The studio platform hrm199, led by artist Haroon Mirza, is the winner of the COLLIDE International Award 2017. Initiated by FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool and Arts at CERN, the arts and science programme of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the international artist residency programme and collaboration framework seeks to transform the way in which encounters between art and science are understood.

A unanimous decision was made by the award’s jury, who selected hrm199 for “its ability to extend the ambitious standards of creativity and to build on an ongoing fascination with media, time and transmission.” The jury continues to mention that “it is this belief in art as a fictive realm that has enabled hrm199 to push boundaries, conceptually, politically and intellectually. The jury values the proposal’s focus on ephemera, as well as on the connection between materiality and the mathematical description of reality, opening up new means of enquiry of artistic practice alongside CERN scientists.”

Mirza will be joined by artist and musician Jack Jelfs in the undertaking of the fully funded residency, which comprises of two months spent at CERN, Geneva, followed by one month at FACT. The open and collaborative atmosphere at FACT will provide hrm199 with an ideal place in which to reflect on, and contextualise the work initiated at CERN. Collaborations with scientists and academics from Liverpool University and Liverpool John Moores University will also continue the conversation between art and science. The residency will culminate in a final proposal that will be considered for artistic production, with a budget of up to 50,000€.

Artists Diann Bauer and Tuomo Rainio received an Honorary Mention from the jury, who stated: “The jury finds special interest in Bauer’s innovative approach to the notions of time, knowledge, experience, by exploring new collaborative models of enquiry for building a more just future, and appreciates Tuomo Rainio’s fresh research into data, information, signal and noise, in particular his fascination with the instant when something becomes conceivable and the moment of discovery.”

The 2017 panel consisted of Mónica Bello, Head of Arts at CERN, Geneva; Michael Doser, Senior Research Physicist at CERN, Geneva; Rosa Ferré, Head of Exhibitions at CCCB, Barcelona; Ana Botella, Head of Programme at FACT, Liverpool; Mike Stubbs, Director at FACT, Liverpool; Yves Bernard, Artistic and Managing Director at iMAL, Brussels; and Patrick Gyger, Director at Lieu Unique, Nantes.

The FACT/CERN COLLIDE International Award 2017 Winner: hrm199. For details on the residency, visit www.arts.cern/collide-international-award.

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Credits
1. © Haroon Mirza, The National Apavilion of Then and Now, 2011. Courtesy hrm199 and Lisson Gallery. Photographer Kiki Triantafyllou.