MAIL DOCU EXPO  ABOUT  
TEXT FINE MUSIC THEATRE

 

 

 

 

 

1 PRODUCTION

2 DOCUMENTATION







SEEING IN THE DARK 2022


 



 

TWO CHANNEL MOVING IMAGE AND SPATIAL SOUND COMPOSITION [4DSOUND]
ALSO PRESENTED IN AN AR VERSION [HOLOLENS2]

SEEING IN THE DARK INQUIRES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMAN PERCEPTUAL SYSTEMS AND THEIR CONSTRUCTED AND HIDDEN ENVIRONMENTS. DETECTORS POSITIONED DEEP IN THE PYRENEES MOUNTAINS, SHIELDED FROM COSMIC RADIATION SENSE FOR HYPOTHETICAL COMPONENTS OF DARK MATTER, A MATTER WHICH CAN NOT BE SEEN, YET HAS TO EXIST IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE UNIVERSALITY OF OUR CURRENT GRAVITATIONAL LAWS.

THE FRAGILITY OF SCIENTIFIC ASSUMPTIONS AND THE CONSTANT ACTUALISATION OF THE FINITE NATURE OF LIFE SEEM TO INVOKE AN EERIE SPIRITUALITY IN THE UNDERGROUND LAB, WHICH IS ONLY ENFORCED BY THE SURROUNDING REMNANTS OF MULTIPLE AGES: A GRAVEYARD OF TRAINS FROM DIFFERENT EPOCHS, INTENDED TO PASS THROUGH THE UNFINISHED TUNNEL NOW HOSTING THE RESEARCH FACILITY AND BUNKERS GUARDING THE DECAYING TRACKS OCCUPIED BY BREEDING SPIDERS. HALF-DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ROAM THE MOUNTAIN RANGES AND THE SMALL VILLAGE BEFORE THE TUNNEL ENTRY. DESCENDANTS OF DINOSAURS (CHICKENS) AND FAMILIAR PREDATORIAL OBSERVANTS IN THE HORROR GENRE (CATS) TELL THE TALE OF A SPECTRE WHICH CAN NOT BE SEEN. SEEING IN THE DARK IS A NARRATIVE BASED IN REAL UNCERTAINTY, PARTLY SHOT IN INFRARED.










LO RHO HI RISE 2022

 

 






FOUR CHANNEL MOVING IMAGE WORK WITH A COMPOSITION BY HAUKE BERHEIDE STARRING DARLING SHEAR SQUIRE AND BASED ON AN IDEA WITH AMY STEBBINS

LO RHO HI RISE FOCUSES ON THE (WESTERN) CITY AS A MANIFESTATION OF CIVILISATION’S PERPETUAL NEGATION AND DEPENDENCE ON THE FORCES OF NATURE. THE MARGINALISATION OF THE SUBJECT, AND THE HUBRIS IN THE ENDEAVORS AGAINST IT BECOME PRESENT IN THE TWO PRINCIPLES OF ORGANISATION OF SPACE IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO: THE STRIVE FOR THE VERTICAL AND SEGMENTATION IN THE HORIZONTAL. ON THE ONE HAND, THE FOUNDATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VERTICAL AS A LIVING SPACE WAS LAID THERE, ON THE OTHER, THE CHICAGO “L” [“ELEVATED” PUBLIC TRANSIT] THWARTS, YET ILLUSTRATES THE SEPARATIONS IN THE HORIZONTAL. THE INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION FROM THE DISASSEMBLY LINE [MEAT PRODUCTION] TO THE ASSEMBLY LINE ENFORCED SOCIETAL FRAGMENTATION OF THE CITY INTO PARTS WITH STRONGLY DIVERGING SOCIO-ECONOMIC REALITIES.

EXTREME NATURAL PHENOMENA SEEM TO LEVEL THE SOCIETAL FRAGMENTATION’S ON FIRST GLANCE. SUDDEN HARSH TEMPESTS TRANSFORM TREES ALONG THE SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN INTO ICE SCULPTURES AND CUT ACROSS THE BOUNDARIES BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH, THE RICH AND THE POOR IN WINTER. THE RISE OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY IN SUMMER SETS THE TORNADO SIRENS IN PERMANENT ALERT AND HAS PROVEN TO BE DIRECTLY LINKED TO VIOLENT CRIME HAUNTING THE CITY. LO RHO HI RISE STAGES THE CITY IN A NARRATIVE OF INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN NATURE, ITS AGENTS, HUMAN CONTROL AND THEIR LOSS OF IT.

