Video/ Objekt/Installation 3:18 min, loop, 22/23

The Ability to Execute is a revolutionary pig farming program that will turn even the most clueless pig farmer into a swine-rearing prodigy. This cutting-edge program is based on the latest findings in behavioral science and is designed to build individual capabilities to drive and support transformational change at scale. It's guaranteed to turn even the most stubborn pig into a model of efficiency and productivity. Are we happy?

The metaphorical representation of a pig installation exemplifies a subversive deconstruction of the human relationship with working animals by stimulating a discursive dialogue on ethical issues, social constructs, and ecological impacts through the artistic fusion of symbolic pig motifs and spatial installation. This symbiotic fusion highlights the dichotomous nature of our interactions with pigs by both challenging our society's anthropocentric notions and providing an alternative perception of animals as individual beings with complex needs and sensibilities.

Video Installation, Objekt, 5:30, 2023


Data Me ist eine Serie, die sich mit postdigitalen Lebensformen von Natur, Mensch und Maschine im digitalen Raum auseinandersetzt. Die Video-Installation DataMe:DataHorse hinterfragt den glücklichen virtueller Körper, der unermüdlich als Datenpferd für Algorithmen im Netz arbeitet, um eine Fülle von Informationen zu produzieren und zu konsumieren - ein Digital-Labor-Loop-System. Die euphemistisch als Hyperflexion bezeichnete Pferdedressurmethode der Rollkur zwingt dem Pferd die unnatürliche Haltung des Kopfes auf der Brust auf. Wie hyperflektierte Dressurpferde nehmen wir eine demütigende und erzwungende Haltung ein, die gleichzeitig unsere Wahrnehmung unserer Umwelt einschränkt. Als Gegenleistung bekommt das Datenpferd nicht nur den kostenlosen Zugang sondern wird je nach Produktivität und Konformität durch ein höheres Feed-Ranking oder ein "Diamond Fan" Abzeichen belohnt. In Anbetracht der Umstände stellt sich die Frage nach der angemessenen Dauer des weiteren Verharrens in dieser Situation.

Data Me is a series that explores post-digital ways of life of nature, man and machine in digital space. The video installation DataMe:DataHorse questions the happy virtual body that works tirelessly as a data horse for algorithms on the net to produce and consume a wealth of information - a digital-lab-loop system. The horse training method of 'Rollkur', euphemistically called hyperflexion, forces the unnatural position of the head on the chest onto the horse. Like hyperflexed dressage horses, we adopt a humiliating and forcing posture that simultaneously limits our perception of our environment. In compensation, the data horse not only gets free access but is rewarded by a higher feed ranking or a "Diamond Fan" badge, depending on productivity and conformity. Given the circumstances, the question arises as to the appropriate duration of continuing to persist in this situation.

Video-Installation, Object, 5:20, 2022

Data Me is a series that explores post-digital ways of life of nature, man and machine in digital space. DataMe:DataStalker explores the behaviour of Instagram algorithms masquerading as guinea pigs. The guinea pig functions as a pop culture object while users consume the content unsuspectingly.
Within a short period of time, the feed is mainly filled with guinea pig videos and the corresponding advertisements. Amusing at first, it increasingly led to a feeling of harassment and annoyance.

In recommender systems, for example, a video is watched and the behaviour of the user is analysed to see whether there is a particular interest in the content of the video. Algorithms try to expand this interest to include targeted or related topics, which include the advertising of products, to the user and to increase their time spent on the platform.

DataMe:DataStalker setzt sich mit dem Verhalten von Instagram-Algorithmen auseinander die sich als Meerschweinchen tarnen. Das Meerschweinchens fungiert als popkulturelles Objekt während User:innen ahnungslos die Inhalte konsumieren.
Innerhalb kürzerster Zeit wird der Feed hauptsächlich mit Meerschweinchen-Videos und der dazugehörigen Werbung bespielt. Am Anfang noch amüsant, führte es doch mehr und mehr zu einem Gefühl der Bedrängung und Belästigung.

Bei Recommender-Systemen, wird zum Beispiel beim Betrachten eines Videos das Verhalten der User:innen dahingehend analysiert ob ein spezielles Interesse an dem Content des Videos besteht. Algorithmen versuchen dieses Interesse zu erweitern um gezielte oder verwandte Themenbereiche, die die Werbung von Produkten beinhaltet, den User:innen einzuspielen und ihre Verweildauer auf der Plattform zu steigern.

