Otherwise Residency brings together contemporary art, scientific research and environmental activism, in a shared space for rethinking how knowledge is generated, circulated, and felt across disciplines. Developed by Marginal in partnership with the Institute of Biology Bucharest and 2Celsius, the residency is looking for one artist to join the Otherwise second cohort, for a practice-based artistic research residency, focusing on anthropogenic fugitive methane emissions within Romania’s energy infrastructure.
The selected artist will work alongside the experts from Clean Air Task Force and 2Celsius, expanding raw thermographic data and/or spectrophotometric data from satellites and aircrafts into sensory or conceptual narratives. The residency aims to move beyond data visualisation, and toward knowledge production, looking into societal implications of leaky infrastructure and environmental policy making.
The residency takes place between 1 June and 20 September 2026, with a public showcase in Bucharest in October 2026. The residency is divided into four stages, with one–two weeks immersion in situ, followed by remote work on the conceptualisation, and then another experimental stage in situ for one to two months, before the production stage.
The programme is seeking a mid-career artist with a demonstrated interest in interdisciplinary research, irrespective of artistic practice or medium. The artist must be able to travel to Romania and participate in site visits to oil/gas fields and compressor stations, for a minimum of two weeks during June-September 2026.
Support:
- 3,000 EUR stipend
- Production budget (TBD)
- Travel (within Europe)
- Accommodation
- Per diem
- Access to OGI (Optical Gas Imaging) footage and equipment, and scientific datasets
- Curatorial and technical mentorship
- Logistical support for field research within Romania
