“If we knew what it was we were doing it wouldn’t be called
research, would it?“ (attributed to Albert Einstein). “The
Institute of Unnecessary Research” presents a new paradigm in the
way artists are engaging with the world through transdisciplinary
practice and connective aesthetics. Bringing together art, science and
philosophy by creating participatory audience experiences,
performances and installations. Sometimes humorous and sometimes
grotesque, their work pushes the boundaries and critically questions
the means of knowledge production in the 21st Century. Artists are
innovators, if a new piece of technology or a new medium, becomes
available; artists want to try it, to experiment with it- from
microbiology to robotics; from tissue culture to neuroscience. Some
artists take on the role of a scientist in almost a performative way
and some scientists become artists themselves. Philosophy and ethics
is always at its core and the work unpacks the instrumentalization of
science for commercial and political ends. Forms of “connective
aesthetics” are used to engage the audience in a participatory
experience that extends and generates new outcomes throughout the
exhibition and go beyond simple interactivity, throwing authorship
into question, as members of the audience are inspired to become
Unnecessary Researchers in their own rights. The IUR is a hub for
researchers and artists working experimentally and deeply engaged with
their specific research areas. We present our research through
performative and experiential methods, engaging the public and new
audiences in our ideas. We organise performance events (many of which
can be seen here) in art galleries and other non-traditional settings
(including: universities, businesses and festivals) to engage the
public in our research and meta-research. We also create participatory
workshops, where participants become the researchers and learn about
our work experientially. We are specialists in our specific research
fields and deeply committed to making our work accessible. We offer
exhibitions (curated around specific themes in our research), talks
and organise symposia and are able to suggest speakers for events. To
organise a special IUR event, get involved with our work, be kept
informed about events or for permission to use images please contact
us. For more information contact annadumitriu@hotmail.com var _gaq =
_gaq || []; _gaq.push([’_setAccount’, ‘UA-32466830-1’]);
_gaq.push([’_trackPageview’]); (function() { var ga =
document.createElement('script’); ga.type = 'text/javascript’;
ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:’ == document.location.protocol ?
'https://ssl’ : 'http://www’) + ’.google-analytics.com/ga.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script’)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();
