Description only in German available. This event will take place in German only.

Sonolevitation
Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand with TeZ
"The Earth is the cradle of humanity, however, it is impossible to spend one's entire life in a cradle." This quote from Constantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, a Russian rocket engineer, is the starting point for Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand's speculative performance on the suspension of gravity. The reduction of gravitational effects may evoke emancipatory associations, yet such conditions predominate in our universe. In a spacecraft, among the most efficient ways to transport nearly all gases, liquids, and powders, is by means of a phenomenon known as acoustic levitation. In Domnitch and Gelfand's 'Sonolevitation', slivers of gold are acoustically suspended by a standing wave. A microphone monitors the slivers' modulation of the levitatory wave: the slightest change in the sliver's position has highly audible consequences. Sonolevitation is the first in a series of projects by the artists which explore microgravitational, near-vacuous environments. The capacity to create artworks in such spaces, permits the actuation of altogether unforeseen optical and acoustic processes. Especially for this performance, the artists have joined forces with TeZ, who will create a live quadraphonic setting of Sonolevitation.

Untitled Sound Objects
Pe Lang and Zimoun
Untitled Sound Objects is a series of works by Pe Lang and Zimoun in which the artists explore the properties of sound, materials, resonance and generative systems. Vibrating motors cause glass plates to oscillate. Various kinds of materials and objects are placed on these plates and generate sounds which are processed and amplified. The fragility and complexity of the resulting sound architecture resonates with the elegance and simplicity of their instrument. Pe Lang and Zimoun have an interest in how sound can be shaped, how space can be engineered, and how new dynamics and tone colours can be produced in a combination of digital and electroacoustical techniques.

The northern ice regions of our earth host cultures have followed traditional ways of life - related to ice, hunting and dwelling in extreme environments - for over 4000 years. In the ancient world the Hyperboreer was a mythic nation living at the most northerly edge of human imagination. The Inuits are the last limb in this Hyperboreic history, but now it seems their cultural tomorrow is doomed. Climate change is radically deforming this Inuit anthroposphere, changing indelibly their cultural selfconception and social texture. Geopolitical tugs of war on the north pole for raw materials for the combustion chambers of global industrialisation are impacting on traditional ways of life and endangering these forever. Can anything be done?

Crisis are moments of transition: they mark the passage from one dynamic to another, they are turning points in multidimensional transformation processes. ‘ESCALATION’ is part of a larger research project titled ‘North’ which was initiated by Territorial Agency in 2007. It fathoms the changes in the relations between geography, inhabitation and knowledge production in the 21st century.

The police shooting a fifteen year old became the trigger of social unrest in Greece. The fatal accident of a building worker sparked simmering turmoil in Delhi. Has this become our new political framework for agency: fatal accidents as the new default? Yet according to Binyavanga Wainaina, "the burning houses and the bloody attacks here do not reflect primordial hatreds. They reflect the manipulation of identity for political gain." If a cartoon in one country can lead to the loss of lives in another, Atteqa Malik states, "then policies should also be created to address issues that cross borders. All stakeholders should be considered, inside and outside the country, before policies are created to influence practice."

Sheila Jasanoff´s research concerns the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and public policy of´modern democracies, with a particular focus on the challenges of globalisation. She has written and lectured widely on problems of environmental regulation, risk management, and biotechnology in the United States, Europe, and India. At the transmediale.09 conference, Making / Thinking: The Cultural Tomorrow, she will speak about the Law of Globalisation as environmental change in modern democracies.

Drawing together the perspectives of environmental scientists, web technologists interested in the interface between digital footprint and environmental footprint, and artists concerned with creating precedents for social change on environmental sustainability.