Cavendish Arts–Science Fellowship

This year we welcomed the first holder of our Cavendish Arts–Science Fellowship, funded by Dr Una Ryan OBE (Scully, 1963), which allows an artist to spend time at Girton creating new works through dialogue and collaboration with physicists at the Cavendish Laboratory. Elected to this innovative fellowship for 2021–22 was Logan Dandridge. Logan’s art interweaves research into the aesthetics of the Black radical tradition and Black visual and sonic culture with experimental moving-image works that combine language, poetry, sound and rhythm with fragmented and found images.

‘I’m no stranger to the paralysis of racialised violence’ says Logan. ‘I like to use films to help me sing, dance and shout my way through daily tumult. It’s what my ancestors would’ve wanted and how they used rhythm to heal. To this end, I like to imagine the gravity that resides within language, memory and sound. All the iterations in my work feel very fragile sometimes. I like to think that I’m building alternative histories. How many Black futures will end before they begin? As my time in Cambridge progressed, I began to approach these questions through physics. One of the first things that struck me was how broadly physicists utilise experimental systems of inquiry to challenge the status quo and resolve enigmatic topics. There is something equally radical about the process and responsibility of anyone who commits themselves to the arts.’