BIOGRAPHY
Beginning in 2000 Aoife van Linden Tol's work with explosives fused her interests in nature, cosmology, chemistry and physics. A multi-disciplinary artist her practice spans sculpture, installation, drawing, photography, film and performance. She creates abstract works which often examine concepts of time, density and matter as well as deep human emotions and motivations.
With a minimal aesthetic, a sense of balance and an appreciation for natural forms Aoife van Linden Tol's work is beautifully raw and dynamic. The explosive medium can result in devastatingly ravaged and torn pieces, such as with the Meta series of bombs on sheet copper and aluminium, which command a powerful visceral connection with the viewer. The work has thus evoked strong emotional responses from audiences where viewers have spontaneously shared intimate and sensitive histories with the artist. Yet her versatility and skill with the medium allows her to make surprisingly small, delicate, and even humorous works. With The One I Love series, for example, she asked the public to contribute photographs of someone they loved. X's were then exploded onto the photographs with tiny amounts of gunpowder thus 'blowing kisses' to loved ones.
A joy of learning, constantly questioning mind and a keen analytical nature has instilled a scientific approach to research, testing and making. Graduating from Central St Martins College of Art and Design in 2002, with a BA Hons in Art & Design, Aoife van Linden Tol exhibits internationally. Including at the ICA, London, the San Francisco MOMA, USA, NGBK Berlin, Ars Electronica Festival. Aoife has worked with physicists at Imperial Collage, was commissioned by Disney to design a limited edition model Star Wars BB-8 robot and installed a large scale explosive event in Trinity Square for the Science Gallery Dublin's 10th anniversary celebrations. Aoife was artist in residence at the European Space Agency & Ars Electronica Futurelab in 2017 and regularly presents talks, workshops lectures and seminars internationally.
With a minimal aesthetic, a sense of balance and an appreciation for natural forms Aoife van Linden Tol's work is beautifully raw and dynamic. The explosive medium can result in devastatingly ravaged and torn pieces, such as with the Meta series of bombs on sheet copper and aluminium, which command a powerful visceral connection with the viewer. The work has thus evoked strong emotional responses from audiences where viewers have spontaneously shared intimate and sensitive histories with the artist. Yet her versatility and skill with the medium allows her to make surprisingly small, delicate, and even humorous works. With The One I Love series, for example, she asked the public to contribute photographs of someone they loved. X's were then exploded onto the photographs with tiny amounts of gunpowder thus 'blowing kisses' to loved ones.
A joy of learning, constantly questioning mind and a keen analytical nature has instilled a scientific approach to research, testing and making. Graduating from Central St Martins College of Art and Design in 2002, with a BA Hons in Art & Design, Aoife van Linden Tol exhibits internationally. Including at the ICA, London, the San Francisco MOMA, USA, NGBK Berlin, Ars Electronica Festival. Aoife has worked with physicists at Imperial Collage, was commissioned by Disney to design a limited edition model Star Wars BB-8 robot and installed a large scale explosive event in Trinity Square for the Science Gallery Dublin's 10th anniversary celebrations. Aoife was artist in residence at the European Space Agency & Ars Electronica Futurelab in 2017 and regularly presents talks, workshops lectures and seminars internationally.
1978 Born in Co Cork, Ireland
1982 Family moved to London
2009-2011 Director and curator of Tank Gallery, London
2009-2016 Director of Artful Badger arts and theatre company
2016- Director of FERAL arts and events
2018- Vice Chair of The International Astronautical Federation Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space (ITACCUS)
EDUCATION
2016 Theatrical Pyrotechnics Safety
2015 Pyrotechnic Chemistry
2005 Introduction to Curating, Central St Martins,
2005 Cosmology, City Literary College
1999–2002 BA Arts and Design, Central St Martin's College of Art and Design
2001 City & Guilds Explosives Foundation Course, International School for Safety and Explosive Education
1998-1999 Art and design Foundation, Central St Martin's College of Art and Design
1997-1995 A-levels: Art, Chemistry, Mathematics
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2015 Scorched, The Vaults Gallery, London
2009 Blowing My Dreams, allgirls international art, Berlin
A Stitch In Time, Tank Gallery, London
Once Upon a Fraction of Time and Other Stories, Brandenburgischer Kunstverein, Potsdam
2008 Meta Works II, Artist studio, London
2006 Explosions on Paper, Cole St Gallery, Lubeck, Germany
2002 Meta Works, The Sun, London
One 12,875,00th of a Second, St Barnabas Church, London
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 FIRE: Flashes to Ashes in British Art 1692-2019, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, United Kingdom
2017 KOSMICA Film Night, Cine Tonalá, Roma Sur, Mexico City, Mexico
Art of Space, ESTEC, ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
ALMA 1854, The Alma, London
Lumen: School of Light, Ugly Duck, London
2016 Second Story Linz, Alchemists of Art and Science, Ars Electronica Centre, Linz, Austria
DARKNESS CANNOT DRIVE OUT DARKNESS, ONLY LIGHT CAN DO THAT, Lights of Soho, London
BB-8GR8 Disney Star Wars, Force for Change Charity Auction, London
Global Shine Foundation Charity Auction, London
2012 Art Licks Annual, ICA, London
2011 Carbon, Trinity, London
Adrift, Aoife van Linden Tol & Aliceson Carter, Tank, London
2010 Carry On Capital, Vincent van Scoff Gallery, London
Books in Limbo, Tank, London
2009 Plum Pudding, Tank Gallery, London
The Grand Plasto-Baader-Books, Kaleid Editions, London
P I G M E N T & P U L P, Tank Gallery, London
Think Tank, Tank Gallery, London
1st Public White Cube: Situation Doom, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA
