Reality Addicts at transmediale.06
Lauren Gunsel
Addicted to reality? Transmediale is Germany’s largest, most noteworthy festival celebrating the innovative use of digital media. The annual fair examines how contemporary technologies impact society and creates a forum for artists, media and anyone interested in the sphere of digital culture. The Akademie der Kuenste in Berlin will house the transmediale.06 exhibition from February 3 till March 19; the first four days are dedicated to celebrating culture, nature, music, machines, images, words and people at this year’s festival which is centered around the premise of manifold realities, titled "Reality Addicts."
Thematically focusing on the power of humor in art over the last four decades, 50 artists will display their work under the umbrella of idiosyncrasy and irony in this large show analyzing "Smile Machines." Good media art, like good humor, pushes the boundaries and examines the faults of our society, many of which are shaped by technology. Just because it may be funny doesn’t mean it’s not serious. The show has a direction and focus, primarily on contemporary art such as helpless robots, interactive installations, video and net art–all attempting to permeate the normal cultural and political routines we are faced with in our mass-mediated reality.
The details of this year’s program are still in development although the main components will be similar to last year’s festival. Compilation programs and feature films that specifically examine the festival theme, "Reality Addicts," as well as video works being judged for the award competition, will be screened. A three-day conference coinciding with the festival is set to discuss the question of humor as social practice and creative tactic.
Artistic strategy takes reality to another level at "club transmediale"–this year’s program is entitled "BEING BOLD!" Superior international electronic music producers and audiovisual performers will demonstrate just how brazen and audacious they may be in this portion of the festival. Panels and screenings will be conducted to highlight recent artistic and technical developments, as well as the potentials of electronic music fused with visual art. Transmediale presents the idea of a club as "a physical space whose uniqueness lies in its relative non-definition, giving a wide scope for the interplay of divergent media, formats and artistic approaches." To the untrained eye a club might just seem like a place to socialize; this forum sheds new light on the social dimensions in conjunction with the technology that makes the experience truly unique and dazzling to the senses and psyche.
While all the artists are celebrated, a select group has been thrust into the limelight. The transmediale award is designed to distinguish artists that not only exceptionally respond to contemporary scientific and techno-advances, but also map a course of action for humanity to experience these developments. In October, five international jury members selected nominees and honorable mentions during a three-day meeting. Nominations are as follows: Markus Kison for Roermond-Ecke-Schonhauser–his use of webcams (previously recorded footage in 4 international locations) to create a 3D installation through a special mirror construction; Agnes Meyer-Brandis for Eisberg-Sonde/SGM-Iceberg-Probe–a mixture of real Antarctic and virtually created images of a simulated dive into a 120 meter deep iceberg hole; Yoko Mohri and Soichiro Mihara for Vexations- Composition in Progress–using Eric Satie’s minimalist composition (that is said to be the longest composition ever created), they create a sound installation using each noise made in a room, transforming it into data which then is played back as piano notes, altering the composition into an ever-evolving piece of music; Platoniq for Burn Station–promoting the ideology of the internet as a common ground, this mobile self-service is used to search, listen and download music or audio files free of charge (and somehow it’s legal!); Andres Ramirez Gaviria for "-./"– his six minute video employs Morse Code to visualize and sonify a section from the 1926 book, Point and Line to Plane written by Wassily Kandinsky; Ubermorgen.com Feat. Alessandro Ludovico vs. Paolo Cirio for GWEI- Google will eat itself–generating income by serving Google text advertisements on their sites, they are deconstructing and transforming the neo-global advertising mechanism and taking their Google paychecks to buy more company shares (whose value sums up to more than all Swiss Banks together!). The winners will be announced during the ceremony on February 6 at Akademie der Kuenste. Last year there was a three-way tie between Camille Utterback (United States), Thomas Koener (Germany) and the artists group Svoltcore (Austria).
Transmediale is a cultural beacon, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. It is one of six federally subsidized events that exemplify Germany’s contemporary art production.
Escaping reality may not seem as alluring after transmediale.06 .
