Serena Scapagnini first Italian artist in residency at the Yale Quantum Institute

Opening on June 24 is SUPERPOSITION, the new project by artist Serena Scapagnini, the first Italian artist selected for the 2024–2025 Artist-in-Residence Program at the Yale Quantum Institute (YQI), one of the world’s leading research centers in the field of quantum physics.

Since 2017, the YQI program has fostered a deep dialogue between art and science: each year, one artist is invited to develop a project in close collaboration with physicists and researchers, with the goal of translating the complex, fascinating, and often counterintuitive principles of quantum mechanics into visual and poetic forms.

For her residency, Serena Scapagnini presents SUPERPOSITION, a cycle of three site-specific installations—in different locations across Yale—that explore the quantum concept of superposition—the ability of a particle to exist in multiple states simultaneously—as a metaphor for identity, memory, and the fragile balance between permanence and dissolution.

A SHARED IDENTITY
Yale Quantum Institute – Open to the public
This is the conceptual and visual heart of the project. The work represents quantum superposition as a space of coexistence between different dimensions of identity and memory. Composed of suspended copper structures, processed paper, and manually made engravings, the installation evokes neural networks and flows of luminous energy. At its center, a copper engraving depicts the superposition of particles in a pure quantum state, capable of storing memory in perfect balance before its natural dissolution. The work was created in dialogue with quantum physicists and reflects on the body as a field of transit for visible and invisible information.

STATE OF LIGHT
Yale Quantum Institute – Viewable by appointment only
This intimate and immersive installation explores the possibility that light might carry memory. Through the use of lightweight, translucent materials and reflective pigments, State of Light visualizes an ideal quantum state, motionless yet full of potential. The surfaces respond to changes in ambient light, creating an environment where perception itself seems to oscillate between presence and absence. Viewable by appointment, the work offers an experience of visual listening, balanced between science and contemplation.

REFRACTIONS
Library of the Quantum Institute – Open to the public during library hours
Installed within the Quantum Institute’s library, Refractions reflects on the transmission and dispersion of knowledge. The work takes shape through a series of interventions on paper and transparent materials that act as lenses or refractive surfaces, multiplying and distorting the meaning of images. Each element refers to the ways in which knowledge—scientific or personal—is transmitted, fragmented, and transformed. The library setting reinforces the idea of knowledge as something in constant motion and renegotiation.