Uncertain Practices

Spring 2020 marked a period of enhanced uncertainty all around the world with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing societies into lockdown. The situation brought up societal and governance challenges that were further internalized into individuals’ thinking and their relationships as communities and with the world at large. Being uncertain also requires that one be able to cope with doubt, something 2020 took to unusual lengths.

However, one can also claim that uncertainty is connected to speculative and experimental art practices. Unpredictable and contradictory thought processes often breed new perspectives and ideas in creative practice. In comparison to developments in science and technology that typically aim to overcome uncertainty by proving a hypothesis either right or wrong, or some design-based approaches that aim to find solutions to predefined problems, experimental art may have uncertainty itself as its subject matter. Its aim is not necessarily to find a solution to a problem, but to speculate about its multiple potentialities and perspectives.

The garden presents three artists within the framework of uncertainty, including studio visits, demonstrations, talks and a musical performance. The presentations by Koray Tahiroğlu, Laura Beloff and Andy Best will be streamed and followed by live sessions for further dialogue with the audience. The garden events are produced by Aalto Studios at Aalto University.