In collaboration with Moritz Mattern and Martin Carlé
Against the background of a textile-manufactured test card appears Moritz Mattern, who reports that, contrary to Adorno’s belief, our culture did not emerge from the negligence of desire. The following sequence shows a flowery simulation of the siren’s islands at gulf of Positano. The 3D ship of Odysseus, with a time- and wave-damaged front figure in the form of Friedrich Kittler, bears a projection on its sails: Martin Carlé explains astonishing relations between sirens and harmony. This is followed by the Tetraktys Zoion – a neo-Pythagorean sketch for synthetic animal sculptures.
Weather report: “Germany becomes Greece.” Joulia Strauss introduces a just-completed reconstruction of an ancient Greek lyre, and sings the First Delphic Hymn to Apollo whilst accompanying herself on the instrument. The hymn was written down by Athenaios in the 2nd century before our time, to show the beauty of ancient Greek music to the barbarian Romans. Originally, the work was rendered as a prequiem during archaic sacrifice rituals.
The core of TK News 3 is a 3D reconstruction of a scientific expedition of Humboldt University scientists: Martin Carlé, Friedrich Kittler and Christian von Borries. Supported by Peter Weibel (ZKM Center for Arts and Media, Karlsruhe), they visited the Siren Islands and conducted experiments relating to the spreading of sound. It was proven that the acoustical conditions of the site were crucial for the Odyssey’s central scene and that the sirens were indeed a matter of real experience.