next-Iterations from outside to inside

A report by Gerda Lampalzer

Eröffnung: 

Sunday, 17. May 2020 - 13:00

Laufzeit: 

17/05/2020 to 18/05/2020
c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer

from outside to inside - a Report

Reni Hofmüller invited me to participate in the 2-day online event next –Iterations as a guest. I was curious, honestly I couldn't really imagine what to expect. I couldn't really get anything out of the previous busy mail traffic of the group, to which I had meanwhile been added, because neither the names nor the stated plans told me anything.

 

Sunday 12:00 start with a short technical check. Big Blue Button only works on the second laptop I plug in. I am sitting in the Online- Room , which we have now adapted for video conferencing. The sun is shining outside, in the first block the project publication is presented. My concentration still fluctuates between the real and the virtual world. I go to the balcony and enjoy this simultaneity. However, I am not really "present" at the conference. I discover that the stream on the iterations.space/live site shows the Big Blue Button session with a slight delay. It creates an interfering sound buzz. Break. I stay on Big Blue Button. In the second block, the audience is addressed directly. In the meantime, the chat taking place in parallel has been found and tried out by everyone. I go to the garden.

 

I hear the machine written program and the back exercises in the background, I lie down on the meadow. Mz Balthazar's Lab lacks the pictures. It is improvised. So concentration is also lacking. Break. For the Instructions for Rendevous I am back in the Zoom Room. And suddenly it works. From this post on, I feel I am present in the conference. I also no longer change rooms. Unfortunately, the networked sonic spell-casting has only a still image for me, but the concept is convincing. Break. Block three alternates between designed contributions and discussion. Clear plus for the designed contributions. Unfortunately I have to skip the cocktails because I drank too much the day before. But I'm standing at the bar, listening to the events, the computer stays online, the sound keeps me connected, after the jam session there's a little good bye with a online camera exchange between Reni and me. I will be back tomorrow.

 

For the online guests day two starts with a kind of final presentation of the project. Since I have only seen the event in the Medienwerkstatt Wien, it is difficult for me to follow the discussion. I feel more like a fence guest. The afternoon body exercise is again accessible and has a sense of humor.

I skip soup cooking, you have to know each other personally. But I can imagine that it was fun.

 

Personal résumé. Carrying out the final event of the project as a purely online conference was due to the corona lock down, so it was a compromise. At the same time, it offered the opportunity to try out a format in order to make it a working tool for further projects. It was an experiment, as part of which I witnessed the following observations:

 

  1. It takes time. To perceive participation in the conference as an experience only arises if you stay tuned. Just to take a quick look online is like inconsistendly surfing the web. Only over time an emotional connection with the event develops and you feel connected to the other participants who were also “there” the whole time.

  2. The parallel chat is initially distracting, but it condenses the action during the length. As the only possible active part for those present, it articulates their presence. Just seeing the peoples names doesn't mean they're there, it just says their devices are online.

  3. All artistic contributions designed specifically for the online situation worked well. Formal compression is very important, it creates concentration and binds to the medium and thus to the event.

  4. The contributions in conversation form, group discussions, dialogues etc. are more difficult to follow for those not involved in the project. Once these posts are public, a stricter concept would have to be found. Interestingly, this does not apply to moderation. It is pleasant to have a recurring host who leads you through the day in a very personal form.

  5. Observation 4 leads to the conclusion that on-line events can never replace a physical presence. In analog life, exactly the elements that become stale in virtual space bring an event to life (discussion, improvisation, productive chaos, etc.).

Furthermore, it is almost impossible to make contacts "in passing", so to speak. Every question in the chat, every connection via camera, every comment becomes much more important than it would be at an analog presentation in a public space.

  1. What works very well is multilingualism. The „compromise“ mentioned above is becoming a strength online. The participants scattered around the world with their different gestures, accents and surroundings creates a strong international community feeling.

  2. It was a pleasure.

 

 

Gerda Lampalzer, Medienwerkstatt Wien

31.5.2020

 

Foto reference: all fotos: Gerda Lampalzer

1 The Online-Room

2 Introduction by Reni

3 Afternoon break on the balcony

4 Into the garden

5 With the Laboratory

6 Poetic instructions

 

 

 

  • c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer
  • c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer
  • c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer
  • c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer
  • c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer
  • c_esc_medien_kunst_labor_next-Iteration_Foto:GerdaLampalzer