Program: Otherwise Residency
Edition: #1, pilot edition
Timeline: April - October 2025

Curator: Andrei Tudose
Art–Science consultant: Claudia Schnugg

Residency team:
Artists: Laura Cinti (UK), Sabina Suru (RO), Andreea Săsăran (RO), and Ida Hiršenfelder (SI)
Researchers & Public Policy Consultants: Dr. Roxana Nicoară, Dr. Simona Neagu, Dr. Mihaela Marilena Stancu, Drd. Andreea Ciobotă, Dr. Mihaela Ciobotă, Dr. Carmen Maximilian, Mihai Stoica, Théophile Humann-Guilleminot

Performance team:
Artistic director: Ada Anghel
Performers: Ana Baciu, Alexandra Necula, Briana Radoane, Radu Stăncescu, Robert Popa, Tamara Găgeatu, Dennis Ilie, Bianca Archip, Emma Stoian, Costin Stăncioi

Key Partners: Bucharest Institute of Biology, 2Celsius, Atelier030202, Projekt Atol, Londohome, Atelierele Malmaison
Cofinanced by AFCN, ARCUB

Abstract:
Otherwise Residency brings together four contemporary artists and four scientific research teams in a shared attempt to rethink how knowledge is produced, circulated, and felt across disciplines, in relation to current environmental issues, from pollution monitoring and remediation to understanding anthropogenic influences on the natural habitats. Developed by Marginal in partnership with the Institute of Biology Bucharest and 2Celsius, the residency creates the framework for a sustained dialogue between artistic practice and scientific investigation, focusing on ecology, the climate crisis, and the complex interdependencies that structure the more-than-human world.
Over several months, the artists immerse themselves in ongoing research at the Institute of Biology – ranging from studies on bioremediation and avian bioacoustics to plant ecology and microbial systems -, as well as policy-oriented environmental work developed by 2Celsius, with support from Clean Air Task Force (CATF).

1. Contextual Framework / Summary

Otherwise Residency is an interdisciplinary art–science residency program created to build a collaborative, transdisciplinary framework connecting contemporary artists, scientific researchers, and environmental policy influencers and advocates. The program addresses pressing ecological and climate issues by embedding artists within active scientific research projects, prioritizing process over output. It aims to establish a liminal space where disciplinary boundaries become permeable, allowing artists and scientists to co-create knowledge, challenge human-centric worldviews, and reframe environmental crisis discussions across multiple scales of perception.

2. Methodology

The residency methodology was designed to ensure artistic integration into scientific practices while avoiding the pressure of producing a rigid, pre-determined final artwork. Instead of starting with artistic proposals, the project initiated from active, ongoing scientific research inquiries, with the residency developing through 4 stages:

• Immersion (~1–2 weeks, in-situ / lab & field) → Resident artists assist researchers in the lab and on fieldwork to understand daily protocols, scientific hypotheses, methodologies employed and societal/ecological implications without pre-conceived artistic project plans.
• Conceptualization (~1–2 months, online / studio) → Artists return to their studios to synthesize findings, deliberate in dialogue with scientists, and crystallize an artistic research hypothesis.
• Experiment (~1–2 weeks, in-situ / lab & field) → Artists return to test hypotheses with scientists, conduct joint experiments, and outline artistic prototypes.
• Open-Ended Production (variable duration - online / studio) → Development of prototypes, soundscapes, or installations. Emphasis is placed on open-ended artefacts and transparency of processes to reflect ongoing inquiry rather than well packaged, definitive outputs.

A dedicated mediator and/or curator facilitates continuous communication, smoothing cross-disciplinary frictions and aligning expectations between structured scientific protocols and speculative artistic processes.
Artists maintain research journals capturing both technical observations and personal affective experiences and critical processes.

3. Scientific context

The residency builds on four active research projects developed in the framework of partner institutions Institute of Biology Bucharest and 2Celsius. Each research project addresses a distinct facet of the ecological crisis, serving as both entry points and collaborative frameworks for the invited artists:

• Plant persistence strategies in isolated habitats: Landscape demography of Salvia nemorosa on Dobrogea Kurgans
  Scientific researcher: Dr. Roxana Nicoară (RO)
  A demographic and ecological study of Salvia nemorosa and other native flora on kurgans, ancient burial mounds in the Dobrogea region, framing these microhabitats as living archives of biodiversity shaped by millennia of coexistence between nature and culture.


