The second edition of the triennial Henie Onstad Triennial for Photography and New Media at Kunstsenter in Oslo presents works that push the boundaries of photography and automated image-making, to examine acutely relevant issues such as resource extraction, energy distribution and data harvesting.
The exhibition brings together works by 22 artists including Neïl Beloufa that tackle urgent questions relating to energy production and distribution, the extraction of natural and humanmade resources—from oil to data—and the ecological, social and political consequences of these ventures.
“We are excited to present a number of acutely relevant works to the audience. Visitors are invited to see the infrastructures of Russian air bases in Syria, Ukraine and Belarus as possessive forces, to dive down beneath the surface to follow imagined undersea data cables, and to look down from the sky to observe ongoing geological changes on the Earth’s surface through satellite images. Artists present light both as a source of information and as a tool for policing visibility. They explore national identity-building by repurposing traditional symbols, ornaments, and patterns,”
- Susanne Østby Sæther, curator at Henie Onstad.
Many works combine photography with unexpected materials, including salt, algae, silicone, cotton and simulated nuclear glass. Others explore new technologies such as artificial intelligence and synthetic aperture radar—radar signals bounced off surfaces and made into optical images—and their roles in surveillance and planetary observation.
Neïl Beloufa
New Visions
Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo
14 April - 17 September 2023
