During 2026, Jennifer Rainsford has been working, and still works, as an artist in residence at MAX IV, bringing artistic perspectives to the advanced synchrotron light facility there. Researchers at MAX IV use this extremely intense light to investigate structures that are invisible to the human eye. In collaboration with the researchers, Jennifer Rainsford has used the beamlines to create monoliths using seeds, both in a video installation and as an augmented reality (AR) experience accessible via a mobile phone. You can experience it for yourself via the link below.
Now three new artists have been selected for the 2026 MAX IV art residencies in time-based media, the second of two calls made possible by the generous funding Lund University received from Gyllenstiernska Krapperup Foundation. By making room for dialogue between scientists, artists, and finally the public, the residency aims to enrich and expand perspectives and understanding of the groundbreaking research conducted at MAX IV while also spotlighting Lund University as Sweden’s leading cultural university. The call was limited to professional artists working with durational works of art, including sound art, dance, music, and performance arts, or interactive, algorithmic and kinetic art.
From 54 entries received from across the Nordic region, the jury selected artists Jacek Smolicki, Elise Arvefjörd and Louise Kvarby. The selected artists will create art in direct contact with the research environment at MAX IV and will have access to the Inter Arts Center of Lund University during their 8-week residencies.
Jacek Smolicki is an artist, designer, and researcher working at the intersection of sound art, sound studies, environmental humanities, and media technologies. Smolicki holds a PhD from Malmö University and has held academic positions at Simon Fraser University, Linköping University, and Uppsala University. He was a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Swedish Research Council, a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Harvard, and a 2026 Loeb and ArtLab Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. At MAX IV, he is interested in pursuing artistic research to explore the diverse ways that sound affects the material dimensions of the surrounding world.
Elise Arvefjörd is a sound artist and composer with a background in the performing arts. Her practice explores the materiality of sound and the relationships between body, matter, and the production of knowledge. She has previously collaborated with researchers at the Swedish Museum of Natural History and the bioremediation company Mycomine on a project where laboratory methods became part of the artistic process. She is joined by co-applicant Anna Öberg, a dancer and choreographer with roots in Swedish folk dance. Anna Öberg holds an MFA in choreography and has created and performed in venues both nationally and abroad. Together, the artists will investigate how scientific knowledge moves between matter, instruments, data, and people at MAX IV– and what happens when this chain extends into artistic, bodily, and auditory practices.
Louise Kvarby is a choreographer working with film and video. She holds master’s degrees in Filmic Process, and in Stage and Media, and has studied dance at the Stockholm Academy of Ballet. She is the founder and leader of Transforma, where she works as a choreographer, dancer and producer for dance and film projects. Her practice is in the intersection of dance/choreography/performance and film, and she has addressed the themes of science and research, including a previous collaboration with a programmer, dancers and interactive projections. At MAX IV, she will be investigating ways to translate research into movement through a choreography of bodies, light design, poetry, music and video.
Ann Kristin Wallengren, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Culture and Pedagogical Development
Heidi LaGrasta, Outreach Officer, MAX IV Laboratory
Link to Jennifer Rainsford’s work https://reciprocalseed.cargo.site/
Interview with Jennifer Rainsford in Curie magazine (in Swedish) https://www.tidningencurie.se/nyheter/konstnar-tar-plats-bland-forskarna-pa-max-iv
