[spectre] In Ninth Heaven

[Oliver Grau]

please also see the English homepage:
http://www.syl-eckermann.net/imneuntenhimmel/in9thheaven.html 

>
> for your information / INVITATION
>
> In Ninth Heaven
> or The Far End of Europe
>
> An Interactive Synthetic Scape for the Museum Stein, Krems/A
> by Sylvia Eckermann and Gerald Nestler
> Composition and spatial acoustics: Peter Szely
>
> In Ninth Heaven or The Far End of Europe has at its core the  
> astonishing life of Andreas Koffler, an Austrian Jesuit missionary  
> who travelled to China and became a member at the court of the last 

> Ming emperor.
>
> Fluctuating between the worlds of early Baroque and late Ming/early 

> Qing eras, the project explores a rather brief yet multi-faceted  
> period of enlightened dialogue between Europe and China. Although  
> characterised by a respectful scientific exchange, it took place in 

> a world that was troubled by the Thirty Years' War, Inquisition and 

> Counter-Reformation on the one side, and by the insurgences during  
> the turnover of the dynasties on the other.
> But this dialogue unfolded by the Jesuits of the China mission in  
> the 17th century inspired Europe as well as China, influencing  
> Arts, Sciences and thinking modes in both civilizations. It has  
> also changed up to this day the way the West has been looking at  
> the “Middle Kingdom”.
>
> In Ninth Heaven takes some of the fascinating historic records and  
> illustrations of this time and turns them into a virtual journey  
> through a space of visual-acousmatic impressions. The project is  
> based on a 3D real-time display system that is incorporated into a  
> customised installation architecture. The visitors, seemingly  
> enclosed by the media body as if by a third skin, create their own  
> audio-visual journey, embracing and exploring this space of  
> imagination, while the architecture appears to be in motion itself.
>
> This 3D Synthetic Scape questions notions of centre and periphery,  
> cultural integration and exclusion, and reflects issues of being in 

> between identity, conformity and transition. Time, space and  
> gravity dissolve for a moment into the scope of experiencing  
> another horizon.
>
> more about the project:
> http://syl-eckermann.net/imneuntenhimmel 
 
> Opening: September 27 2008 11:00 am, Museum Stein
> Minoritenplatz 4, A-3504 Krems-Stein, open daily 10am - 5pm
> permanent installation
> Credits:
>
> Sylvia Eckermann : concept, installation, 3D-art
> Gerald Nestler : concept, research, text
> Peter Szely : composition and sound-architecture
>
> Doron Goldfarb : programming
> Josef Wienerroither : additional 3D-objects
> Eduard Wildner : voiceover
>
> supported by: Land Niederösterreich, SKE austromechana, BOSE GesmbH
> Department for Image Science, Danube University