Inspired by Ice
Interview with Glaciologist and Artist Lindsey Nicholson
Photo (c) Lindsey Nicholson
Lindsey, you graduated from Art & Science not that long ago. How are you doing at the moment, what have you experienced so far?
I am now an Assistant Professor of Glaciology at the University of Innsbruck, leading a small research group. Alongside that
I try to make time for 1-2 exhibitions or residencies per year and keep a studio space within the Par_Terre6 space in Innsbruck, which I share with Illustrator Melanie Gandyra and a company called Second Ascent, who repair outdoor clothing to prolong
its life.
Would you like to tell us about your life as an artist and as a scientist? How are you dealing with these two parts in your daily life?
My job is 40 hours a week but usually requires more. It’s a diverse job with teaching and administration taking most of the
time and only a little left free for learning and researching. Therefore, the biggest challenge I have is trying to make time
to pursue some artistic research and practice as well in the evenings, weekends and holidays.
Do you rather work in collectives or alone?
I prefer to work in a collective, which is not to say that there isn’t focused independent work going on within that, but
I much prefer to share my enthusiasm with a group and mutually boost our ideas and progress.
Photo right © Florian Scheible
Nina, Lindsey, Julia, Katze Peppi, Melanie in front of Par_Terre6 in Innsbruck.
Lindsey's Master's Project. 2024
What means ART, what means SCIENCE to you and how to you bring those two fields together?
"I think they are both ways of expressing curiosity and exploring the world,
but while art allows you more freedom to choose how you do it,
science follows some stricter rules of reproducibility and hypothesis testing."
but while art allows you more freedom to choose how you do it,
science follows some stricter rules of reproducibility and hypothesis testing."
Data science and AI seem to me to be blurring the boundaries of explorative research between these two categories, and in any case I don’t really agree that our thinking has to be siloed in separate categories. I personally try to hold both viewpoints in my head at once, but in reality flip between them.
Would you like to introduce a certain project of yours, something you are currently working on?
I’m working on a project called Ice Memory with a film maker and composer where we use the medium of ice to explore the human-nature
entanglement and ecological grief and everything else that comes up when thinking across large space and time scales.
Photos (c) Lindsey Nicholson
Are you in contact with former or current AS Students? Do you pursue research projects or exhibit together?
Less so than I’d like, and I miss a lot of others exhibitions as I no longer live in Vienna, but I still feel like I am part
of a community and am supported by the colleagues.
We definitely share opportunities and look for collaborations, and for example have tried a few joint residency applications.
We definitely share opportunities and look for collaborations, and for example have tried a few joint residency applications.
Photo: Art & Science Archive
Photos middle and right
(c) Lindsey Nicholson
Thank you so much for the interview, Dear Lindsey. All the best to you to Innsbruck.
LINDSEY NICHOLSON
Scientific website: www.lindseynicholson.org
Twitter: @linznicholson
Instagram: @linz_aye
Lindsey @Art&Science
Interview by Gerda Tschœrdy Fischbach. March 2025