Iranian-Austrian sculptor Sara Ghalandari participated at the Artist in Residence Program at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in 2025. In her works she explores how humans perceive and relate to space—through movement, material, and interaction with physical forces. Her installations invite the viewer to step into dynamic, evolving environments where the body and its surroundings enter a dialogue.

At ISTA Sara Ghalandari worked with the Cremer Group. Speaking about her collaboration the artist says:

“ISTA offers a rare opportunity to bridge scientific thought and artistic inquiry. Working with the Cremer Group, I encountered the collective intelligence of ant colonies—a decentralized system where no single entity controls the whole, yet complexity emerges from local signals, simple rules, and constant feedback. This experience shifted my understanding of form, authorship, and material agency. It raised a question central to my current practice: If natural systems generate structure through emergence, can artistic form arise the same way?”

The sculpture Emergent Field (2025), presented during the opening festival of the VISTA Science Experience Center is based on these reflections. From repetition and expansion arises a fluid order—one grounded not in stability, but in the continuous possibility of becoming. The structure made of boning wire seams to grow out of a stone. It disperses into space, unfolding as a living presence that emerges between the resistance of matter and its expansion. Within this context, the question remains open: how do patterns emerge from complexity, and how do they come to take meaning in both human experience and science?