Our encounters between researchers and artists from the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) and the University of Oxford open up new fields of engagement between the arts, humanities and sciences. We anticipate that this new exchange of methodologies, modes of representation, language and other qualities will lead to innovative contributions in the arts and sciences alike. We embrace a worldview that purposely goes beyond preconceived disciplinary borders and integrates speculative, subjective and positivistic approaches to problem-solving and creation. Launching these encounters alongside the current shift to digital communication requires also a critical assessment of the impact that any given media has on the execution of its dependent activities. It is our desire to develop a balanced interaction between content and media, which can support, inform and structure each part positively and grant new experimental spaces of shared exploration between the members of both universities. The encounters are intended to provide a novel emphatic perspective on how we can work, think and communicate.

 

The “Sound of Contagion” explores what a society of contagion can sound like and how technology can illuminate 2020 pandemic and others throughout history. The collaboration weaves together world-building, speculative fiction, artificial intelligence, and music to offer strange and thought-provoking answers

First in a trilogy, this podcast introduces the creative collaboration on Climate Crisis Thinking.
Through Eiko Soga’s investigation and artistic work with an indigenous community in Japan called the Ainu, we discover personal dimensions of societal issues, enabling us to explore both thinking and learning through the process of hunting and food preparation.

Listen to part two and three of the three-part podcast 'Animal Eyes on the Planet' on 'Current Situation' - the blog of the UdK Class Experimental Film / Media Art, lead by Prof. Nina Fischer.

Current Situation

'Animal Eyes on the Planet' on torch.ox.ac.uk

11 Feb 2021 - Kate McLoughlin, Ariane Jeßulat, Sylee Gore, Thorsten Weigelt

Silences explores what we mean by silence and what silence means to us. Interweaving silences, sounds and voices, it reveals the rich pleasures and mysteries of experiences without noises or words.

Listening to Silence layers interweaves, connects, filters, composes and decomposes interviews, ambiences and music.
Script by Kate McLoughlin, composition and production by Thorsten Weigelt, including the piece untitled #5 by Christian Kesten"

Expert listeners may recognize:
Last Plane from Tegel and Reversing Pendulum Music by Alberto de Campo, Untitled #5 by Christian Kesten performed by Maulwerker, Berlin Hinterhof Contemplation and Vico Virtual Silence by Kirsten Reese, Berliner Dom before and Berliner Dom after by Thorsten Weigelt, I Went To Archive Silence (12/VI/2020, 04.20) by Sylee Gore, Tape noise from the family archive (Christmas 1961) and Field recording on the rooftop of Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin (27.04.2012, 15:35) by Fritz Schlüter.

Created on the Charisma.ai platform, WillPlay is an AI-powered, immersive reimagining of Shakespeare's plays which allows school students to chat online with Shakespeare's characters and message their way through the drama. In this podcast, we discuss how WillPlay was created, exploring the inspiration behind the project and our ideas for future developments.

In this second podcast from the Berlin and the Oxford creative collaboration on Climate Crisis Thinking we acquaint ourselves with the Japan’s indigenous Ainu culture and history. The encounter leads us to rethink our cultural values to discuss climate issues kindly, gently, and radically.

The “Sound of Contagion” explores what a society of contagion can sound like and how technology can illuminate 2020 pandemic and others throughout history.

In this episode the three researchers (Haith, Laidlow, Mehnert) present and reflect on sections of the narrative generated by the algorithm and the music inspired by it. You can find the narrative with researcher notes here: https://www.soundofcontagion.com/narrative. The collaboration weaves together world-building, speculative fiction, artificial intelligence, and music to offer strange and thought-provoking answers.

In this third and last podcast on Climate Crisis Thinking we work with the Japan’s indigenous Ainu culture and history to explore how artists can respond to intangible aspects of the world and express them.

What does it take to work sensitively and reciprocally towards our natural and social environment?