Video /Installation- 5:39 min; A/VPerformance 25:00 min, 2021


"Data Me: Data Sugar" deals with post-digital forms of life of nature, man and machine in digital space. The video work questions the happy virtual body with a program called 'Perfect Happiness'. Based on the principle of the Tamagotchis-Effect, 'Perfect Happiness' attempts to create an emotional playful connection by feeding data sugar in order to steer and control it.

Interactive 3D video sculpture, 2021

is part of the EIGENHEIM Edition #5 Digital Art Collection

A PROJECT OF EIGENHEIM WEIMAR / BERLIN IN COOPERATION WITH
MEDIENKUNST E. V. — ASSOCIATION FOR CONTEMPORARY ART WITH NEW MEDIA (MKV)

The work Data_Me < - Data_Fat shows an abstract, three-dimensional sculpture, whose shape slowly changes. The surface, which is covered by changing image fragments, varies. A voiceover → is heard in the distance, inviting the viewer with its decisive tone to feed data and evoke an interaction. The repetition of the sentence “Data Me” affects the surface image. The voice of the user influences the image of the virtual sculpture. Artist Kathrin Hunze questions the happy virtual body in digital space. A symbiotic relationship is created between an algorithm → and a virtual body in that the algorithm feeds the body with data. If the body is not near the algorithm and the algorithm is not near the body, the body does not get data fat and demands more data to exist. The state of the continuously generating virtual body is reflected by fed video and sound data. This symbiotic relationship is an integral part of our digitalized everyday life. Kathrin Hunze illustrates the functioning of such technological, data-based applications and at the same time clarifies both the dependence and necessity of data within these structures.

Installation, 2021


'#Love Maschino' reflects processes and materiality of human-machine relationships in real and virtual space.

"Training your best Friend: A character test "
2 Channel, 8:16 min, loop, experimental Video/installation, 2020

short:

The work examines the co-evolutionary relationship between human and machine. How a co-evolution between human and machine behaves, is reflected of the historical background and future significance of a tank. Will the tank of the future have a completely different form?

LEO MN2033 is a with shepherd dog data trained AI that is both a pet and a protector machine. Its task is to serve as a companion and protector in everyday life. Leo has been assigned to the category of working dog, which is subject to the strict and constantly monitored requirements of the German Electronic Shepherd Dog Association.

long:

LEO MN2033 is an AI trained with shepherd dog data that is both a pet and a protector machine. Its task is to serve as a companion and protector in everyday life. Leo has been assigned to the category of working dog, which is subject to the strict and constantly monitored requirements of the German Electronic Shepherd Dog Association.
The work examines in a humoristic way the co-evolutionary relationship between human and machine. How a co-evolution between human and machine behaves, is reflected of the historical background and future significance of a tank. Will the tank of the future have a completely different form? - And why do humans always need associations?
Domestication increasingly complements the co-evolution of humans and animals. The dog is a product of breeding intervention - a reflection of technology - and leads from a mutation of the human-dog relationship to a human-machine relationship.
The technology of the electronic dog is virtually a logical continuation of the co-evolution of human and dog that has been going on for a long time. For example, the German Shepherd ranks undisputedly at the top of the popularity scale of all purebred dogs worldwide. The breed has been bred according to plan since 1899. The idea of the
founder of the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde, Max von Stephanitz, was to develop a powerful, safe and well-balanced dog with a high willingness to learn and adaptability. The original purpose of the German Shepherd Dog was as a herding dog. Instead, it is used as a service dog by the military, customs and police. In the private sector, the German Shepherd can be used in any dog sport and as a pure family dog.
In order to preserve the German Shepherd Dog, which is predisposed to high performance, as a working dog and to perfect it in terms of breeding, the breed standard of the German Shepherd Dog was established, which describes the physical condition and the character and temperament traits. For this purpose, the German shepherd dogs must pass a character test.
The Latin word “canis” refers to both dogs and biting humans. So is it perhaps permissible to suspect in the dog’s biting fury and viciousness the secret biting fury and viciousness of its owner? A few years ago, the cultural philosopher Hartmut Böhme ventured the thesis: “When the pit bull jumps at us, it is man raging against man in the medium of the dog. Whereas in earlier stages of domestication it was his function as a guard, herding or hunting dog, today, in the urbanisation of the dog, other sides come to the fore. For example, a shift to more symbolic functions. The dog becomes a symbol of lifestyle. It becomes an animal of identification. Its breed and class reflect those of its owner. One presents oneself, equips oneself, reacts “in” the dog. It is a means of ego expansion, says Böhme. If you train a tank as a working dog with dog training data and characteristic dog traits, you would have a perfect working dog that can not only cuddle, but would also be operational in combat. The tank would have a future as a liminal creature. Human would continue to master his basic motive of domestication - disciplining, controlling, conditioning, wanting to dispose of the animal, nature, breeding nature, technical nature - by reassigning the liminal creature to the genus shepherd dog.


