‘Sun-kissed’
Ivar Veermäe
11.04.–11.05.2025
Tartu Art House
The exhibition focuses on techno-utopian ideas, according to which humans could, theoretically, control the global climate system. By spraying large quantities of aerosols into the stratosphere it should be possible to mimic the activity of volcanoes and thereby reduce climate warming by reflecting some solar energy back into space.
Artist has broken down such proposals into parts, then expanded them and worked with the locations and processes referred to in them: the stratosphere, volcanic areas in southern Italy, and biological and technical systems.
The work was done through controlled and accidental actions involving a variety of forces and life forms, such as wind, corrosion and micro-organisms. Photographic prints of close-up views of the Sun* created a test area for studying changes created by microscopic life on its surface. Metabolic transformations take place through human microorganisms brought into contact with the energy source and the surface of the image.
“Through the exhibition, I try to grasp the unimaginable scope of geoengineering, and the complexity of geological relationships. Additionally, I am continuing the experiments in the stratosphere that began with the work “Second Earth” (2023). A video of my conversation with geoengineering experts will provide background for the exhibition,” explains the artist.
The exhibition is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Thanks: The Veermäe family, Anja Dreißig, Kalev Tamm, Michael Wallys, Laura M. Hartman, Douglas MacMartin, Elspeth Spence, Forrest Clingerman, Wake Smith, Duncan McLaren, Masahiro Sugiyama, Renzo Taddei, Chad M. Baum, Kevin Surprise, Andy Parker, Michael Wallys and Ülo Rossmann and the co-workers.
Ivar Veermäe (b 1982) is an Estonian photographer based in Berlin. He has studied production engineering at Tallinn University of Technology, graphic design at Tallinn Polytechnic from 2001-2003, photography at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Estonian Academy of Arts from 2004-2009, and spatial strategies at the Weißensee Art School in Berlin from 2011-2014. Veermäe has had numerous solo exhibitions, including at the Tallinn Art Hall Gallery, Edith-Russ-Haus, Galerie im Turm, (AV17) Gallery, Belgrade Cultural Centre and Tallinn City Gallery. In addition, his work has been exhibited at RIBOCA, the Venice Architecture Biennale, the transmediale festival, the Kumu Art Museum, EKKM, Tallinn Art Hall, BIENALSUR, Buenos Aires, Bozar, ZKM, Karlsruhe and the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA).
* NASA public domain and Paul Stewart (CC BY 2.0)
Photography: Ivar Veermäe and Kaimar Tauri Tamm / Tartu Art House
