With the exhibition TRACE we examine the role of the “body” both digital and physical and its ability to change the architecture of the landscape and our perceptions of space. What is the role of the body and what resistance can it offer against digital reproduction?
Living in a cross-linked world we have to cope with the permanent interaction between reality and its overlaying digital world, without knowing where these impulses start or end.
TRACE mirrors this phenomenon of permanent interactive influence, of action and re-action – starting by rearranging the word „react“ to „TRACE“.
Capacitive body is a modular light system that reacts to the sound of urban spaces. Each custom built module consists of a piezoelectric sensor, a high bright electroluminescent wire and a microcontroller. The sensor is used to measure the vibration of a solid body. This data is transformed to the luminance of the wire.
Modules of the system will be installed at LEAP and outside on the street. One module will be attached to each side of the glass shell, whose vibrations are triggered by the traffic noise of its environment. With the electroluminescent wires a new dynamic space will be built inside the rigid body. In this setup the sensor data is used to trigger the on/off rhythm of each light wire. Thereby a visual feedback of the aural activity of the LEAP’s environment is given to the observer of the system.
The work „Armadillo“ by Felix Thorn (Felix’s Machines) is a compact device built to function as a standalone music box. Armadillo was built with materials including a bathroom rack, guitar case and various piano mechanisms. The majority of sounds are delicate and resemble light percussion of a cymbal. There are two motors that scrape springs at adjustable velocities. In standalone mode a sonar sensor triggers a programmed or random sequence. The nearer an observer stands, the faster the sequence becomes.
As a form of resistance to these works Abraham Hurtado in his work „Welcome to Europe“ asks in an age of consumer culture and over stimulation, what has become of our reality? Which actions, mental states, emotions and symptoms does it produce? With the live installation Welcome to Europe, Abraham Hurtado creates an extended time frame to focus on these questions and experience their resonances. Welcome to Europe is a live installation focusing on the mental state of European people; a state that has been influenced by over stimulation. What did we lose as Europeans? is the main question.
Leaving Traces: Theatre + Performance Artist Brina Stinehelfer will create a new site-specific durational performance piece in response to the installations of TRACE and the architecture of LEAP. What traces are left when the human body and the digital one overlap, intertwine, collide? What happens in the spaces where we co-exist? Where is the divide where one body ends and another begins?
30. April 2011: Join the ART BRATER BBQ at the panorama terrace, starting from 15.00 CET
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OPENING TRACE
selected Works by Martin Hesselmeier & Andreas Muxel, Felix Thorn, Abraham Hurtado and Brina Stinehelfer
Decks: DJ Markus Detmer (Staubgold, Berlin) & Michael Rosen (Digital in Berlin)
Firday, 29 April 2011 | 20:00 CET until late | Free entry
LEAP | Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13 (Berlin Carré, 1. Stock) | 10178 Berlin/Mitte
www.leapknecht.de
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