Werkleitz Festival 2016 'Trans-Positionen'

The 2016 Werkleitz Festival Trans-Positionen (Trans-Positions) examines the relationship between sound and the electronic image, the political importance of radio and the medium’s current relevance. Trans-Positionen is taking place in conjunction with the international radio art festival Radio Revolten, organized by Radio Corax in Halle (Saale), Germany. As part of this collaboration the Werkleitz Festival will feature an interdisciplinary exploration of radio as a medium of acoustic art in its exhibition and performance, curated by Martin Hartung, and a multi-part film program, curated by Florian Wüst.

From October 1–30, 2016 the Audioscopic Research Archive (2004) of the Swedish painter, opera singer and researcher Friedrich Jürgenson will be on display in the foyer of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (Franckeplatz 2), on loan from the ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe. Put together in this form by the Swedish artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff, the archive consists of tapes, documents and devices related to Jürgenson’s research on transcommunication. In 1959 he discovered the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP). Using radio carrier waves, Jürgenson soon after recorded attempts of deceased persons to establish contact with the living. At a conference held in Koblenz, Germany in 1977, Jürgenson spoke of the necessity of a “revolution of consciousness” in regards to his contested research. After World War II his ground-breaking discovery was both a point of departure and wake-up call for a tolerant and loving co-existence beyond the boundaries of time and space. On October 2 at 5pm the context of the archive will be explained in a panel discussion with experts in the field of transcommunication in the foyer of the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Participants are Gesa Dröge (Lüneburg), Christian Hilpert (Braunschweig), and curator Martin Hartung.

On October 8 at 9pm CET the Swedish organist Hampus Lindwall and the Stockholm-based artists Joakim Forsgren and Leif Elggren will present Attempt No. 6, an audio-visual performance at Church of St. Moritz in Halle (Saale) that was commissioned especially for the Werkleitz Festival. Pushing the boundaries on the immaterial inheritance of frequency ranges, the artists will attempt to bring Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) and Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759) together into a dialogue using EVP. Though the composers were born in the same year not far from one another, no personal encounter between them was ever documented. The performance is intended to activate Jürgenson’s archive and at the same time explore radio as an interventional medium between the realms of the living and dead. The recently restored Moritz organ (Sauer organ) from the year 1925 is at the center of the piece, which will be broadcast live on the London radio station Resonance FM (104.4 FM, live stream). The audio recordings will be used to produce an LP, so that the event will live on even after the festival has come to an end.

The multi-part thematic film program by the Berlin-based film curator Florian Wüst will be presented on October 13 and 14, at 7pm and 9pm, respectively, at Zazie Kino & Bar, Kleine Ulrichstraße 22 in Halle (Saale). The program examines the reciprocal relationship between art and technology and counter- and mainstream cultures, with special emphasis on electronic and digital media. The film program also experiments with its own form: the combination of advertising, documentary, experimental film and music as well as the performance of a radio essay with film excerpts at the same time turns the cinema into an absolute realm of acoustic experience. Christoph Doering (Germany), Miriam Bajtala (Austria), Ralf Homann (Germany) and Filipa César (Portugal/Germany) have been invited to take part in the artist talks that will follow each screening.

Program

Audioscopic Research Archive
October 1–30
On loan from ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
Foyer of the German Federal Cultural Foundation, Franckeplatz 2, 06110 Halle (Saale)

Attempt No. 6
October 8, 9–10pm CET, audio-visual performance
Church of St. Moritz, An der Moritzkirche 8, 06108 Halle (Saale)

Film program
October 13–14, 7 and 9pm
Zazie Kino & Bar, Kleine Ulrichstraße 22, 06108 Halle (Saale)