Concept & film: Kathrin Hunze
Kamera: Thomas Hack
Panzerteam: Jörn Klipp, Daniel Theiler
Ai: Antonio Castles, Martin Gasser, Thomas Hack

Sounddesign: Kathrin Hunze/ Moana Hohlenstein
Gamemusic: Milton; Visual
Music:
Hans Carste/Schuricke-Terzett - Schön ist die Welt (1938)



Text Quotes:
Gelöbnisrede: Veteidigungsminsterin Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Marianne Rosenberg - Ich bin wie du
Deutscher Schäferhundverein
MTA Police K9: Police Dog: Training your best friend

Video Installation, VR Installation, Audiovisual Performance, 20-25 min, 2019-2020

‘SINGULARIS’ deals with biological and information technology granular processes of postdigital life forms. Singularis is a granalysator in which collected biological matter is scanned into pointclouds and transformed through an audiovisual granular system. A complex network of synthetic bodies is created, forming a web of interactions. Existence as a post-digital life form implies the dissolution of man into a synthetic granular body that can only exist in a virtual world. Understanding life means controlling life.

The audiovisual real-time performance and video installation Singularis has been created in a first version in 2019 and further developed in 2020.

The technological foundation of the project is Unity used with the High-Definition Render Pipeline (HDRP). Using a high-end consumer graphics processing unit (GPU), this setup allows to render visuals in real-time in a quality, complexity and with dynamic lighting which has been previously possible only with offline rendering. The real-time setup in turn makes it possible to use unprecedented 3D live visuals in a performance setting, whereby animations and lighting react dynamically to sound created with SuperCollider.

The meshes and pointclouds appearing in Singularis have been created photogrammetrically using mobile phone images. The principal aim of photogrammetry is a perfect recreation of the scanned object, and postdigitality is usually visualised in a clean fashion in arts and media. But is postdigitality as perfect and clean as it is often portrayed? This is one of the questions I have addressed in my work by deliberately working with intermediate results of the photogrammetry process and by incorporating these semi-finished or unfinished objects that go through a process of granularization. For me, the resulting raw forms are the matching representation of a post-digital society.

Exhibition
Centre Pompidou Paris 2022
CTM Vorspiel/Transmediale 2022
EMAF INIT Experience 2020
Silent Green Berlin 2019
Westbund Art Center + FutureLab Shanghai 2019 at Centre Pompidou Shanghai, 2019
Udk Medienhaus Berlin, 2019
Akaoda Berlin, 2019
Soundstack Symposium London, 2019

EMAF INIT Experience 2020
EMAF Catalog 2020
FutureLab Shanghai

Video:
audiovisual realtime performance with Thomas Hack and Sound from HAI-Trio: Alberto de Campo, Hannes Hoelzl, Isak Han (https://airborneinstruments.eu/)

Video, 9:07 min, 2021



The experimental composition "re:capture" deals with the coexistence of nature, man and machine in virtual space. Algorithms process sounds from the real world with artificially generated sound structures based on the composition of Beethoven's 6th Symphony.

Through the interaction of photogrammetric objects, audiovisual textures are created that combine what already exists with what has been artificially produced.

Fulldome Video Installation

Artistic Research Project, 2020


The human perceptual apparatus looks for simple explanations for sensory impressions. Which explanation is used for given sensory impressions depends not only on the experiences but also on the expectations of the person. In an immersive video work we create an interplay between the machine and human perception. "Cross Perception" aims to raise the question of how experiences and expectations shape our perception and which perspectives dominate, blur or disappear in this interplay.

The visual Part is formed by photogrammetry using a smartphone. 3D objects, their mesh structure and textures are faulty and are the basis for the visual structure in Unity. An artificial neural network for object recognition processes the 3d objects and calculates probabilities for the presence of a given set of object classes for each point in time and each image section. If an object is detected over a certain period of time, a sound is played from the direction of the corresponding image section, which is related to the detected object. For the auditory composition, granular synthesis and spectral freezes were used to create a space. The object recognition was translated into Midi Note On/Off commands and imported into Ableton Live to trigger samplers with corresponding sounds. The positions of the sound sources were calculated directly from the camera coordinates and the viewing direction.