FUNDED BY THE JUNGE KUNST UND NEUE WEGE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME OF THE FREE STATE OF BAVARIA AND THE ERWIN UND GISELA VON STEINER STIFTUNG








GRUENLICHE DAEMMERUNG 2022

 



 

SINGLE CHANNEL MOVING IMAGE WORK IN COLLABOARTION WITH
STAATSOPER STUTTGART AND SCHAUSPIEL STUTTGART


GRUENLICHE DAEMMERUNG ALLIES THE UTOPIAN DRIVE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY FOR THE LIBERATION OF HUMANITY THROUGH ART AND AUTOMATION WITH THE NERVOUS CONSTANTS OF THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY-ESTABLISHING PRODUCTION OF THE PAST, THE AGGRESSIONS AGAINST A PRESENT OF TRADITIONAL POWER RELATIONS AND THE LONGING FOR POETIC PERVASION, RECOGNITION AND OVERCOMING OF A PRECARIOUS ARTIST’S EXISTENCE AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF ALGORITHMIC CONTROL OF LIFE, MATTER, VALUES AND IDEOLOGICAL STOCKTAKING AFTER THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. MYTH PRODUCTION IS TOLD AS A FLIGHT FORWARD, INTO ESCAPISM, OUT OF REPRESSIVE CAPITALISM, OR DEEP INTO IT. AS A CONDENSATION OF THESE AMBITIONS, THE RING DES NIBELUNGEN [WAGNER] WASHES AROUND FLOTSAM OF IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLES FROM JOHANNES KEPLER TO ANNALENA BAERBOCK.










SOLASTALGIA 2020 - 2021

 



 

SINGLE CHANNEL MOVING IMAGE WORK IN COLLABOARTION WITH
STAATSOPER STUTTGART

BASED ON TWO MADRIGALS BY CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI AND CARLO MILANUZZI
WITH A TEXT AND PERFORMANCE BY FAHIM AMIR

SOLASTALGIA IS A REFLECTION ON A SHARED MOMENT OF SUSPENSE. SHOT AT AN EMPTIED AIRPORT, THE FILM STAGES TWO COLLIGATED NARRATIVES ADDRESSING LOSS OF WORLD AND THE COINCIDING PERSONAL ALIENATION EVOKED EITHER THROUGH LONGING FOR THE PAST OR THE MARTYRDOM FOR A WISHFUL FUTURE. TWO MADRIGALS WRITTEN IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY IN VENICE FORM THEIR AFFECTIVE BASIS.

THE FILM MERGES THE TOPICS OF ACCELERATED TRADE, TRAVELING BODIES AND THEIR SEGMENTATION IN GOODS AND VIRUSES WITH A TRANSGRESSIVE PERSONEL: A BUSINESSMAN, A NYPD OFFICER, A CUSTOMS OFFICE DOG AND A VENETIAN SOLDIER TURNING ZOMBIE, A WATER MANAGEMENT WORKER, AN ACTIVIST AND A CIARLATANO. AT THE JUNCTION BETWEEN THE TWO STORYLINES, THE PHILOSOPHERFAHIM AMIR APPEARS ON THE ADVERTISING PANELS AND DEPARTURE BOARDS, PROCLAIMING A DEDICATED SPEECH ON APOCALYPSES, PARADIGMS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT AND THE AIRPORT AS A POLITICAL MULTI-SPECIES SPACE.










KILL SCREENS: A MUCH MORE
ELABORATE AND ATTRACTIVE
NEW SET OF TOYS
2020

 

 

 






INSTALLATION VIEW STAATLICHE KUNSTHALLE BADEN-BADEN


THE PROJECT EXAMINES A GESTURE THAT CAN BE CONCEIVED AS SYMBOLIC TO AN EMOTIONALIZED PRESENT: GAMERS RAGE QUIT AND THROW THEIR CONTROLLERS INTO THE MONITOR. THE SCREEN BREAKS, PERMADEATH.

CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FRUSTRATION, THE PROMISES OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AS WELL AS PSYCHOLOGICAL BEHAVIORAL STUDIES ARE INTERTWINED WITH CURRENT POLITICAL PHENOMENONS. "A MUCH MORE ELABORATE AND ATTRACTIVE NEW SET OF TOYS" IS A DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE SO CALLED "IOWA-STUDY" (1941), WHICH AIMED AT EXAMINING THE BEHAVIOR OF CHILDREN WHOSE FAVORITE TOYS WERE TEMPORARILY REMOVED. THE CHILDREN DISPLAYED FRUSTRATION WHEN THEIR TOYS WERE WITHDRAWN AND SHOWED CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLIER STAGES IN INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT.