2008 X 2008, allgirls international art, Berlin
2007 Achtung Sprengarbeiten! (Caution! Blasting Operations!) NGBK, Berlin, Germany.
2005 Trunk Show, The Women's Library, London
2003 Directions Exhibition, Lethaby Gallery, London
2002 BAAD, Degree Show, Central St Martins, London
2000 The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud Museum, London
1999 Masque, Bar Local, Barcelona
PERFORMANCE & LIVE ART
2018 Réalta, Science Gallery 10th Anniversary, Trinity Square, Dublin, Ireland
2017 Star Storm, Ars Electronica Festival, Linz, Austria
Make Your Mark, European Space Agency, Netherlands
2016 Smash & Burn - Interactive art event, Science Gallery, Dublin
Radical Atoms & the Alchemists of our Time, Ars Electronica, Linz
Royal Academy Summer Festival
Hackney WickED LATE, Mick's Garage, Queens Yard, London
2015 Wild Worlds: Dark Sides, VAULT Festival
2014 Carbon, Wild Worlds at VAULT Festival, London
Spellbound, Wild Worlds at VAULT Festival, London
Time Travelers Lost Love, Shoreditch House, London
2010 Pagan Epic, Secret Garden Party, UK
Carry On Capital, Vincent van Scoff Gallery, London
In Limbo, Tank, London
2009 Land of Ideas, BAM (Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing) Berlin
POLICE AND VIOLENCE, curated by Mark McGowan, Sassoon Gallery, London
The One I Love, Brockley Max Festival, Tank Gallery, London
SELECTED TALKS, DEMONSTRATIONS & INTERVIEWS
2019 Alive in Space, International Astronautical Congress, Washington DC, USA
Introducing The Orchestra Of Destruction, Robert Elms show, BBC Radio London
Star Storms, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Goddard, USA
2018 Chaos and Creation, International Space University, Strasbourg, France
Chaos and Creation: The Conscious Culturing of Space, International Astronautical Congress, Bremen
Our Place in Space, GLOBART, Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria
Rules of Engagement: Sparks Forum, Brussels, Belgium
KOSMICA: Ethereal Things, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, UK
2017 STEAM: It is working? SCI:COM, Dublin, Ireland
The Art of Science, International Space University, Strasbourg, France
Art, Science and Explosives, Cities in Space Conference, Austin, Texas, USA
Just a "Fly-by" or really a "Rendezvous"?, European Digital Art and Science Network Symposium, Ars Electronica Festival.
'Creative Practitioners in Space', International Astronautical Congress, Adelaide, Australia
Deep Space 8K, Ars Electronica Center, Austria
Hallsville Primary School, London
2016 Espresso for the Mind, Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany
Science Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Imperial Festival, Imperial Collage, London
Prix Ars Electronica Forums – Art & Science Panel Talk, Ars Electronica 2016, Linz, Austria
Interview with Goldierocks, Bestival Weekly on Soho FM.
2015 She.Said.So, Shoreditch House, London
2006 Reportage Aoife, Deutschlandfunk Radio
2005 Interview with Aoife van Linden Tol by Scarlet Bochan
2002 Interview with Aoife van Linden Tol by Phoung Quan
MEMBERSHIPS/FELLOWSHIPS
The Royal Society of Arts Fellow
British Association of Pyrotechnics
British Association of Journalists
Production Services Association
a-n The Artists Information Company
She.Said.So - For women in the music industry
UAL Alumni
CATALOGUE
Achtung Sprengarbeiten! ISBN 978-3-938515-10-5