the winners of the Cosmic Consciousness Literary Arts Residency, and today, we’re thrilled to welcome Laurent Grasso to our Algorithmic Imaginings Art and AI Residency. Meanwhile, the Beyond Silos STEAM Education Residency is in full swing, with shortlisted candidates now developing their proposals. Looking ahead to 2025, we’re gearing up for even more exciting launches: the Planetary Futures Public Art Residency and the Speculative Life BioArt Residency. Stay tuned for updates as these exciting projects come to life. It’s an absolute joy to work with our exceptionally talented artists and our dedicated, experienced SETI AIR program advisors. Thank you all for a fantastic year - here’s looking forward to 2025!

Wishing you happy holidays and a stellar start to the new year,
Bettina

AIR Program Spotlights

Welcome! Laurent Grasso

We are delighted to welcome Laurent Grasso to the SETI AIR program. Laurent is the winner of the Algorithmic Imaginings Art and AI residency, which explores the impact of AI technologies on art, science, and society.

Laurent Grasso creates multidisciplinary works that explore the intersections of cosmology, science, and history. He is the recipient of France’s Chevalier de l ’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Marcel Duchamp Prize, and the Meru Art*Science Award in Bergamo, Italy. His work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the Kunsthaus Basel in Switzerland, the Musée d ’Art Contemporain in Montréal, MASS MoCa in Massachusetts, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C.

By drawing on phenomena such as eclipses, auroras, and electromagnetic energy, Laurent Grasso’s films, sculptures, paintings, and photographs challenge the viewer’s perceptions by blending historical iconography with surreal, otherworldly imagery. He employs techniques that create ambiguity, using anachronism, hybridity, and shifting perspectives to subvert reality and provoke new ways of thinking. Fascinated by invisible forces—whether political or electromagnetic—he investigates how these powers shape collective consciousness, offering a unique lens on history, imagination, and the unknown.

If you are in New York City, visit his current solo exhibition at the gallery Sean Kelly.

Artificialis

Sean Kelly, New York
October 25 - December 21, 2024

Beyond Silos Shortlist announced

The SETI AIR program announced the shortlist for its Beyond Silos STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Education residency. This new SETI AIR program residency supports transdisciplinary pedagogy at the intersection of art and science, positioning art and creative practice as an integral component to teaching and learning in the STEAM Education framework.

Congratulations to the shortlisted candidates:

Ranjeet Kumar Bachonee
Adam and Sharon Breen
Roberta Buiani
Gareth Campbell
Melissa Campbell
Domenica Mediati
Jihane Mossalim
Ant Nevin

The shortlisted educators will now submit detailed STEAM Education project proposals for consideration. The winner of the residency will be announced on March 1, 2025.

LEARN MORE