Hege Tapio (born 1973) is a Norwegian artist based in Stavanger. Since 2001 her artistic practice has pursued the interest in emerging media and transdisciplinary practice interconnecting art, new technology, biology and science. Current artworks explore commodification, transcendence and quantification of the human through speculative and critical design. Her research interest encompasses sustainability, metaphors and technological influence on the living.
Tapio has received several grants from Norwegian Visual Artists Fund, and international support from Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA). Her work has been exhibited and presented at conferences widely in Norway and internationally. Born and raised in the petroleum-nation her artistic response-ability gave life to The Humanfuel project, commissioned by HYBRID MATTERs – a Nordic art&science network program 2016, and the sequel Humanoil – The Last Oil premiered at Ars Electronica, Keplers Garden 2020. Most recent production Ephemeral is premiering during PST ART Art & Science Collide 2024 program at the exhibition Future Tense: Art, Complexity, and uncertainty with Beall Center for Art & Technology.
Tapio is the founder and director of i/o/lab: Center for Future Art, where she has produced and curated editions of Article biennial from 2006-16 in addition to production and hosting of workshops, seminars, conferences, residencies and collaborative projects. The legacy of i/o/lab has continued to branch out as Tapio became part of the early developments of NOBA – Norwegian Bioart Arena, developing and programming the Norwegian hub for Bioart located outside Oslo at Vitenparken by Campus Ås. Current curatorial work involved exhibition for the research project Caring futures: developing new care ethics for technology-mediated care practices (QUALITECH) at the University of Stavanger. She has also been invited as associate artist for the Metabolic Art Gathering Program with Medical Museion, Copenhagen. Tapio is currently pursuing artistic research with FeLT, Futures of Living Technologies and as interdisciplinary Phd fellow at the Innovation for Sustainability Program at OsloMet.