Plankton ecosystems: exhibited!

Riikka Tauriainen is a visual artist, researcher and lecturer focusing on ecology, postcolonial theories, and gender issues through installations, videos, and performances. In her work, she navigates the bound­aries between art and science. Plankton Imaginary was the outcome of the collaboration between Riikka and the environmental scientist Meike Vogt. The project focused on plankton ecosystems: the pair embarked on a journey together to understand and reflect on the social and imaginary aspects of plankton, beyond the scientific realm. The artistic results were exhibited at Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger in 2023.

Nowadays, Riikka continues her research within her doctoral thesis Plankton Ecosystems and Situated Learning in Fluid Networks. In collaboration with experts in environmental science, marine biology, and visual art, she investigates plankton’s role in marine ecosystems and its impact on climate. The methodology is grounded in artistic research and uses situated approaches to studying aquatic ecosystems. Through film, storytelling, and sensory experiences of water, like diving, it explores how these practices can connect imagination, emotion, and physical reality. Riikka is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Art History, University of Bern, and the Bern Academy of the Arts HKB, within the joint Graduate School SINTA (Studies in the Arts). She works as such in the SNSF-research project EcoArtLab: Relational Encounters between Arts and Climate Research, which is based at the Institute for Practices and Theories in the Arts at the Bern Academy of the Arts.

Pictures: Plankton Imaginary by Riikka Tauriainen and Meike Vogt, installation view Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger | KBH.G, 2023. Photo: Kulturstiftung Basel H. Geiger | KBH.G