Approved: 01.02.2019

Aether and Hemera

Artist

Archived
Approved: 01.02.2019

In 2008 Ronchi and Benghi founded Aether & Hemera Studio, to produce work that lies at the intersections of interaction design, media architecture and contemporary art installation. Aether & Hemera’s art combines digital technologies, virtual and physical spaces to create immersive and emotional headspaces; their aim is to explore the interconnected relationships between perception, spaces and embodied experiences

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  • Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne, North East

Artist Statement

In 2008 Ronchi and Benghi founded Aether & Hemera Studio, to produce work that lies at the intersections of interaction design, media architecture and contemporary art installation. Aether & Hemera’s art combines digital technologies, virtual and physical spaces to create immersive and emotional headspaces; their aim is to explore the interconnected relationships between perception, spaces and embodied experiences

Aether & Hemera’s diverse works – in lighting sculpture, video, and installation - have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries, festivals, public areas and arts centres.

In 2010 they were awarded an R&D grant from Arts Council England to create Growing Forest, an interactive video projection featuring a bespoke software application to render algorithmic-based trees customised on the audio input signals from the public. It was shown at the Shed Open Studios in Gateshead and then travelled to various venues, including Blinc Digital Fest, Wales in 2012 and Kinetica Art Fair, London in 2013.

The Colour of Phi created in 2011 for the DLI Museum and Gallery in Durham, used the mathematical concept of the golden ratio to draw in space with light; the piece was then selected to be part of the Aesthetica Anthology (2013) - 100 Contemporary Artists.

Which is your brass’s voice? was displayed in a pop-up space for the International Brass Festival in Durham in 2012; it created a cycle of interaction that transformed viewers into active performers, immersing them in an ambience consisting of sound, lights and real-time processing. In 2013 it travelled to various venues, including ArtsIt at Hangar Bicocca in Milan and Vivid Festival in Sydney. The artwork’s behaviour was entirely based on the involvement of the public thus embodying interaction and encouraging social participation.

In 2013 they were awarded an Arts Council England’s fund to collaborate with Dr. Kevin Hilton on the project Fluidity, an interactive installation visualising the ‘gender experiences’ of participants in real-time, using QR codes in Newcastle City Library; departing from the binary logic of gender representation and questioning pre-assumptions, it stimulates discussion around gender identity.

In 2016, they worked on the Generation Touring exhibition across four visual arts venues in the North of England with inspiring, thought provoking and engaging artworks that enable interaction from family audiences.

Aether & Hemera’s projects in public space include Voyage, initially commissioned for Canary Wharf Group’s public art program and then carried out in various cities from 2012; a flotilla of tiny light sculptures, composes an organic matrix that ignites fond memories of childhood pleasures, or it could be conceptually interpreted as a water-borne ‘screen’ of ‘pixels’ responding in real-time to people’s behaviour. Similarly, people could control On the Wings of Freedom’s lights through their smart phones, during the Amsterdam Light Festival in 2014 and subsequently to 11 different cities across the globe.

In 2017 Ronchi collaborated with mathematicians Dr Lombardo and Dr Huard from Nothumbria University to devise creative workshops for schools inspired by their research on nonlinear waves thanks to a EPSRC, Maths Foresees grant.

Also, in 2017 Aether & Hemera were selected to participate in the LUTN Light Lab Art; a residency programme in Blackpool for few nominated artists resident in the North to develop new works, research and exchanges on the theme of light art. 

In 2018, Aether & Hemera have been selected for creating an artwork to commemorate the end of World War One. HOPE is a light and sound installation, inspired by the life experiences of the people of County Durham to commemorate their hope, humanity and resilience, even in the bleakest of times.

CV & Education

Exhibitions and Temporary Commissions

2018 -  HOPE, Public Art installation, Millennium Place, Durham, UK

2018 - Collective exhibition, Light Up The North, the Lowry, Manchester

2018 - Voyage, Public Art for Emaar Art, Dubai, UAE

2018 -  On the Wings of Freedom, Salter shall garden, London

2018 -  On the Wings of Freedom, Jerusalem Light Festival, Israel

2018 -  On the Wings of Freedom, Baltimore Light City 2018, Baltimore, US

2017 - Collective exhibition, Light Up The North at the Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool

2017 -  E-luminate, Cambridge, UK

2017-   Enlighten Canberra, Australia

2016 -  Flower Strip, Amsterdam Light Festival, Netherlands

2016 -  On the Wings of Freedom, GLOW, Georgetown GLOW, Washington D.C, US

2016 -  Illumination, Irvine, Scotland

2016 -  Voyage for Lightwaves, Salford Quays, MediaCityUK

2016 -  Voyage for Baltimore Light City 2016, Baltimore, US

2016 -  On the Wings of Freedom, Canary Wharf Winter Light Festival, London

2015/16 - Generation Tour: a year-long touring exhibition of interactive lighting artworks in 4 galleries; DLI Museum, Durhum; Towneley Hall Art Gallery; Central Art Gallery, Ashton-under-Lyne; The Gymnasium, Berwick-upon-Tweed;

2014- Enlighten Canberra, Australia

2014- On the Wings of Freedom, Amsterdam Light Festival, Netherlands

2014- Voyage on Nervión River, Noche Blanca, Bilbao, Spain  

2013- Fluidity project, Central Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

2013- Canal Convergence, Scottsdale Public Art, Arizona, US  

2013- Kinetica Art Fair, London

2013- Synaesthesia, Vivid festival, Sydney, Australia

2013- NAE, Culture Cloud Exhibition, Nottingham 

2012- Voyage on Middle Dock, Canary Wharf Public Art, London. 