THE WORK TRANSFERS THE STRUCTURE AND STATEMENTS OF THE TRIAL INTO A VIRTUAL GAMING ENVIRONMENT AND EXTENDS IT WITH OBSERVATIONS ON POLITICAL EVENTS, QUESTIONING THE POLITICAL UTILISATION OF FRUSTRATION AND GASLIGHTING AS WELL AS THE GAMIFICATION OF VIOLENT EXTREMISM. THE PIECE STAGES THE DRAMATURGICAL AFFECTIVE ARC IN ITS SONIC DIMENSION THROUGH STYLISTIC QUOTES OF GAMING MUSIC FROM MEDIEVALISM (TENOR: HANSOL CHOI), TO METAL GUITARS TO ELECTRONIC AVANT-GARDE.

DAMAGED TV AND COMPUTER SCREENS
GAME ENGINE
MULTICHANNEL COMPOSITION FOR TENOR
ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRIC GUITAR
STEEL












CASTOR&&POLLUX
SENSORY AIRPLANES
2018-2021

 

 

 





FIVE CHANNEL MOVING IMAGE AND SPATIAL SOUND COMPOSITION [4DSOUND]

SENSORY AIRPLANES REIMAGINES THE NARRATIVE AROUND THE INVENTION OF MNEMONICS THROUGH DISASTER WITH CONTEMPORARY ARTIFICIAL ENHANCEMENTS OF PROGRESSIVE INTELLIGENCE: THE TITLE, SUNG BY THE SIMONIDES FIGURE, HAS BEEN COINED BY MACHINE INTELLIGENCE TRAINED ON TECHNOUTOPIAN LITERATURE FROM THE SILICON VALLEY. THE SCORE HOLDS AUTOMATIZED EMULATIONS OF THE BAROQUE OPERA CASTOR ET POLLUX BY RAMEAU AND UNFOLDS AT HIGH SPEEDS THROUGH A DIGITAL AUDIO SPATIALIZATION SYSTEM. AN IMAGE RECOGNITION ALGORITHM TRIES, SUCCEEDS AND FAILS AT ANALYSING THE FLUX IN REAL TIME AND GENERATES INTERMEDIATES. SENSORY AIRPLANES IS A SPATIAL COMPOSITION DOCUMENTING THE WORK AND AIMS OF PHYSICISTS AND COMPUTER SCIENTISTS (HUMAN BRAIN PROJECT), STAGING THOUGHTS OF PHILOSOPHERS AND SCHOLARS (FAHIM AMIR, DIRK BAECKER, JANINA LOH) AND REIMAGINING THE NARRATIVE AROUND THE INVENTION OF MNEMOTECHNICS IN THE LIGHT OF MACHINES SIMULATING EMOTION.

PLEASE SEE THE ARTIST TALK AT THE JAN VAN EYCK
INCLUDING EXCERPTS OF THE PIECE HERE



SENSORY AIRPLANES IS THE TWIN PROJECT TO THE MUSIC THEATRE PIECE CASTOR&&POLLUX



SEVEN CHANNEL VIDEO AND 4DSOUND INSTALLATION / STAGE SETUP FOR CASTOR&&POLLUX IN COLLABORATION WITH LISA-CHARLOTTE FRIEDERICH AND JIM IGOR KALLENBERG
AND BAROQUE ENSEMBLE AT THE ALTE AULA HEIDELBERG
INCLUDING CUSTOM BENCHES DESIGNED BY OLIVER-SELIM BOUALAM













DEFAULT 2016-2017

 

 

 




DOCUMENTARY PROJECT IN COLLABORATION WITH TILMANN ROEDIGER ET AL


THE GLOBAL, INTERCONNECTED SOCIETY, IN OPPOSITION TO ITS OFTEN CLAIMED EGALITARIAN DOGMAS, FORMS EVER NEW GEOGRAPHICAL PLACES OF ECONOMICAL AND CULTURAL DIFFERENTIATION. ATHENS BECAME A HOTSPOT FOR THE CHALLENGES OF THE WESTERN AND EURASIAN WORLD: THE EUROPEAN STATE STRUCTURE AND ITS ROLE BOTH INWARD AND OUTWARD, THE MONETARY UNION, MIGRATION, POPULISM.

