Yonder is a programme conceived as a playground for discovery – a place “out there” in the far distance, as the poetic connotation of the name suggests, where artistic and scientific methodologies intersect.

Yonder is the context where curiosity becomes a shared language for artists and scientists – where art and science come together to expand the horizon of the possible.

We are committed to pioneering approaches that integrate artistic and scientific thinking to explore some of the most profound questions of our time – among others, the origins of the universe, the nature of time and space, dark energy and dark matter, but also questions related to gravitational lensing, quantum mechanics and the methodologies we use to study all these vital aspects.

The program invites artists, thinkers, writers and curators in equal terms with scientists to share their profound and similar curiosity to explore unknown aspects of the universe, which humanity intuitively grasp but not fully understand. Throughout history, transformative discoveries have emerged from unconventional perspectives, where artistic and scientific research was not separated but pursued as a vital process for shaping knowledge and perceiving the world – and the universe – in its complexity.

To achieve its interdisciplinary scope, Yonder hosts in the spaces of the Niels Bohr Institute’s new building an innovative “ArtScience Residency” inviting artists and scientists to play with experimenting new radical experimental methodologies and explore concretely new ways of thinking across disciplines about questions fundamental to physics and to humanity.

Through organised sessions, scheduled and spontaneous dialogues, and workshops, Yonder creates a context where ideas, intuitions, concerns and questions are shared collectively, becoming the seeds of a potential conversation, and eventually, collaboration.

Yonder fosters hybrid forms of research and co-creation that challenge accustomed boundaries of knowledge in both art and science.

Read more about our Art·Science residencies here.

Lea Porsager (DK)

Working at the intersection of quantum physics, feminist theory, and spirituality, Porsager creates sculptures, installations, and texts that engage with cosmological and energetic fields.

Semiconductor (UK)

The artist duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt explore the material nature of our physical world and how we experience it through the lens of science and technology.

Ligia Bouton (US)

Combining sculpture, performance, and video, Bouton investigates the relationship between human emotion, cosmic scale, and the structures of knowledge.

Yuri Pattison (IE/FR)

Exploring the politics of visibility in the digital age, Pattison uses data, networks, and infrastructures to question how technology mediates our perception of time and space.

Cyprien Gaillard (FR/DE)

Gaillard’s work addresses entropy, urban transformation, and the cycles of creation and decay, offering poetic reflections on temporality and the human imprint on the planet.

Yonder | Art•Science | Niels Bohr Institute is located at DARK, an astrophysics research centre at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen.

DARK brings together scientists working on some of the most fundamental questions in astrophysics and cosmology: the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the formation and evolution of galaxies, cosmic explosions such as supernovae, and the physics of black holes. Researchers combine theoretical modelling, high-performance computing, and observations from state-of-the-art telescopes in space and on the ground. Using facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope, ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and the ALMA millimetre array, they explore the universe across X-ray, UV, optical, infrared, millimeter, and radio wavelengths.

The Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) is home to DARK and several other internationally recognised research sections spanning particle physics, astrophysics, geophysics, climate science, and quantum technologies. Current research at NBI ranges from the physics of the early Universe, black holes, and gravitational waves, to quantum communication and quantum optics, as well as ice-core drilling in Antarctica that reveals the Earth’s climate history going back hundreds of thousands of years. Researchers at NBI also study biophysics, complex systems, and particle physics in collaboration with large international consortia such as CERN.

Research at Yonder spans all areas of interest across the current research fields at NBI. Read more about the research at DARK and NBI here.

To guide its development, Yonder has established an advisory board of leading thinkers from astrophysics, anthropology, art history, and curation. Together, they ensure the intellectual and ethical integrity of the program and help shape its global network of collaborators.

Read more about our core Yonder team and advisory board here.