reDesigning Affect Space

reDesigning Affect Space proposes a spatial model for analyzing the intermingling of (mobile and wireless) technology, the affective intensities generated by online (mediated) and offline (embodied) exchanges, and urban public spaces. This presentation discusses the intermediate results of the reDesigning Affect Space public research trajectory, consisting of three master classes conducted by the Lebanese/Egyptian artist Lara Baladi in Madrid, the Dutch artist duo Polak & van Bekkum in Berlin, and Hybrid Space Lab (architects Frans Vogelaar and Elizabeth Sikiaridi) in Madrid.

At transmediale 2019 we focus specifically on two projects that have emerged out of these previous masterclasses:

Architecture as Sonic Experience, by artists Esther Polak and Ivar van Bekkum, extends the well-known practices of binaural recording to an architectural and urban scale, listening to what buildings, streets, stations, and airports “hear” at their extreme edges.

Deep Space: Memory Politics in the Digital Age, by Hybrid Space Lab (Elizabeth Sikiaridi & Frans Vogelaar) focuses on the strongly emotionally charged memory politics of Valle de los Caídos in Spain and on the re-signification of this Francoist site—one of the world’s most controversial monuments. The Deep Space project addresses the re-signification of traditional physical monuments and heritage with the help of digital dynamic networked archives: What could future heritage (sites) look, feel, sound like, and how could their digitally enriched features affect memory-making processes?