OPEN CALL >>> Otherwise Residency 2026

OPEN CALL >>> Otherwise Residency 2026

 

We seek 1 artist to join the second edition of Otherwise Residency, a practice-based research residency program engaging with environmental issues, at the intersection of art, science and policy making, to develop a project starting around anthropogenic methane fugitive emissions within Romania’s energy infrastructure.

Application form: https://forms.gle/UUYvYhFQkD516aqE8

Overview

Otherwise Residency brings together contemporary art, scientific research and environmental activism, in a shared space for rethinking how knowledge is generated, circulated, and felt across disciplines. 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.

We are looking for one artist to join the Otherwise second cohort, for a practice-based artistic research residency, focusing on anthropogenic fugitive methane emissions within Romania’s energy infrastructure. The selected artist will work alongside the experts from Clean Air Task Force and 2Celsius, expanding raw thermographic data and/or spectrophotometric data from satellites and aircrafts into sensory or conceptual narratives. The residency aims to move beyond data visualization, and toward knowledge production, looking into societal implications of leaky infrastructure and environmental policy making.

Apply until April 6th: https://forms.gle/pcoiKCuXVMZiKWp68

Scientific Context

Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) over 80 times that of CO2 on a 20-year horizon. Romania, as one of the EU’s largest oil and fossil gas producers, possesses a legacy infrastructure prone to significant fugitive emissions – unintentional leaks from valves, connectors, and abandoned wells. Recent campaigns by CATF and 2Celsius have utilized Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) to make these invisible emissions visible.

To ground the artistic research in technical reality, applicants are encouraged to review the following studies: 

• “2020 Global Methane Budget shows methane emissions heading in the wrong direction with fossil fuel and agriculture sources leading the way”, Climate Clean Air Coalition;
• Desroches-Touchain, Ariane. “Making Methane Visible: From Local Leaks to EU Regulation.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (Autumn 2025), no. 11. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society. doi:10.5282/rcc/10033;
• Daniel Zimmerle, Timothy Vaughn, Clay Bell, Kristine Bennett, Parik Deshmukh, and Eben Thoma, “Detection Limits of Optical Gas Imaging for Natural Gas Leak Detection in Realistic Controlled Conditions”, Environmental Science & Technology 2020 54 (18), 11506-11514, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c01285;
• Kuhlmann, G., Stavropoulou, F., Schwietzke, S., Zavala-Araiza, D., Thorpe, A., Hueni, A., Emmenegger, L., Calcan, A., Röckmann, T., and Brunner, D.: “Evidence of successful methane mitigation in one of Europe’s most important oil production region”, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5371–5385, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5371-2025, 2025.

Residency format

The residency takes place between June 1st and September 20, 2026, with a public showcase in Bucharest in October 2026 (date to be confirmed). The residency is divided into 4 stages:

• immersion (~1-2 weeks) / in situ -> the artists shadow the researchers in their daily work to understand and discuss research hypotheses, scientific and societal implications, measurements and work processes etc.
• conceptualization (~1-2 months) / online -> artist returns home and crystallizes an artistic research hypothesis, in contact with the researcher(s).
• experiment (~1-2 weeks) / in situ -> artist returns to Romania/Bucharest to test the hypothesis with the researchers, spend time together in the field and clarify the creative direction, and collaborate in planning the artistic prototype.
• open-ended production / artist studio -> once the concept has been clarified, a prototype of an installation, a proof of concept (etc.) happens, in preparation for the exhibition. Being a rather short program, we don’t expect an elaborate work, but rather a prototype or a lens into the process, research and collab methodologies.
  

Artist Profile

We are seeking a mid-career artist with a demonstrated interest in interdisciplinary research, irrespective of artistic practice or medium, critically engaging with ecological complexity, situated ontologies and wicked problems. The artist must be able to travel to Romania and participate in site visits to oil/gas fields and compressor stations, for a minimum of 2 weeks during June-September 2026 (exact calendar to be decided after selection, with 2Celsius & CATF team).

For the application process, please fill in the form, including a CV, motivation letter describing how you envision your contribution to the research, 1-minute video introduction, and portfolio. No project proposal is required at this stage. We expect the selected artist to develop it after the immersion stage, with support from the curator and research team.

The selected artist will be expected to participate in the field work alongside 2Celsius & CATF and contribute to the research processes, hold an artist talk, develop a new artwork for the exhibition, as well as write a reflection paper about their research methodologies and results.

What we provide:

Financial support: stipend – 3000 eur; production budget – TBD; we will separately cover travel (within Europe), accommodation and per diem.

Access to OGI (Optical Gas Imaging) footage and equipment, and scientific datasets from CATF/2Celsius.

Curatorial and technical mentorship from the Marginal team.

Logistical support for field research within Romania.

 

The selected artist will be announced by April 22, 2026.

If you have questions about the call, please send an email to: change@marginal.ro