BIO

Martin Bricelj Baraga’s works explore diverse natural and scientific phenomena, transforming them into immersive experiences. Conceived as series of time- and space-based experiments, his installations and interventions are often set in unusual urban contexts or natural environments. Through numerous multidisciplinary works, he is interested in the creation of different spaces that challenge our perception.

He has exhibited in many galleries and spaces worldwide: the Museum of History of Science Geneva, ICA in London, Manege in Saint Petersburg, NEMO Biennale in Paris, Sonar in Barcelona, Columbia University in New York, FACT Liverpool, Kinetica London, Centro cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Kunsthaus Graz, Kaapelithas in Helsinki, Museums Quartier in Vienna, and many others. His public space artworks are part of the permanent or temporary collections of Ljubljana, Geneva, Wroclaw, and Saint Petersburg. He has received many international awards for his work, including the GLOW festival award, the WRO Media Art Biennale award, the Europrix Multimedia award, Memefest awards, Baltimore Magazine award, and a Plečnik Medal, among others. He is the director of MoTA – the Museum of Transitory Art, a founder of the SONICA festival and co-founder of the Nonument Group art and research collective.

WORK AT THE EXHIBTION

Cyanometer – Monument to the Blueness of the Sky, 2024
4 x HD video, 120 fine art prints, 240g archival paper (each day 1 print)

The Cyanometer by Martin Bricelj Baraga is a monument to the blueness of the sky.

It is inspired by the cyanometer instrument invented by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in 1789, who used this tool each day to measure the blueness of the sky of Geneva. The Cyanometer is both a monument and a piece of software that periodically collects images of the sky and translates them into a corresponding shade of blue on de Saussure’s blueness scale. The Cyanometer thus builds a retrospective calendar of changes to the environment, gathering data about the blueness of the sky and the quality of the air, thus becoming an instrument which raises awareness of the quality of one of the crucial elements of life.

The new installation for the Triennial of Contemporary Art U3 shows a video of one day of the sky from four different cities, where the Cyanometer sculpture has been installed: Ljubljana, Geneva, Wrocław, and Millstadt.

Throughout the triennial, an average of the day’s blueness is calculated and added to the table. You can visit the Cyanometer public sculpture in Ljubljana in the city center on Ajdovščina Square and on the website cyanometer.net where you can see real-time juxtapositions of the skies over the different cities where the Cyanometer is installed.

Profile photo: Peter-Giodani