The project is part of TRANSFORM, a collaborative project between Angewandte, Johannes Kepler University, and Donau University Krems, funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. With the involvement of Kathrin Hunze, Thomas Hack; Silvan David Peter, Jan Schlüter (Institute for Computational Perception, JKU Linz) and Christine Böhler, Martin Gasser (Department Cross-Disciplinary Strategies, Angewandte Vienna).


Exibit

Ars Electronica 2020 in the Kepler's Gardens

Ars Electronica 2020 Katalog

Johannes Kepler Universität

Multimedia Installation, 2021

a project from Daniel Theiler and Kathrin Hunze at raumondemand Alte Münze, Berlin

The phrase „everything for the applause“ is symptomatic for our time. Applause still has a profound symbolism today – it expresses the pleasure of a performance, fulfills man’s deep longing for recognition and creates community. As a link between recognition, status and money, its form, nature and the framework in which it is displayed have changed over time. We explore applause and its digital surrogates, bringing it into artistic form through the creation of a human-applause machine that explores the intersection between reality and AR. The space On Demand, located on the grounds of the Alte Münze, is an ideal space to critically and reflectively engage with monetized applause.

The audience itself gets the applause in the form of short videos. The visitors:inside can select their applause in the „Payinghands.com“ online store from a pool of different applause types of different characters and purchase them against payment. The short videos are secured with NFTs. A physical token in the space on demand refers to this. The multimedia installation represented by the interplay of time-based media such as web, video, AR and performance.

1 Channel Videoinstallation, 3:10 min, Loop, 2020

Die Zukunft nimmt Gestalt an!

Hinter hermetisch abgeschlossen Türen reifen Ideen zur Realität!
Ein neues landwirtschaftliches System wird Wirklichkeit!
Der Gedanke wird in die Tat umgesetzt!
Verwirklichung des Gedankens!
Die Zukunft nimmt Gestalt an!
In funktioneller Form verwirklicht!
Punkt für Punkt übersichtlich!


The future is taking shape!

Behind hermetically sealed doors ideas mature into reality!
A new agricultural system becomes reality!
The idea becomes reality!
Realization of the thought!
The future is taking shape!
Realized in functional form!
Clearly arranged point by point!


Umlauftank 2 der TU Berlin
Part of the project 'Places of Science' with Lilli Kuschel, UdK Berlin

Sound Installation,

Artistic Research, KateHack Kollektiv, 2019

Value of life - MOLECULAR MACHINA is an audiovisual installation that makes the molecular processes involved in Epigenetics tangible and accessible.
The project not only examines biochemical cycles, but deals with the awareness with which we confront living beings.

The environment influences how the genetic code stored in DNA is interpreted. This phenomenon and related ones are collectively termed Epigenetics. MOLECULAR MACHINA is an installation that makes the molecular processes involved in Epigenetics tangible and accessible in an audiovisual fashion.

Two genetic synthesizers constantly interpret genetic codes through sonification. One is interpreting real genetic code and shows how the encoded proteins sound. The other, based on an artificial neural network, is interpreting an artificial code and shows how the encoded enzymes work. A network of plants constitutes the environment that influences the genetic synthesizers through epigenetic processes.


First exhibiton: 4 plants did not survive.
Second exhibtion: 4 dead plants are exhibited, 2 living plants did not survive.
Next exhibtion: 6 dead plants are exhibited, how many will not survive?


Molecular Machina consists of various projects and workshops who deal with biological systems. See also Molecular Machina EnzymeAlgo and Workshop.

Exhibted at re:publica 2019

Media coverage:
re:publica 2019 Berlin – re:cap: The Movie
3sat
tagesspiegel
Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Ausiovisuelle Performance, 2017


The Surveillance Suite is a multifaceted audiovisual performance which looks at current Slovakia affairs in cybersecurity and surveillance.
Based on recent research by sociologist Terezie Lokšová on the practices and implications of public surveillance in the local context of Žilina, we turn multiple data sources into acoustic and visual experiences that zoom back in time and out in space toward a global perspective on the issues.
The ensemble's palette includes a wide range of strategies and means, from spatial sonification and 3D visualisation, computational tactics like networked live coding, data scraping, multilingual speech synthesis and processing, to vintage technology in the form of electrical horns and mechanical sirens.