• Bioremediation potential of native halophilic bacteria in hydrocarbon polluted environments
  Scientific researcher: Dr. Simona Neagu and Dr. Mihaela Marilena Stancu (RO)
  An investigation into native bacteria capable of bioremediation in fuel-contaminated, salty environments, focusing on identifying microbial strains with the potential to tolerate and degrade petrol-compounds and mitigate the ecological impact of fossil fuel pollution.


• Urban noise pollution monitoring in relationship to blackbirds
  Scientific researcher: Drd. Andreea Ciobotă and Dr. Mihaela Ciobotă (RO)
  A bioacoustic analysis of blackbirds song as a method for monitoring noise pollution in Bucharest’s urban ecosystems and its effects on wildlife communication and behaviour.


• Fugitive methane emissions from industrial sites
  Policy and scientific consultants: Mihai Stoica (RO) and Théophile Humann-Guilleminot (GR / FR)
  A policy-oriented investigation of methane leaks in Romania’s energy infrastructure, examining the sources, scale, and systemic blind spots in national emissions tracking, with implications for both policy reform and public awareness.

The first run of residency program included additional lab and applied support from Dr. Carmen Maximilian.

4. Curatorial Hypothesis

First pilot run to test the methodology, with a balanced group of Romanian and international artists, with different levels of experience in collaborating with scientists.

5. Artistic team

The scientific research projects were proposed by the researchers form the scientific core of the residency, providing the intersection points between researchers and four invited artists: Laura Cinti (UK), Sabina Suru (RO), Andreea Săsăran (RO), and Ida Hiršenfelder (SI), working with curator Andrei Tudose (RO), and with guidance from art–science consultant Claudia Schnugg (AT).

• Laura Cinti works at the intersection of art, biology, and biotechnology. Her practice often involves living systems, including genetically modified organisms, plant tissue cultures, and speculative vegetal futures. She is co-founder of C-LAB, an art–science platform exploring the aesthetics and politics of the life sciences.
  More info: www.c-lab.co.uk
• Sabina Suru explores the entanglements between analog and digital technologies. She investigates themes such as object-oriented ontology, identity mutation, and the ecology of memory, reflecting on how technological artefacts carry traces of care, decay, and transformation across time.
  More info: sabinasuru.ro
• Ida Hiršenfelder (aka beepblip) is a sound artist and archivist. Her work focuses on the politics of memory, cybernetic organisms, and the acoustic dimensions of ecological thought, relying on immersive environments starting from electromagnetic and field recordings.
  More info: beepblip.org
• Andreea Săsăran is a visual artist interested in hybrid ecologies, site-specific research, and the shifting roles of observation in both scientific and artistic contexts. Her work draws on historical, sensory, and material traces left behind by human and non-human actors.
  More info: andreeasasaran.ro

6. Collaborations and artistic research project initiated during the residency

Desire to Impress

• Collaborators: Ida Hiršenfelder (Artist) with Dr. Mihaela Ciobotă and Andreea Ciobotă (IBIOL / Taxonomy, Ecology and Nature Protection Dept.).
• Research Basis: Bioacoustic analysis of blackbird (Turdus merula) song in urban environments, with focus on Cișmigiu Garden.
• Scientific & Artistic Approach: The project explored urban bioacoustics and chronoreality—the concept that birds process visual and auditory information at a significantly faster pace than humans. By slowing down urban recordings of blackbird songs, the project uncovered complex motifs, mimicry (e.g., car alarms, scooters), and non-human play.
• Artistic Research Output: A 12-channel spatial sound installation paired with a geolocational public soundwalk in Bucharest using the Echoes.xyz platform, adhering to the ethical field recording standards of the radio aporee archive.
  → more info from the artist: https://beepblip.org/desire-to-impress/

so quaint, so charming

• Collaborators: Sabina Suru (Artist) with Dr. Simona Neagu and Dr. Mihaela Stancu (IBIOL / Microbiology Dept.), with lab support from Carmen Maximilian (IBIOL / Developmental Biology Dept.)
• Research Basis: Bioremediation potential of extreme halophilic and halotolerant bacterial strains isolated from saline environments in Prahova County.
• Scientific & Artistic Approach: The scientists conducted PCR, gel electrophoresis, biofilm assays, and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) to test how bacteria break down hydrocarbons (diesel, kerosene). The artist examined the epistemic gap between human projection and semantic closure—the idea that microorganisms generate meaning autonomously within their own self-sustaining logic, independent of human categorization.
• Artistic Research Output: A large-scale drawn relational map, alongside an interactive optical assemblage and digital compendium translating bacterial behaviors through a subjective color coding.
  → more info from the artist: pending

