Lecture by Erich Berger: Art and Deep Time

Lecture about deep time and art by curator Erich Berger

The lecture is in English. Tour of “The Contamination of Time” exhibition at the Kunsthalle Seinäjoki.Exhibition tour from 4:30–5:00 p.m., lecture from 5:00–6:00 p.m.

Deep Time

Deep time refers to the time of planetary rhythms, such as the movements of continents or the rising of mountains, and is counted in millions of years. As it is said that human activity in the present will leave its traces in the rocks of the future, humanity is becoming a geological force. While this is researched by science, artists also explore temporalities that go beyond an everyday sense of time. Starting with the artworks in the exhibition The Contamination of Time at the Kunsthalle Seinäjoki, the presentation discusses how art can help us to make sense of the vastness of time and to find our place in deep time. The speaker is the curator of The Contamination of Time exhibition, Erich Berger.

Johtingeaidnu – The Path Within, Emilia Tikka, Leena and Oula A. Valkeapää. Photo by Krista Luoma

The Contamination of Time

The Contamination of Time displays works that tell stories of distant stars, the slow formation of landscapes and the inevitable end of life in a deep future. In The Contamination of Time, you are invited to embark on a journey that unsettles familiar notions of time. At the heart of the exhibition lies the acknowledgement that the future is not a distant, fixed horizon but shaped in and by the present. What is to come is always already contaminated by what is at hand. The exhibition is on display until 9th of January 2027. Artists in the exhibition: Petri Ala-Maunus (FI), Laura Beloff (FI), Andy Gracie (UK/ES), Katri Naukkarinen (FI) and Aurora Del Rio (IT), Elsa Salonen (FI), Emilia Tikka, Leena and Oula A. Valkeapää (FI).

Erich Berger

Erich Berger is an artist, curator, and researcher based in Helsinki. He currently works at the University of Oulu in Finland, where he conducts interdisciplinary research into how artists approach temporalities beyond human-centred time, combining cultural anthropology, geology and art. Throughout his artistic practice, he has explored the materiality of information, and information and technology as artistic material. His current artistic focus lies on issues of deep time and hybrid ecology which led him to work with geological processes, radiogenic phenomena, and their socio-political implications in the here and now. In his fieldwork-based practice, he carries out extensive work on natural radioactivity, potential uranium mining sites, and nuclear infrastructure in Finland and abroad. As curator he develops opportunities that create critical transdisciplinary encounters and work situations between professionals from art, natural science, technology and the humanities, recognizing science and technology as fundamental transformative powers of our life world. Berger has worked as chief curator for Laboral Centro de Arte in Gijon, Spain and as a director for The Bioart Society in Helsinki, Finland. His art is exhibited widely in museums, galleries, and major media-art events in Europe and worldwide.

Current Issues at Navetta (Ajankohtainen Navetta)

Ajankohtainen Navetta (Current Issues at Navetta) is a series of events organised by the Kaleva Navetta community, featuring presentations on current themes and phenomena. In “Current Issues at Navetta,” experts from various fields have the opportunity to speak about a specific issue to the public, and it often takes the form of a lecture. The Art and Deep Time lecture offers the opportunity to participate in the current dialogue between art and science and to foster an understanding of humanity’s role in deep time.