The Society for Nontrivial Pursuits
Artists:

Alberto de Campo
Haye Heerten
Hannes Hoelzl
Daniel Hromada
Kathrin Hunze
Arik Kofranek
Franz Milec

with the participation of:
Terezie Lokšová
Julia Scher
Thomas Hack
Echo Ho
Magdaléna Kobzová
kyberia.sk
Pictures by Sarah Massardier

Artistic Reseach Project, 2018-2019

The landscape of plant breeders in Germany is diverse. There are many medium-sized and large breeding companies which adapt a wide variety of useful plant species to the different soil, water and temperature conditions in Germany. Wheat, rapeseed and potatoes in particular have been intensively cultivated. Over the years the breeding techniques have changed and this has influenced the variety development.
Important characteristics of the individual plant species, whether for the producer, the processing industry, the trade or the consumer, have been identified and specifically changed.
There are many examples of this: Typical characteristics of potatoes are their susceptibility to fungi and pests, the colour of the tuber, its shape, size and consistency when cooked. Long wheat stalks often fold in strong winds and are difficult to harvest. For this reason, breeders bred varieties with the characteristic short stalks.
The breeding history of useful plants is very complex. With the help of sonification, the complexity of modern plant breeding in the 20th century can be portrayed in sound. It can be used to make large, multidimensional data sets audible and comprehensible in sounds and noises.
The PlantiSonics project is the result of the productive integration of artistic aesthetic expertise with the working methods of scientific sonification research.
From Arabidopsis Thaliana to wheat and potatoes, data records from the 'Bundessortenamt Germany and the National Center for Biotechnology Information were translated into sound.

More links about the project can be found here:


Live Stream der Arabidopsis

Museum für Naturkunde

PlantiSonics bei pflanzenforschung.de


Deutschlandfunk Kultur Radio Feature von Julia Diekämper


PlantiSonics wurde realisiert von

Prof. Dr. Alberto de Campo

Dr. Julia Diekämper, Museum für Naturkunde

Marcus Gammel, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Dr. Thomas Hermann, Universität Bielefeld

Dr. Henrike Perner, DIALOG GEA

Dr. Matthias Arlt, PLANT 2030

Kathrin Hunze
Dr. Thomas Hack

Audiovisual Performance, 2018

In “Into the Universe of Technical Images”, Vilém Flusser writes about different steps how we abstract the concrete and make ourselves subjects of an objective world. The concrete reality can be abstracted in several steps from four-dimensional space-time continuum to zero-dimensional points. These points can be recombined, calculated, and computed to form a higher-dimensional abstract reality. The objective world itself becomes a projection of these possibilities.

Complex behaviors, whether in feedback systems, chaotic circuits, social systems and/or computer programs are fascinating objects of study. The performance “A Score of Abstraction” explores the possible spaces of such systems. Based on Flusser’s thoughts, the performers design, build and program their own audio-visual/other performance systems based on a variety of devices, such as sensors, analog electronics, and different software syntheses.

Created and performed by 'The Society of Non-Trivial Pursuits' at CTM Vorspiel 2018, Berlin. Artists: Alberto de Campo, Haye Heerten, Kathrin Hunze, Lucas Maia

Sound Installation

Artistic Research Project, 2018

How does an AI’s abstract concept of two peripheral urban districts compare to that of humans?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a vital technological tool, pervading various aspects of our lives. Artificially intelligent systems are used to evaluate and categorise real data, and thus, ultimately, reality itself. For this reason, it is essential to understand the mistakes an AI can make and the concept of reality it develops. Neural networks are a particular kind of an artificially intelligent system. These networks can perform many tasks which require a particular type of intelligence - meaning comprehension -, such as identifying or rather classifying images, interpreting spoken language, or playing games. Like the human brain, neural networks are plastic systems which can change and adapt depending on the input they receive. This process of adaptation is what we call “learning”, or, in the context of a specific task, “training”. The design and inspiration for the name of neural networks came from the understanding of our brain. A long term goal is to be able to design an entire artificial brain. Although many AI systems currently have been able to beat humans in particular tasks, such as strategic board games, we are still far from constructing a general AI. Indeed, we have a limited understanding of how our brain works, and remarkably, also an incomplete understanding of successful artificial neural networks.

