Dr Ralph Borland

Research Interests

I am an artist who works at the interface of art, design, science and technology, and research. I draw widely from across disciplines to identify, investigate and communicate ideas and issues with social impact. I studied Sculpture and English for my undergraduate degree, and Interactive Electronics for my Masters. I wrote my PhD in an Engineering school, looking at North-South knowledge inequalities in design. My postdoctoral work spans domains from urban studies to climate change and medical humanities. I work with a wide range of collaborators, from surgeons to musicians, scientists, filmmakers and engineers. I was inaugural artist in residence with EthicsLab from October - December 2025, and I am currently working on ways to increase opportunities for creative collaboration at the NI.

“Borland’s residency shows how artists can function as a critical resource within scientific institutions by slowing attention, working experimentally with uncertainty, and making the ethical dimensions of research environments perceptible in everyday experience. At a time when scientific and technological innovation is often driven by speed, efficiency, and optimisation, artistic practice offers a different kind of contribution— one that attends to atmosphere, embodiment, and the ways people actually inhabit research and clinical spaces. Rather than arriving with solutions, the artist’s role here is to notice, intervene, and open questions that might otherwise remain in the background” from Art, Imagination and Science by Dr. Anye Nyamnjoh, Senior Research Officer, EthicsLab

Other projects:

Bone Flute, a collaboration with a surgeon, musician and filmmaker to produce a musical instrument from my femur.

African Robots is my long-running collaboration with street wire artists in Southern Africa to explore new themes and technologies through interactive artwork.

Research Areas

Art-science • Interventionist Art • Discursive Design • Experiential Futures • Curating • Storytelling