Single Review on past events

The ZKM is a cultural institution that gathers scientists and artists from all over the world to collaborate in practical-theoretical projects. The institution also has some of the largest collections of media arts in Europe, with a particular focus on computer and video art. The day-trip to the museum was preceded by a lecture given in the previous day about museums of computing by Peter Krapp (University of California, Irvine), who is also a Senior Fellow at the Zukunftskolleg. The journey started early in the morning, with Fellows arriving in Karlsruhe by train around 13:00. After a pleasant time to discuss and get to know colleagues further during the train travel and lunchtime at the bistro in the Foyer of the ZKM Café, the researchers had guided tours through three of the main open exhibitions at the museums.

First was the exhibition “Walter Giers. Electronic Art”, which spanned the career of the German op-art pioneer, from his early works deconstructing radio equipment, passing through his experiences with computer sensors and body movements, showing also his idiosyncratic pieces of jewelry design. The interactive aspect of Giers' artwork made it a particularly good start for a tour, as Fellows were invited to experiment with some of the pieces. Even though some of the installations could not be repaired to their original state for the exhibition, the noisy technical experiments of most pieces made themselves heard during the nearly one-hour long walk through the guided exhibition.

Next was “Lazy Clouds”, the current exhibition of artist Soun-Gui Kim. In a completely different rhythm, the tour through the three main halls which spanned different phases of the artist's career had a much more introverted feel, reflecting the conceptual approach of Kim to the poetic aspects of landscape and her attention to human experiences within natural and social environments. Fellows could follow the evolution of her visual work from the early video interventions in (and struggling with) traditional Korean art, to her more recent renditions exploring the structural tensions and continuities between digital technology and traditional media practices.

In the meantime of the guided tours, the participants had the opportunity to observe some of the ateliers and workshops where artists and researchers develop their collaborative work at the ZKM. In the last tour, Fellows had the opportunity to observe how the "zkm_Gameplay" exhibition was curated. Occupied with the past of digital games, this exhibition presented a diverse selection of historical and creative works from the medium of video games. Within the tradition of ZKM as a media-oriented museum, the curatorial approach of "zkm_Gameplay" focused on the artistic and technical limits and possibilities of the medium through specific, canonical titles of the history of digital games until the present. Participants could also play some of these titles, mostly by making use of emulators, but also some original consoles arranged by the museum.

Before returning, Fellows also took a walk together through the city center of Karlsruhe, visiting the park of the Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe before traveling back to Konstanz at night.