DEFAULT LAYS A FOCUS ON A CITY IN “PERMANENT EMERGENCY” THROUGH ITS CITIZENS PERSPECTIVES: A HEART SURGEON AND HIS SOLIDARITY HOSPITAL FOR THE DESTITUTE AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PHARMACY FOR REFUGEE SHELTERS, THE SON OF A TALIBAN FAMILY WHO FLED FROM HIS TRAINING IN THE MOUNTAINS, RECONSTRUCTING HIS PATH FROM STREET CHILD INTO ATHEN’S SOCIETY, A GERMAN-GREEK OCEANOGRAPHER REPORTING ON THE SEA AS IN-FRASTRUCTURE AND THE ROLE OF BILATERAL PERSPECTIVES, TO NAME JUST SOME OF THE ENCOUNTERS.

PLEASE FIND A FULL ESSAY BY DAMIAN LENTINI ABOUT THE WORK HERE

THE PROJECT HAS BEEN PRESENTED IN MULTIPLE FORMATS AND MEDIAL PROCESSING IN EXHIBITIONS AS WELL AS IN A CINEMA VERSION.




















AMYGDALA EMPIRE EMPIRIE
2015

 

 

 



INSTALLATION VIEWS


THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE AMYGDALA HAS BEEN EXPLORED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY THROUGH ANIMAL TESTING ON RHESUS MONKEYS WHO HAD ONE SIDE OF THE SYMMETRICAL BRAIN ELEMENT REMOVED AND THE BRAINS HEMISPHERES SEPARATED.

THE DIFFERENCE IN BEHAVIOR WAS SIGNIFICANT WHEN EITHER EYE WAS COVERED: WITH AN OPEN EYE ON THE SIDE OF THE INTACT AMYGDALA THE MONKEYS REACTIONS TO POTENTIAL THREATS, OR PARTNERS FOR (SEXUAL) INTERACTION WERE NORMAL.

WHEN THE SAME EYE WAS COVERED, HOWEVER, THE PRIMATES SHOWED NEITHER FEAR, AGGRESSION OR EMPATHY. CONFRONTED WITH SNAKES, THEY EVEN PLAYED WITH THEIR HISSING TONGUES AND STARTED BATTING THEM AROUND.

AMYGDALA EMPIRE EMPIRIE CONSISTS OF TWO MAIN ELEMENTS: A SEGMENTED 3D SCAN OF A PRIMATE’S SKULL AND A RATTLE SNAKES TAIL. BOTH ARE EMBEDDED IN A ARCHITECTONICAL APPROPRIATION OF THE ROOMS CEILING LIGHTS AND A SUBTLE PSYCHOSOMATIC SOUNDTRACK. INSIDE THE SKULL LIES AN AUTO-STEREOSCOPIC TABLET AT THE PLACE OF THE AMYGDALA, DEPICTING THE MODEL ITSELF.


ALUMINIUM
AUTOSTEREOSCOPIC TABLET
4CHANNEL SOUND
ROOM INTERVENTION


PLEASE SEE VIDEO DESCRIPTION FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.










SF MODE
2014

 

 

 



2D SHORT INSTALLATION PREVIEW


STARTING OUT FROM THE GLOBALLY SPREAD CULTURAL FORM OF THE STRING FIGURE AS A MEDITATION ON THE CONDITION WITHIN A DYNAMIC UNIVERSE OF INTERDEPENDENCY, THE INSTALLATION CONFLATES COMPATIBLE PHENOMENA TOWARDS A PATTERN OF HYPOTHESIS. FROM SCIENCE-FICTION AND THE MULTISPECIES NARRATION (HARRAWAY) THE AESOP FABLES, WHERE OBSERVABLE BEHAVIORS OF AN ORGANISMS GET INTO ANALOGIES TO AS HUMAN-EXCLUSIVELY CONCEIVED, MORAL SHORTCOMINGS.

OR TO AESOP'S THE BRAGGART, FEATURING THE PENTATHLETE WHO CLAIMS THAT HE CAN JUMP THE FARTHEST, BUT ONLY WHEN ON RHODOS AND WHO GETS HERE PENALIZED BY A LONESOME RESOLUTION IN WHICH HE BECOMES THE ἸΔΙΏΤΗΣ, THE IDIOT AS A PRIVATE PERSON. OR FROM AESOP TO A$AP. OR FROM SCIENCE-FICTION TO TEAL AND ORANGE, TODAY’S BLOCKBUSTING STANDARD FOR THE NARRATION INVOLVING THE OTHER.

WITH SCIENCE-FACT TOWARDS THE VISUALIZATION OF A WORMHOLE, WHERE THE MISCALCULATIONS WITHIN THE ANIMATION LEADS TO MORE COMPLEX RESULTS, FALSER OR MORE CORRECT. COMPARABLE TO THE MODEL OF THE CALABI-YAU-MANIFOLD: A THREE-DIMENSIONAL ANIMATION BASED ON AN EXTRUDED MESH OUT OF LINEAR GEOMETRY (STRINGS).

