Fischen lauschen. Beginning of Data Transmission from the Arctic Sea. The audiovisual installation is based on audified data of computer processes and live transmitted as well as archived video images of a behavioral biology research station on Spitzbergen.
On January 24 at 7 pm the new exhibition Fischen lauschen. Beginning of Data Transmission from the Arctic
Sea (Listening to Fishes) by Hannes Rickli will open at the
project space of the Ernst Schering Foundation. The
Zürich-based Swiss artist presents an experimental
installation and a pilot project in the field of artistic research
on the development of aesthetic strategies in scientific
practice. The audiovisual installation is based on audified
data of computer processes and live transmitted as well as
archived video images of a behavioral biology research
station on Spitzbergen.
The Spitzbergen working group of fish ecologist Prof. Philipp Fischer researches the habitats and
migrations of marine organisms. In order to obtain the necessary constant data, the underwater station
RemOs was installed off the coast. Equipped with measuring probes and cameras, it is sending a
continuous stream of data such as stereo images, ocean temperature, murkiness or salinity to the main
land. Via remote and data streaming, these data can be accessed long distance. Before RemOs was
deployed in the ocean, Hannes Rickli had the opportunity to install six of his own acoustic sensors, in
addition to the existing probes, at critical points in RemOs. Since then, these sensors, by registering
electromagnetic vibrations, have constantly recorded the soundscapes that are generated by the
computers, processors, and cameras in RemOs, while RemOs for its part is documenting its environment.
The acoustic sensors thus observe and monitor, from their own, unique perspective, the generation and
processing of scientific data. To this end, the secondary observer uses recording, filtering, and transmission
systems that are similar to those used by the primary observer. The art installation wants to examine how
digital media are used to study “natural” phenomena, thus becoming a research object itself. Digital media
practices generate new worlds that do not exist outside of the media not only in the scientific lab or in field
experiments, but also in everyday life.
For his art project Fischen lauschen, Rickli has recorded and archived the acoustic signals of the
underwater station and the actually ephemeral video streams over a period of several months. In the
exhibition, these data are played in synchronous multitrack mode, thus bringing to the Project Space of the
Ernst Schering Foundation in Berlin a multi-layered simultaneity of a research reality that is thousands of
kilometers away. Different display methods show a variable temporality and thus separate the image from
its intended scientific pragmatism.
As a result of the feedback between scientific and artistic processes, the audiovisual world of
experiments is transformed into a phenomenon with its own aesthetic dimensions, which calls not only
on the exhibition visitors, but also on the biologists and artists involved in the original material, to find
new bearings.
On March 1 and 2 the symposium Fragile Data will take place in the Berlin-Brandenburg
Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
The exhibition “Fischen lauschen” is supported by Pro Helvetia, Schweizer Kulturstiftung.
This exhibition is part of the reSource 003: P2P Vorspiel presented by transmediale 2013
www.transmediale.de and CTM.13 www.ctm-festival.de
Image: Hannes Rickli, 2012. RemOs1, Sterometry picture left. Koldewey Station, Ny Ålesund, Spitzbergen, 15.6.2012, 09:36. Philipp Fischer, Alfred Wegener
Institute for Polar and Marine Research, member of the Helmholtz Association/ Biological Institute
Helgoland. © Philipp Fischer
Press contact:
Andrea Bölling, Public Relations Tel.: +49-30-20 62 29-60 boelling@scheringstiftung.de
Opening: Thursday, January 24, 2013, at 7 p.m.
Ernst Schering Foundation
Unter den Linden 32-34 - 10117 Berlin
Monday through Saturday: 11 am – 6 pm, except public holidays
free entry