2012- Which is your brass voice?, Pop-up shop, International Brass Festival, Durham.

2012- Growing Forest, historic building, Blinc Digital Fest, Conwy, Wales, UK. 

2012- Glowing Wheels, the Links, Shimmer Festival, Whitley Bay, UK

2011- The Colour of Phi, DLI Museum and Art Gallery, Durham, UK. 

2010- Stories, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, UK

2010- Conversation, The Shed Open Studios,  Gateshead, UK

2010- My Place In The World , Roker Fest, Sunderland, UK

2009- Dreamt Vessels, Gallery One, Queen's Hall Art Centre, Hexam, UK

2009- Rose's Halo, Enchanted Park, Saltwell Park, Gateshead, UK

2009- Reflections, Gardens of Cannon Hall Museum, Barnsley, UK

2008- The Twelve Days Star, Enchanted Park, Saltwell Park, Gateshead, UK

Awards and Residencies

2017- LUTN Light Lab Art, Blackpool

2017-EPSRC, Maths Foresees grant to collaborate with mathematicians Dr Lombardo and Dr Huard to create an artistic work based on nonlinear waves carried out using facilities at Northumbria University.

2016 -  Voyage, winner of the “Top 20 Greatest Raspberry Pi Projects ever made” in the official Raspberry Pi magazine.

2013 - Grants for the Arts by Arts Council England, to develop ‘Fluidity’ interactive installation, departing from the binary logic of gender representation to question audience pre-assumptions. Presented at Newcastle City Library

2011 - Grants for the Arts by Arts Council England, to develop ‘The Colour of Phi’ light installation, using the concept of the Golden Ratio as a mathematical and aesthetic principle shown at the DLI Museum and Art Gallery, Durham, UK. 

2010 - 7 month ‘Connect2’ Residency, to develop an Art Strategy for two new cycle routes in Blyth and Bedlington as well as engaging with the local community. Activities included: touring for two months on a red Art Tricycle; delivering workshops at Northumberland College; delivering an artist talk at the local Community centre. Commissioned by Sustrans and Inspire Northumberland. 

2011 - Grants for the Arts by Arts Council England, for R&D of ‘Growing Forest’, an interactive video installation featuring a bespoken software application to render algorithmic-based trees.

2008 - 2 year Scheme "Starter for 10" developed by Wayne Hemingway with Gateshead Council, to provide a free studio space to 10 selected artists .

2008 - 6 month Fellowship, Institute of Digital Innovation at Teesside University, to develop the conversational piece ‘The Mood Chair’.

Permanent Public Art Commissions

2013 - A dichroic glass suspended sculpture, main entrance of Morpeth Care Centre

2011- Two lighting landmarks, Harbottle Park’s main entrances, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. 

2011 - Dichroic glass suspended installation, Selby Hospital, Selby, UK. 

2010 - Four 4.5m long dichroic glass suspended installations, Whiston Hospital’s, St. Helen, UK. 

2008 - Tree suspended light installations, entrances of Truro Health Park, Cornwall, UK. 

Recent Publications

Ronchi G., Benghi C., 2016, Demo Hour: Pollinators, ACM Interactions XXIII.5, doi:10.1145/2973920.

Ronchi G., Benghi C., 2014, Interactive light and sound installation using artificial intelligence, Int. J. Arts and Technology. Vol.7, No.4, pp.377 – 379; DOI: 10.1504/IJART.2014.066456.

Ronchi G., Benghi C., 2014, Demo Hour: new prototypes and projects that exemplify innovation and novel forms of interaction: Fluidity, ACM Interactions XXI.2, DOI:  10.1145/2579050

Ronchi G., Benghi C., 2013, Demo Hour: new prototypes and projects that exemplify innovation and novel forms of interaction: Heart_Bit Lamp, ACM interactions, DOI  10.1145/2405716.2405719, ISSN  1072-5520

Benghi C., Ronchi G.,  2013, An Artificial Intelligence System to Mediate the Creation of Sound and Light, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Computational Creativity 2013, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Short paper and exhibition artwork.

G.Ronchi, 2012, ‘Share Your Inner Rhythm’, HESA Inprint #12, April edition.

 

Catalogues and Media

2017 - Telegraaf, Meer bezoekers Amsterdam Light Festival

2016 -BBC Radio Scotland, The Janice Forsyth Show, interview

2016 -ABC2, Final touches underway ahead of inaugural Light City Baltimore, interview  

2016 – CNN, 16 intriguing things to see and do in the U.S. in 2016

2015 - SuperLux, Thames & Hudson, edited by writer Davina Jackson

2014 - NRC Handelsblad, featuring On the Wings of Freedom

2013 - Kinetica Art Fair Catalogue, Kinetica Museum Edition, London.

2013 - Aesthetica Art Prize Anthology, 100 Contemporary Artists.

2013 - Art ltd, Canal Convergence | Water + Art + Light featuring Voyage

2013 - The Arizona Republic, featuring Voyage

2013 - Culture Cloud Exhibition Catalogue, New Art Exchange Nottingham 

2012 - The Independent, London Evening Standard, City AM, London Metro, Art Daily, Designboom, Notcot, ThisIsColossal, Fubiz, AAJ Press, Design Week, Artlyst, featuring Voyage in Canary Wharf.

2012 - Culture Magazine, Seeing the Light, interview with David Whetstone

2010 - Area, Art section, ‘Stories’ at Wolverhampton Gallery

2010 - 100% Design Insider Guide, 100% Futures, featuring ‘The Mood Chair’

2009 - The Journal, ‘This was not a simple walk in the park’

2008 - BBC News, ‘Artists create health park pieces’