In this project, we shall train a neural network to distinguish between images of the urban landscapes of Biesdorf and Marzahn in Berlin. These images are taken from Google Street View. The trained network will ideally be able to say with high certainty whether an image from one of the
two districts is showing either a scene in Biesdorf or Marzahn. The interesting thing about neural networks is that we do not fully understand how they “understand”. However, we know that our neural network learns by developing a “general image”, or “abstract concept” of Biesdorf and Marzahn. Then it compares given images to this abstract concept in order to decide whether it is “seeing” Biesdorf or Marzahn. In this project we shall try to understand this abstract concept learned by the neural network. Thus we try to answer the question: What is Biesdorf, and what is Marzahn, for an AI? And how does the AI’s abstract concept of these two districts compare to the same abstract concept for humans? In order to answer these questions we shall use images of Marzahn and transform them in a particular way until the trained neural network thinks that they are images of Biesdorf, and vice versa. This transformation is achieved by introducing several mutations to an image of, say, Marzahn, and keeping only the mutations which, according to the neural network, are more “Biesdorf-like”, while discarding the others. We continue to mutate the image until the neural network is, say, 95% sure that the mutated image is showing Biesdorf and not Marzahn. Doing this with several images, we hope to uncover the AI’s abstract image of these two districts. We shall also go one step further and we shall sonify the AI’s abstract concept. To this end, we shall visualise existing musical compositions in the form of a still image. We shall mutate this image until the AI classifies it either as Biesdorf or as Marzahn. Reversing the visualisation process, we shall obtain a new composition which for the AI “sounds like Biesdorf”, or “sounds like Marzahn”. This will enable us to understand the AI’s abstract concept of the two districts also on a sonic level. (in collaboration with Thomas Hack)

This project is part of

‘Living on the edge’: when we think of spaces we tend to think of the space within. We leave the edges — the peripheries — where instability festers and sprawls out, for the rebellious or the adventurous. In cities, living at the periphery signifies both being an insider or city-dweller, but also being an outsider; not fitting inside for economic, social, or other reasons, and therefore resigned to the edge or the opposite — explicitly chosen to live there. Suburbia, or the Suburban Sublime. For the mind, the edge represents the grey matter — the cortex — where the higher mental processing takes place. This mental space is susceptible to being moulded dynamically by inner thoughts and external stimuli. To think about the peripheries, both in the tangible and intangible, is to explore the intersection between mind and space.

In cooperation with Schloss Biesdorf, Artistic Director: Karin Sheel
As part of Make City. Berlin Remixing / Stadt neu gemischt (http://makecity.berlin/)

Artistic Research Project, digital Print, 2017-2018


The relation between nature and art and the area of tension between naturality and artificiality are a constant source of scientific and social discourse. The principal and most essential questions arising are: Where are the borders and similarities between those seemingly disparate concepts? Can a true symbiosis of these elements exist, can they ever be in equilibrium?

"iPS Structures II" is the result of digital manipulation of two source images. One of them can be thought of as an induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell. Like an iPS cell, the iPS-image has been transformed into a primordial form, embodying an almost infinite potential for differentiation. The second image provided the nutrient solution and skeleton in which the iPS-image could multiply and grow structures. This growth was further stimulated and influenced by the application of digital image filters, serving a purpose much like molecular biological vectors. The endless complexity of nature is the result of simple base objects composed and manipulated according to simple rules in many individual simple steps. This image (one of a series of five) displays a tiny yet powerful fraction of this complexity.

This project has been be displayed in the exhibition “Infinite Potentials” SciArt Center at ArtCell (Cambridge, U.K.) and New York Hall of Science (New York City), in collaboration with the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute.

»Artist in Research« at Prof. Dr. Martin Zenke’s group in the Department Cell Biology of the RWTH Aachen/Uniklinik Aachen, Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Technology

Sound/Video, Object Installation

Artistic Research Project, 2016-2018

Part I - Gen I

Signs and sign systems, i.e. codes, are part of our daily life. Some of them are simple and intuitively comprehensible. Others are complex and difficult to understand for non-experts. Nevertheless they play an important role in our everyday social life. A prominent example are the various codes used in digital information technology. These have been developed and optimized over decades and can be considered a major triumph of the human mind.

It is fascinating to realize that nature was a pioneer in that respect. The genetic code, basis of all life, is structurally very similar to the digital codes developed by humans and by now we understand how efficient and highly developed the genetic code is. In our bodies as much as in the bodies of all living beings processes analogous to processes in computers, which however seem to be rather abstract to most of us, constantly occur.

Aim of this work is to enable us to experience this fascination. To this avail the genetic code is analyzed from the perspective of semiotics. Inspired by the code itself, a sign system is developed and used to display two important mechanisms of the genetic code, transcription and translation, as audiovisual processes. In particular this should make it possible to transport microscopic processes, usually invisible to us, into our macroscopic reality. This aim shall be achieved by an audiovisual room installation.

