Lea Porsager

On December 26, 2004, Southeast Asia suffered one of the most devastating natural disasters in modern times. A quarter of a million people lost their lives following a tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Artist Lea Porsager was commissioned to create the memorial in Sweden for those affected by the 2004 tsunami.

Gravitational Ripples is inspired by a cosmic phenomenon known as gravitational waves, which was predicted by Einstein in 1916 and first measured by scientists in 2016. The waves arise when two celestial bodies collide, unleashing energy so powerful that it creates ripples in the fabric of space-time itself. Gravitational Ripples turns the cosmic wave into an earthly, spiralling cradle. The soil banks form a double spiral, creating a web of pathways both outwards from and inwards towards the centre, where two bronze sculptures evoke the image of orbiting celestial bodies. As an earthwork, the memorial is subject to the ebbs and flows of time. Following the changing seasons, it will always be in passage, always in a state of transition.

Lea Porsager’s artistic practice relies strongly on collaboration and focuses on the interaction between feminist theory, quantum science and spiritual systems. Inspired by scientific observations and the work of feminist theorists such as Karen Barad and Donna Haraway, Porsager describes her method as a practice of “working-with,” emphasising the importance of engaging with paradoxical and often troublesome ideas in order to enable new thought forms and imaginings.

Science, Spirituality and Art in a Posthumanist Landscape 
On the occasion of its recent inauguration, Public Art Agency Sweden is organising a public programme around Gravitational Ripples. Artist Lea Porsager and professor Cecilia Åsberg will have a dialogue on feminist ideas that challenge the anthropocentric conception of the world and the divide between nature and culture.

Specialised in Feminist Posthumanities, professor Cecilia Åsberg’s research contends with the deeply entangled nature of beings, systems and technologies. Her theoretical work proposes a different set of conditions to rethink our relation to matter and bodies – reflections that the artwork Gravitational Ripples also invites us to engage with.

Following the conversation between Porsager and Åsberg, the audience will be invited to participate in a guided site-visit to Gravitational Ripples, which is located next to Thiel Gallery.

Date and location:
May 28, 2019, at 3:45–6pm
Thiel Gallery
Sjötullsbacken 8
115 25 Stockholm

Participants: Lea Porsager (Artist), Cecilia Åsberg (Professor at Linköping University and KTH Royal Institute of Technology) and Lotta Mossum (Curator at Public Art Agency Sweden). Moderated by Elena Jarl (Assistant Curator at Public Art Agency Sweden).

The programme is organised by Public Art Agency Sweden and hosted by Thiel Gallery. 

Please RSVP latest on May 23 by email to elena.jarl@statenskonstrad.se

The memorial was commissioned by Public Art Agency Sweden and the National Property Board of Sweden in collaboration with the Royal Djurgården Administration. 

Gravitational Ripples was created by Lea Porsager together with Søren Assenholt, Rasmus Strange, Thue Tobiasen and Synnøve B. Brøgger. 

Read more about Gravitational Ripples here.