OPEN Eco: Louise Beer, Apogee Earth, Earth as a Planetary Landscape, 2021
Louise Beer uses photography, installation, moving image and sound to explore humanity's evolving understanding of Earth’s environments and the cosmos. She creates objects and experiences that reflect the incomprehensible nature of reality, from the ocean floor to the night sky. Her practice has three central thematic strands, Earth, astronomy and light.
Louise Beer says: "I am interested in how we can think about the environments we know as planetary landscapes, that have risen and fallen over billions of years. If we think about the formation of this landscape against the backdrop of the galaxy and universe, how does it challenge our thinking about the cosmic importance of the lifeforms and environments that we live amongst? Photography can use elements of reality and blend them with imagination - giving us a wider perspective of the world around us. Through photography, I can invite the audience into my cosmic perspective."
Louise was selected for Somewhere Nowhere Residency, Lake District (2019), Arts Centre Christchurch Te Matatiki Toi Ora Residency, Aotearoa New Zealand (2020), Moscow Museum of Cosmonautics Space Art Summer School (2020), Delfina x Gaia Art Foundation Science Technology Society UK Associateship (2020), SECCADs Grant (2020), ACE DYCP Grant (2021), North York Moors Dark Skies Residency with solo exhibition (2021), Amant Siena Residency (2021), CreaTures Art/Tech/Nature/Culture Residency (2021). Louise is co-investigator on Rubin Observatory Kickstarter Grant, at the University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory, Aotearoa New Zealand and has just completed her BigCi Environmental Art Award residency. Louise has co-curated over 80 exhibitions and 80 events focusing on astronomy and/or ecology.
Photo Fringe invited artists to propose a single image to engage audiences and help us imagine a greener, fairer world. Artists were asked to respond to the question “How can photography make a difference to the climate crisis?"
The resulting outdoor exhibition of selected images by twenty artists can be found on Worthing seafront until the end of April 2023.
Sponsored by Metro Imaging Ltd with funding from Arts Council England National Lottery Project Fund and Worthing Borough Council.