Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity announces artist collaborations

The artist residencies aim to establish a powerful creative dialogue between artists and researchers that will both generate persuasive and innovative art, and inspire further interdisciplinary research and practice to the benefit of artist and researcher alike.

LCAB Director Chris Thomas comments: “We are really excited about these one-of-a-kind collaborations which provide a platform to develop new ways to communicate LCAB’s original research into how the relationship between humanity and the natural world is changing. Through interdisciplinary innovation we can explore how we might imagine, develop and maintain a sustainable future.”

The chosen artists are:

• Amy Cutler - exploring complex micro-scale environmental data to generate new real-time cinematic performances, as well as a permanently self-composing online film.
• Laura Denning - utilising braille as a tactile device for triggering sonic works which bring habitats through time alive.
• Julia Schauerman - composing a soundscape mixed with spoken word which evokes specific places and time periods to tell a story of sustainable food production.
• May Sumbwanyambe - producing a BBC radio play grounded in the harsh realities and opposing perspectives of wildlife trade regulations in Africa.

Laura Denning said: “You cannot imagine how excited I am to have been selected and to be given the opportunity to co-create with Chantal. It is such a unique and timely research project and the chance to work creatively with the ideas and trajectories within Chantal’s research is a real privilege. I am so excited by our collaboration and look forward to commencing a beautifully fruitful and creative relationship.”

LCAB received over 100 applications for the scheme which was first advertised in March 2022 and saw a huge breadth of artists pitching collaboration projects - a shortlisting panel then had the extremely difficult task of whittling these down to a final four.

Sarah Bezan, an LCAB postdoctoral researcher who will collaborate with Amy Cutler, added: “ We were truly overwhelmed by the number of applications we received; the creativity and enthusiasm from both artists and researchers has been fantastic. I cannot wait to begin working with Amy on this wonderful opportunity to create art based on the Centre’s interdisciplinary work and explore new ways of thinking about my own research.”

The chosen artists will work with researchers over the next 12 months and will each spend some time in the Centre to allow the projects to evolve organically and encourage collaboration with the wider LCAB research community as well as the other selected artists.