[spectre] ZKM/Exhibition Opening/"Resonances. The electromagnetic bodies project"

[Irina Koutoudis]

ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe
ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
July 2005


Exhibition Opening

R e s o n a n c e s .   T h e   e l e c t r o m a g n e t i c   b o d  
i e s   p r o j e c t
(28 July – 9 October 2005)

A ZKM guest exhibition at the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe

Opening Wednesday, 27 July at 7 pm at the Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe

The exhibition features a selection of works by Canadian artists who  
have immersed themselves in the phenomenon of electromagnetism. Like  
other living organisms, the human body functions as a source, echo,  
transmitter and resistance to electromagnetic waves. The exhibition  
examines the differences and similarities between “organic” sensors  
and man-made constructs as well as the impact of the invisible yet  
measurable forces on our sensory perception.
Many of the artworks in the exhibition relate to the work of the  
physicist and inventor, Nikola Tesla (1856-1943). Tesla’s scientific  
research, together with his visionary concepts for wireless  
communication and robots and his anticipation of a telepresence,  
provide the starting point for the artists’ response to the effects  
of electromagnetism. Tesla also spent many years examining the  
involvement of the observer in the construction of reality (thus  
anticipating virtual reality) as well as the magnetism of bodies.
In analogy to Tesla’s work, the artists represented in the exhibition  
deal primarily with electromagnetic phenomena and their impact on  
organic bodies. The artworks on display reflect every aspect of  
electromagnetism from visualisations and sonifications of the  
electromagnetic field that surrounds us to physical examinations of  
its influences and possible effects.

The original exhibition concept has been broadened in Karlsruhe to  
include works by international artists from the ZKM Collection. In  
view of the prominent position Karlsruhe occupies in the discovery of  
electromagnetic phenomena, the exhibition also examines the  
historical scientific background to electromagnetism. The physicist,  
Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894), discovered the existence of  
electromagnetic waves and was the first to transfer them from a  
transmitter to a receiver in 1886. Hertz performed the bulk of his  
creative work and research between 1885 and 1889 when he was a  
lecturer at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The exhibition  
uses documents and experimental setups to illustrate his work,  
propositions and studies, thus providing a graphic explanation of the  
phenomenon of electromagnetism. The University of Karlsruhe and the  
Heinrich Hertz Society were involved in the selection and  
presentation of Hertz’ research work.

Artists: Ælab, Jean-Pierre Aubé, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Gary  
Hill, Christina Kubisch, Kristin Lucas, Jenny Marketou, Marie-Jeanne  
Musiol, Nam June Paik, Paulette Phillips, Catherine Richards, Jocelyn  
Robert, David Tomas, Woody Vasulka, Norman White.


Curators: Nina Czegledy (Toronto, Canada) and Louise Provencher  
(Montreal, Canada)
ZKM curator: Sabine Himmelsbach

Guided tours: Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm

For more information please visit our website: www.zkm.de

Contact:

ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe
Lorenzstraße 19
76135 Karlsruhe
Fon: 0049(0)721 / 8100 – 1200
Fax: 0049(0)721 / 8100 – 1139
E-Mail: info at zkm.de