2016 Student Award, Exellence in the Application of New Technologies in Sound Art and Sound Design, klingtgut! symposium on sound

bachelor thesis (in German)
slides (in English)

PArt II - System in a System

Thalassiosira pseudonana is a species of marine centric diatoms. Diatoms are eukaryotic, photosynthetic microorganisms, who live in the water and in great variety of forms almost all over the world can be found. Diatoms are single-celled, but often occur as a colony
and its special feature is the hard shell that surrounds the cell.

System in a System represents an excerpt of a protein of clone CCMP 1335 of T. pseudonana.
The protein is visualised with a type system developed for my work GEN I.
Each character represents an amino acid and comes from a visual algorithm that I have developed.

In the sound composition, the individual amino acids in the form of their codons were entered and played back by using a gene synthesizer. The Gensynthesizer is developed to generate Sound with different or single DNA strangs.

This project was displayed as part of the exhibition 'Biologie und Bauen' at the Museum für Fotografie / Helmut-Newton-Stiftung, Berlin.

Biologie_Bauen (in German)

Projekt funding by Commission for Artistic and Scientific Projects (KKWV), Berlin University of the Arts


Information about Thalassiosira pseudonana CCMP1335 :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/protein/223993677
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/NC_012064.1?report=fasta&from=33684&to=34512&strand=true

Performance/ EchtZeit Video Installation, 2015

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Das Internet ermöglicht neuen Technologien uns permanenten Zugriff auf dort vorhandene Daten, zugleich gewähren wir durch die Nutzung dieser Technologien Zugriff auf uns selbst. Entweder, wenn persönliche Daten bewusst geteilt oder unbewusst zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Auch bei der alltäglichen Nutzung verschiedenster Dienste, die vermeintlich kostenlos sind, bezahlen wir mit unseren Daten. Dabei werden wir mit Hilfe von Profilen kategorisiert deren Daten lukrative Handelsware sind.

In Zusammenarbeit mit

Jascha Bela Kretchmann
Jan Hansen
Ben Wiemann

Sound Installation, 2014


Venice, a city that is constantly flooded by streams of water and tourists. Man and nature contribute to the fact that this city is disappearing more and more. The knowledge that the city is in a process of dissolution makes it all the more desirable. It is the attraction of not being able to grasp it, but still being in the midst of it, of living through the melancholy mood of the city.
People want to capture the process of dissolution, they take photographs to remember. But what do these images look like in our memories? Which perceptual images arise in our thoughts, are they audible and do they resemble the photographic images? The less often we call up a memory image in our imagination, the more blurred it becomes. Auditory perception is also blurred or no longer audible in our memories. Human himself participates in the process of dissolution.



Venedig, eine Stadt die beständig von Wasser- und Touristenströmen überflutet wird. Mensch und Natur tragen dazu bei, dass diese Stadt immer mehr verschwindet. Das Wissen, dass die Stadt sich im einem Auflösungprozess befindet, macht sie um so begehrter. Es ist der Reiz, es nicht greifen zu können, aber trotzdem mitten drin zu sein, das Durchleben der melancholischen Grundstimmung der Stadt.
Menschen wollen den Prozess der Auflösung festhalten, sie fotografieren, um sich zu erinnern. Doch wie sehen diese Bilder in unseren Erinnerungen aus? Welche Wahrnehmungsbilder entstehen in unseren Gedanken, sind sie hörbar und gleichen sie den fotografischen Bildern? Je seltener wir ein Erinnerungsbild in unserer Vorstellung aufrufen, umso unschärfer wird es. Auch die auditive Wahrnehmung ist in unseren Erinnerungen unscharf oder gar nicht mehr hörbar. Der Mensch selbst nimmt an dem Prozess der Auflösung teil.

Quadratleben 1 Channel, 1:55 min, 2012

1 Channel, Video Installation, 3:04 min, 2013

Eine Auseinandersetzung mit Nähe und Distanz.
Die Soundscapes bestehen aus Field Recordings aus Hamburg und kurzen Samples von Mozarts Requiem.

A confrontation with closeness and distance.
The soundscapes consist of field recordings in Hamburg and with short samples of Mozart's Requiem.

Fulldome Projections Lectures, W 20/21



In this seminar we explored full dome projections and their various forms for video and film. In doing so, we learned about the game engine Unity as an experimental environment. We explored different techniques that enhanced our own projects.