GOING HAND IN HAND WITH THE QUESTION OF THE QUALITIES/MODULI OF TIME, IF INANE NOSTALGIA IS NO OPTION.


3 CHANNEL 3D VIDEOPROJECTION
5 1 AUDIO
19 MIN 19 MIN 15 MIN LOOP
LAVA STONE GRAVEL
PLATFORMS


PLEASE SEE VIDEO DESCRIPTION FOR FULL CAST, CREW AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.










LYBES DIMEM ECHELON RP
2014

 

 

 




INSTALLATION AND AUDIOVISUAL SHOW


ECHELON RP IS AN INSTALLATIVE PRESENTATION FORMAT OF LYBES DIMEM, A PROJECT BY LUKAS REHM BASED ON DIGITAL SOUND DESIGN AND COMPOSITION.

WHEREAS THE MOST PROMINENT INDEX TO THE TERM ”ECHELON“ RELATES TO THE EAVESDROPPING PROGRAM OF THE INTERNATIONAL ESPIONAGE NETWORK OF ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS (AU, CA, NZ, UK, USA) IT ALSO DESCRIBES AN ANCIENT ASYMMETRICAL ATTACK FORMATION APPLIED AS MEANS FOR AN OUTNUMBERED ARMY TO WIN A BATTLE.

FURTHER ASSOCIATIONS FOLLOW THROUGH THE FRENCH WORD „ÉCHELLE“ (E: LADDER): “ECHELLE GRIDS“ FIND AN APPLICATION IN SPECTROMETERS, L’ÉCHELLE DES SONS IS THE MUSICAL SCALE.


MIRRORS
MAGNESIUM
SAND
MIRROR FOIL
CORNER PROFILE
MOTOR BIKE HELMET,
STHL BY OLIVER-SELIM BOUALAM
2-CHANNEL AUDIO, 2-CHANNEL VIDEO
INSTALLATION 8 MIN LOOP
SHOW 28 MIN









THEORY OF A
DANGEROUS GUEST
2013

 

 

 




THE RUIN IN THE FOREST AT NIGHT IS MOTIVE OF DESIRE FOR THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE THIRD. DIFFERENT FROM HIS COMTEMPORARIE’S MYTHICAL ROMANTICISM, THE PHILOSOPHICALLY EDUCATED BIOLOGIST AND MEDIC ENGELBERT KAEMPFER SURPASSES DOMESTIC THRESHOLDS FOR THE IDEAL OF A WORLD INTERCONNECTED THROUGH KNOWLEDGE. TREATISES OF HIS VOYAGES THROUGH RUSSIA, THE PERSIAN EMPIRE TO SOUTH-EAST ASIA REMAIN REVEALING HISTORICAL SOURCES.

FOR JAPAN OF THE EDO-TIME HIS EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE HAD DIRECT IMPACT ON ITS SELF-CONCEPTION. HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND’S ISOLATIONISM IN THE LIGHT OF EUROPEAN COLONIAL ENDEAVORS HAD QUICKLY GROWN APPEAL BY JAPANESE SCHOLARS AND CAN BE FOUND IN SCHOOLBOOKS UNTIL TODAY UNDER THE HYPERNYM „SAKOKU“ (ISOLATION).

THE THEORY OF A DANGEROUS GUEST STAGES KAEMPFER’S RECOLLECTION OF SEVERAL DAYS WAITING AND OBSERVING IN THE BAY OF NAGASAKI HARBOR BEFORE BEING GRANTED ENTRY – A TEXT FRAGMENT WICH HAD NOT BEEN TRANSLATED BEFORE – BOTH IN GERMAN AND JAPANESE. THE SOUND INSTALLATION IN THE COURT GARDEN OF THE MONASTERY RUINS OF FRAUENALB IS ILLUMINATED BY A PROJECTION ON THE CHURCH WALLS OF THE ABBEY SHOWING A LIVE FEED OF THE ACTIVITY INSIDE THE NAVE.


4.1-CHANNEL AUDIO
VIDEO CAMERA
LIVE-PROJECTION







REALIZED IN COLLABORATION WITH MINAMI YAHIRO AND CHRISTOPHE CHARLES
INCLUDING AN EDITED VERSION OF SANSUJUKU 2011 BY CHRISTOPHE CHARLES AND BORIS HEGENBART WITH GENEROUS PERMISSION BY THE ARTISTS











© 2023 LUKAS REHM AND THE COLLABORATING ARTISTS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.