The starting point of our exploration is my interdisciplinary research project “The Anthropocene Surge”,  based at the department of Site-Specific Art and the University of Vienna, which models and maps the spatial and temporal development of the Viennese Anthropocene* as a 3D body. In collaboration with Michael Wagreich — a member of the Anthropocene Working Group, the archaeologist and geoinformatician Kira Lappé and the geologist Maria Meszar, a model will be developed to visualize the mass, composition, weight, sprawl and accumulation rates of human deposits of Vienna from the Romans to the present day. (more info: http://www.ortsbezogenekunst.at/notes/view/the-anthropocene-surge)

During the course, we will follow the digitization process of this artificial strata into a geo-referenced landscape modeled in 3D through excursions, texts and talks. From the physical sample to its data record, from terrestrial body to avatar, from location to geo-location. Along the journey we will discuss topics like critical cartography, interdisciplinary work, software studies, the changing images of “nature”, the inner and outer life of Point Clouds and the visualization of invisible matter in different disciplines. For this we can visit excavations, museums, a geological seminar led by Colin Waters (officer of the Anthropocene Working Group), a visualization office, lab environments or archives. A central question will focus on how our research excursions are to be recorded, how they can be documented, transformed and perhaps fictionalized. In general, artistic research practices will give us some thought — who does Artistic Research, what can Artistic Research mean, how is it embedded in educational (Artistic Research PhD Program) or funding bodies, and how does Artistic Research distinguish itself from other methods? The resulting image-text-object traces will form a small showing and will be discussed together. Language German, English optional.

* the Nobel laureate and atmospheric researcher Paul Crutzen and the biologist Eurgen F. Stoermer initiated a broad discussion about the proclamation of a new geological epoch — the age of  the human-caused, the Anthropocene — in which a part of humanity becomes a geological factor.

80% attendance

Presentation or/and introduction and discussion with our invited guests