It reconstructs unique cultural imagination erased in the process of historical extermination of Slavic Pagans by Germanic Christians between rivers Elbe (Laba) and Odra (Oder), a founding event of what is now the capital city of Germany. This trans-cultural etymology was researched extensively by the specialist on swamp and technology, Dr Dane Sutherland (operating via excellent mixed reality IG: Most Dismal Swamp), who supported the concept of Berl-Berl with his background report ‘View from the Swamp’. It references the early mediaeval Slavic settlements in the wetlands by river Spree (particularly Pankow and Kopenick), which during the late Middle Ages were transformed into Germanic town Berlin. In the exhibition title Berl-Berl, Berl is an old Slavic word for ‘swamp’. According to Steensen’s approach, technology allows ecological insight and flourishing rather than domination over nature. Instead, perceiving simulations as extensions of ecosystems, he engages with advanced technology as a sophisticated process of re-connection to base materialities of life. Employing state of art simulation tools from video games industry, such as Unreal game engine and AI algorithms that assist the evolution of vegetative biomorphs or animation of light, Steensen is not interested in the spectacle of high-tech in itself. Infamous for its techno/fetish club nights, Berghain has been transformed by Jakob Kudsk Steensen on the 10th of June into a multi-channel projection space of digital 3D swamp, which reflects its glistening image on the synthetic floor surfaces and interlaces with rough concrete textures of the interior. Berl-Berl, Jakob Kudsk Steensen, Halle am Berghain (2021) © Timo OhlerĪn obsolete soviet power plant in East Berlin has become a multimedia vehicle to the city’s origin this summer.
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