Artist’s career

Giulia Grossmann is an artist and filmmaker whose work oscillates between experimental cinema and documentary. Each of her projects questions our way of inhabiting the Earth, by placing Man in relation to the space that surrounds him: from the Basque mountains to the Mexican desert, from the Atlantic Ocean to Icelandic volcanoes, to the space that separates us from Mars… His research is part of a collaborative scientific approach, involving both exact and social science projects. This hybrid approach, in which scientists’ dreams and reality intermingle, allows us to tell the story of how science can open up to other realities.

In August 2024, supported by the Goethe-Institute and the ArTeC program, she took part in a sailing expedition with the ArcticLab project in Iceland, an experience that initiated the current writing of “Ultima Thulé”, a film project mixing Nordic mythology and marine biology, to be shot in 2026 in the western fjords.
In 2025, as a Villa Albertine laureate, she will embark on a research project entitled Océan écran: de la recherche de surface aux abysses fictions, which will take place in marine biology laboratories in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and Roscoff, France.

Ultima Thulé

2024 // Two residences in Iceland’s Westfjords, July-August 2024

This research weaves tales of origins, exploring our relationship to the Earth, in a region that is proving to be a sentinel of ongoing environmental transformations. This summer, Giulia Grossmann presented the video installation Soleil de Minuit, a first exploration of her location scouting for her project in progress, Ultima Thulé. This installation was exhibited at the Central University of the Westfjords, as part of two artistic residencies: the first on board the ship Arcticlab, where she filmed polar plankton in collaboration with the microbiologist Pedro Junger, and the second at ArtisIceland, in Ísafjörður.
Thanks to the ArTeC grant and the Goethe-Institut “Europe Culture Moves”, she was able to acquire a 16mm camera and reels, enabling her to make a film Ultima (prelude). The encounters made during these two artistic residencies and this first exploration of the Westfjords territory lay the foundations for the “Ultima Thulé” project, currently being written, which this prelude film introduces.

“Cinema reveals itself as a tool for reflection, able to blur the boundaries between several narrative and temporal strata, manipulating the various dimensions of reality to question their interweaving. This cinematographic research project is a meditation on the resilience of the sea in the Westfjords region of Iceland. Cinema, with its ability to fuse dreamlike, documentary and experimental dimensions, enables me to open up a reflection on “Ultima Thule”, a concept that spans the ages, constantly pushing back the limits of exploration, and testifying to man’s propensity to transcend the boundaries of his perception in his insatiable quest for knowledge. Reflecting on the limits of the ecumene today goes beyond the concept of geographical exploration; it involves taking into account environmental constraints, invisible ecological dynamics and the challenges posed by ongoing transformations. Cinema allows me to explore these issues in a sensitive way.”

Partners

With the support of Culture Moves Europe, Goethe-Institute & the help of ArTeC - École Universitaire de Recherche, cneai = part of the Academic Council.
Artist residencies:

• 9 days aboard the trimaran Peter Pan, Arctic lab expéditions, coordinated by Vincent Grisson
• 4 weeks at Artisiceland: kolsalt.is/artsiceland.html, coordinated by Elísabet Gunnarsdóttir
  
  
  

Océan écran, de la recherche de surface aux abysses fiction

2025 // A residency at the Villa Albertine, July-August 2025

This film research project looks at the role of imagination in advances in marine biology. How has imagination influenced major discoveries in this field? How do these advances stimulate constant exploration and questioning of our paradigms? How do visual representations, from drawings to films, influence our perception of the ocean?
This research combines laboratory observation of marine biology with landscape exploration at Woods Hole, following in the footsteps of biologist Rachel Carson, who also resided there during the summers and wrote her book “The Sea Around Us”. The Villa Albertine will enable me to explore this region renowned for its marine biology laboratories, and to make connections with American science fiction films shot in the area, exploring fears and fantasies linked to the sea such as “Abyss”
and “Jaws”.

Her cinematographic investigation will be enriched by archives, analytical tools such as optics, microscopy and the aquarium, data, diagrams, the scanning electron microscope and artificial intelligence, as well as the words of the researchers she meets.
In the field of marine biology, we now know that between the surface and the bottom of the oceans, there are distinct layers whose characteristics are closely linked to the physiology and ecology of the organisms that live there. In turn, the discovery of these specific features is changing the way mankind not only observes this environment, but also exploits and explores it.
explore, admire, imagine and think about it. This exploration, from the surface to the ocean depths, highlights the role of imagination when data is scarce and access limited.

My residency at Villa Albertine will enable me to explore the convergences between science and fiction in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, a town renowned for its advances in marine biology. My aim is to explore the interactions between scientific and fictional narratives through a cinematic investigation. This fictional immersion, from surface waters to the abyssal depths, will reveal how imagination and speculation enrich the scientific quest.

Partners

The decision to carry out this research in the USA, specifically at Woods Hole, is based on the region’s outstanding reputation as a center for marine biology research. Woods Hole is home to prestigious scientific institutions such as the Oceanographic Institute, the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Woods Hole Research Center, as well as key organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). These institutions have played a crucial role in advancing marine knowledge in the United States.

The film is co-produced by cneai =, ArTeC and Villa Albertine.