Agustina Woodgate: More Heat than Light

Stroom Den Haag proudly presents More Heat Than Light, the first solo exhibition by Agustina Woodgate in the Netherlands. Exploring the relationship between temperature and information, the exhibition stages an experimental communications infrastructure that reflects the unpredictable transactions between measuring and knowing. 

More Heat than Light is the outcome of a three-year long research project on quantum communication. On the occasion of the exhibition, Woodgate has collaborated with QuTech, the Dutch research institute for quantum computing and quantum internet. Throughout her investigation, the artist has gotten exclusive access to visit the laboratory and work alongside the scientists. This process coincided with the moment scientists at QuTech undertook an experiment in pursuit of quantum entanglement: the connection of two particles without physical transportation. This experiment worked towards a first demonstration of quantum communication on a metropolitan scale, in this case from the laboratory in Delft to a KPN test center in The Hague. 

More Heat than Light uses the principles of quantum physics and the building blocks of quantum communications to build its own system. The individual artworks draw from the same materials used in QuTech’s laboratories: diamonds, lenses, time, and temperature. Experiments on the future of communication take place under extreme artificial conditions, such as near absolute zero temperatures, total stability, and with synthetic imperfect diamonds, rapidly grown in the laboratory. In More Heat Than Light, Woodgate critically examines the realization of these conditions to demonstrate their subordination to an increasingly volatile environment.  

More Heat than Light presents a synchronized, site-specific, and responsive circuit in which temperature is both the enabler and concealer of information. This circuit consists of an entirely new body of work, which wires together various components: Radiations—an array of infrared lamps and passive sensors, containing phrase poems etched into their surface; Alice & Bob—a two-channel sound and video installation, edited in real time, dependent on atmospheric conditions; and Future Star—a thermal printer which present the readings of the circuit as a climate log, which disappears over time. Power-Line and Hour Glasses, existing works which are adapted to the context of More Heat than Light, present the slippages between temperature, time, and the way each are valued.   

The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive public program of tours and talks. This includes a film screening program on October 12, on the occasion of Museum Night The Hague; as well as the program Quantum Frequencies Roundtable on November 9, which features several speakers to critically contextualize quantum technology in the wider realm of technological developments. 

More programs and up-to-date information on the Stroom website.  

In her sculptural and conceptual practice, Agustina Woodgate investigates the ways in which the poetics and politics of infrastructures organize public and private space. She collaborates with engineers, scientists, and urban planners to produce functional systems through a speculative, practical, and site-specific approach. Through spatial interventions, objects, and installations, Woodgate examines infrastructure as the visible embodiment of the geopolitical interests that manage natural resources. These infrastructures present critical possibilities for social order, resource management, and information distribution. Woodgate’s work has been internationally exhibited at the 12th MediaCity Biennial, Seoul; the 2019 Whitney Biennial, New York City; IX Berlin Biennial; IV Istanbul Design Biennial; and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, among others. Agustina Woodgate is based between the Netherlands and Argentina.