Our Salvia

• Collaborators: Dr. Laura Cinti (Artist) with Dr. Roxana Nicoară (IBIOL).
• Research Basis: Demography and habitat resilience of Salvia nemorosa growing on ancient burial mounds (kurgans) in Dobrogea.
• Scientific & Artistic Approach: Kurgans act as micro-refugia and biological archives surrounded by industrial agriculture. The team conducted field sampling inside randomized quadrants, herbarium studies, and archival analysis. The project framed botanical persistence as intertwined with human cultural heritage, tracking how isolated plant populations adapt morphologically. Fieldwork also highlighted gaps in global taxonomic databases regarding unrecorded local Salvia variations.
• Artistic Research Output: A single-channel video installation featuring visual field notes, herbarium specimen imagery, and synthesized landscapes shown at Atelier 030202.
  → more info from the artist: https://www.c-lab.co.uk/projects/OurSalvia/

Untitled Cloud

Collaborators: Andreea Săsăran (Artist) with Mihai Stoica (2Celsius) and Théophile Humann-Guilleminot (Clean Air Task Force).

Research Basis: Public policy investigation into anthropogenic methane gas fugitive emissions across Romania's 120-year-old energy infrastructure.

Scientific & Artistic Approach: Romania has one of Europe’s oldest natural gas sectors, yet systemic tracking of fugitive emissions remains underdeveloped. Utilizing optical gas imaging (OGI) thermal cameras during field trips to compressor stations and gas wells, invisible gas plumes were recorded.

Artistic Research Output: The artist translated time-series thermographic data into a 3D volumetric sculpture made of 9 laser-engraved stiplex plates ($70 \times 70\text{ cm}$), materializing atmospheric data into physical form.
→ more info from the artist: https://andreeasasaran.ro/work/untitled-cloud/

7. Results, Public Engagement & Cultural Mediation

• Exhibition → Soft Thresholds hosted at Atelier 030202, Bucharest (October 9–28, 2025), curated by Andrei Tudose with art–science consultancy by Dr. Claudia Schnugg.
• Public Activations → Geolocational bioacoustic soundwalks through central Bucharest, guided exhibition tours, and artist/researcher panel discussions.
• Performative Interventions → Cultural mediation interventions designed by artistic director Ada Anghel and performed by a group of young actors in public space, bringing in-between lab moments into the public space.
• Publication → a synthetic publication was launched at the closure of the project, disseminating details regarding the residency methodologies, results and approaches.

8. Post-Residency Evaluation

A qualitative study conducted by neuroscience and psychology researcher Alexandra Sofonea analyzed the interpersonal dynamics, cognitive shifts, and institutional outcomes of the residency through participant interviews.

Key Findings & Synthesis

• Reciprocal Epistemic Enrichment:
  • For Artists: Gained access to concrete scientific tools, lab equipment, and rigorous field methodologies, converting quantifiable biological data into emotionally resonant visual/auditory experiences.
  • For Scientists: Reported seeing their routine research subjects (e.g., songbirds, bacteria, floral quadrants) in new lights, allowing them to reframe scientific inquiries and appreciate the creative/speculative dimensions of their work.


• Managing Structural Frictions:
  • Methodological Differences: While artists were accustomed to flexible, open-ended processes, scientists functioned within structured, repeatable protocols. Bridging these mindsets requires active mediation.
  • Time Pressures: High expectations to produce exhibition-ready work within a compressed timeline created stress. Emphasizing the open-ended nature of the final showcase helps alleviate this tension.


• Long-Term Continuity & Institutional Legacy:
  Both researchers and artists expressed strong desires to continue their partnerships beyond the 2025 cycle. Post-residency continued collaborations include:
  
  • Laura Cinti & researchers the Developmental Biology Dept / IBIOL are currently experimenting with in-vitro cultures and calli of Romanian native relatives of the cycads (Encephalartos woodii), exploring natural ways of inducing female gender formation of the plant, through chemical and nutrient intake control.

What we could / should do differently next edition:

• Less pressure for exhibition-ready outcomes.
• More structured moments for artists and scientists to articulate misunderstandings (if the case arises).
• Earlier mediation around expectations and disciplinary vocabulary.
• A stronger distinction between scientific communication, artistic interpretation, and genuinely collaborative knowledge production.
• More time between experimentation and public presentation.
• Especially important: better documentation of the processes, experiments (incl. abandoned or failed ones).

Otherwise Residency 2025 was co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund and by the Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB, in the framework of the Bucharest Together 2025 program.
The project does not necessarily represent the position of The Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The Administration of the National Cultural Fund is not responsible for the content of the project or the manner in which the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
The content of this material does not necessarily represent the official position of the Bucharest City Hall or ARCUB.