Against the fearful background of our white noise of crisis & destruction, twisted pride in the permanent distortions of the Anthropocene & in the second year of our global pandemic – it seems a bit difficult to share the pop-technological optimism of the Western 70s.
But doesn’t our fear of the disappearance of our own species also produce a strange kind of lust? & what is this hubris anyway that we should absolutely continue this project “humanity”? Have we really achieved such greatness until now..?
We use the metaphor of the golden record as a message to unknown intelligences to involve a multitude of people, communities, and experts: What should a contemporary „world selfie“ depict and what are the codes to use? Who decides on its content? HOW DO WE WANT TO BE REMEMBERED?
We set up our recording studio at different locations worldwide: GRS invites experts, stakeholders, artists & the public into a unique immersive setting based on the practices of a specific community & their location. The STUDIO takes on a different shape in each place: It can range from an elaborate installation with recording stations, a concert + discursive inputs & open-ended negotiations (some have been in an animal shelter, a lab for satellites, an intentional commune, a church) – or it can be workshops, collective creations, 1:1 sessions in pretty much any place. The STUDIO is a morphing seed bank, a mash-up of individual fantasies & values. Which contents encapsulate our genius & stupidity, brutality & cooperation, progress & fall backs? & to whom should it be sent anyways?
We alchemically transmute NASA’s pseudo-global gold standard into our GOLDEN REMASTER: a subjective compilation of diverse real & imaginary objects – linguistic, visual, performative – decided collectively & in live negotiations with experts & stakeholders.
The absurd idea of presenting the long-term project “humanity”, which is incomprehensible to itself, to an unknown species, offers the excellent opportunity to experience ourselves as so grotesque, loving, brutal & surprising, as we might appear in the eyes of the imagined aliens. Just as Sun Ra, a pioneer of Afrofuturism, in the film & music project SPACE IS THE PLACE (1972) imagines the leap to a new planet to reveal & transcend very concrete political & social conditions of his present.
Stakeholder:innen & Musiker:innen :
Judith Albrecht (Visuelle Anthropologin), David Bloom (Tänzer, Choreograph, Body Worker), Dirk Dresselhaus (Musik), Daniel Falb (Philosoph & Autor), Cedrik Fermont (Musik), Chiara Garbellotto (Ethnologie), Isabella Hermann (Politikwissenschaftlerin & Sci-Fi Kuratorin), Irene Hilden, Hendrik Jackson (Autor), Eric Macedo, Wenzel Mehnert (Spekulative Zukunftsforschung), Detlev Möller (Bundesamt für die Sicherheit der Nuklearen Entsorgung), Judith Nika Pfeifer (Autorin), Nuno Marques Pinto (Musiker), Salome Rodeck & dem Elektronischen Orchester Charlottenburg
von & mit :
Miles Chalcraft (Artistic Engineering), Holger Heißmeyer (Creative Coding), Sebastian König (Technische Leitung), Pablo Lapettina (Mitarbeit Ausstattung & Interaktionstools), Alexandra Lauck (Öffentlichkeitsarbeit & Social Media), Jörg Lukas Matthaei (Künstlerische Leitung), Fabienne Müller (Ausstattung), Federico Neri (Video), Michael Rudolph (Grafikdesign), Frederyke Sauerbrey (Mitarbeit Recherchen & Kommunikation), Sarah Stührenberg (Produktionsleitung), Svenja Wolff (Mitarbeit Recherchen & Kommunikation)
