Raphaëlle von Knebel is the new -1 Digital Lab residentRaphaëlle von Knebel is the new -1 Digital Lab resident

The Nouveau Grand Tour programme is intended as a professional springboard for budding artists, with the aim of closer collaboration between the Dutch art world and emerging French artists.

Raphaëlle Von Knebel, born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion Island, explores the relationships between insularity, climate, and memory through installations, sound, and poetry. She studied at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Strasbourg, the Haute École des Arts du Rhin, the Institut Supérieur des Arts et du Design de Toulouse, and the Design Academy Eindhoven.

At -1 Digital Lab, Raphaelle Von Knebel will develop Offshore Signals, a project based on the natural phenomenon of global dimming, the gradual decrease of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface due to atmospheric particles.  Processing decades of sunlight measurements from climate data, Raphaëlle is now building her own archive of lighting conditions in Rotterdam and translating these into a series of installations. 

Offshore Signals takes the form of a constellation of electronic structures: light stations combining simple sensors with LEDs. Some stations respond to daylight and weather variations, while others react to presence or touch. Their reaction is subtle and minimal: slow dimming, gentle pulsations and delicate shifts, echoing the breathing of living organisms. 

The primary data will be drawn from Rotterdam, from its light, environment, and climate. By creating a dialogue with her native island of La Réunion, Raphaelle will also interpret the signal through an island memory. Rotterdam produces the signals: the island acts as a creole prism, a point of reference.

Nieuwe Instituut's residency program at -1 Digital Lab offers early-career artists the opportunity to develop their practice and research while presenting their work to the public in an ever-evolving exhibition space.

The Nouveau Grand Tour residency programme focuses on innovation and research. Every year, the Institut français NL welcomes a dozen French artists who have recently graduated from an art and design school in France. They are given the opportunity to stay in one of the Dutch residencies participating in the programme.