Because of Covid together with the students we created an online exhibtion "Fulldome Pixies"


Link to the exhibtion "Fulldome Pixies": https://hub.link/L6BM9U9

 

Expanded Reality Worlds I+II W 20/21 S 21

Course description:

Expanded Reality (XR) is an umbrella term that refers to Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technologies. They are immersive and illusionary technologies that expand the reality we experience by either blending the virtual and "real" worlds or creating a fully immersive experience.
In this block seminar we will dive into Expanded Reality and critically examine its various forms (VR, AR, MR). We will explore the game engine Unity and various techniques as an experimental environment. Own projects are welcome but not required.


Because of Covid part of the courses were online.

Quotes images of experiments:
Valentina Berthelon (Image 2)
Ran Ren (Image 3)
Cemre Bayatlıer (Image 5)
Mohammed AL Balushi (Image 6)
Belal Kalash (Image 7)

Link to mozilla hubs little history of VR: https://hub.link/KZoPeDW

"Softwear" Lectures, W 20/21


- online course -

In the course i gave several workshop units that dealt with new technologies and their application in the context of fashion design. For example we did small experiments with holography pyramids, 3d scanning, motion capture.

Link to Lecture room "Softwear": https://hubs.mozilla.com/4UJ4ftj

Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education S 21

A virtual exhibition of by students from The American University of Paris and Berlin University of the Arts is presented as part of The Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education conference that I co-curated together with Prof. Franziska Schreiber and Sara Daywynn

Production and Sounddesign: Kathrin Hunze
Production: Assistance: Tsingyun Zhang


The Digital Multilogue on Fashion Education 2021
A Conference on Learning and Teaching Fashion in Theory and Practice 1–2 October 2021, online, facilitated by The American University of Paris

The Multilogue on Fashion Education 2021 is a participatory and outcome-oriented space focused on the learning and teaching of fashion at tertiary level. It aims to explore and illustrate the diversity and complexity of the field and the practices of fashion education. It aims to foster a greater understanding of its pasts, presents and futures – methods, values and didactic, pedagogic and epistemological questions. This conference seeks to inspire mutual learning, collaborative research and shared action – fashion educations for NOW.

Kathrin Hunze



Kathrin Hunze works as media artist at the intersections of different forms of staging in the context of the moving image. Her artistic research focuses on the exploration of processes and mechanisms of new technologies and their effects in complex systems.

full CV

Community/Membership
Board member since 2021 & member since 2020 at Medienkunstverein Berlin
SciArt Initiative New York


Hunze studied communication design with a focus on time-based media and sound design at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, 2016, is a graduate of the Art and Media programme at the Berlin University of the Arts, 2019, and a master student of the Art and Media programme at the Berlin University of the Arts, 2020. She was Artist in Residence at Q21 Vienna for Paraflows, 2021, Artist in Residence at the Academy of Applied Arts Vienna, 2020 and at the Institute for Electronic Music and Acoustics (IEM) Graz, 2019.
As a lecturer she teaches for the departments of art and media, fashion design, computation & design as well as communication design at the Berlin University of the Arts, the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and the Berlin University of the Popular Arts.
Her works have been exhibited in Berlin, Linz, London, Shanghai and New York. She is board member of the Medienkunstverein Berlin and member of the collectives KateHack, raumperspektive and S4NTP. Her media art installations and performances have been presented at the CTM Festival Vorspiel/Transmediale, Ars Electronica and Centre Pompidou - West Bund Museum (Shanghai). She lives and works in Berlin.


Collective

KateHack

The artist collective KateHack (Kathrin Hunze & Thomas Hack) deals with themes at the interface of science and art. During their collaboration a special focus on artificial real time systems which embody interactions between living creatures and environments emerged. Their works analyse the boundaries and similarities of artificial and natural systems.

Thomas Hack has studied Theoretical Physics in Bonn and Hamburg, where he did his PhD. After being a Postdoc in Hamburg, Genoa and Leipzig, he specialised in Data Science and Machine Learning. Together with Kathrin Hunze he is pursuing generative projects at the interface of science and art.

Raumperspektive Collective

As Artistic Researchers Angela McArthur & Kathrin Hunze have been working for the last 5 years with different collaborations with scientists. After they met at the respective residences at IEM in Graz they decided to form a collective, named RaumperspektiveCollective. The Collective has a focus on artistic research where we critically examine new technologies and their impact on society. With an experimental approach, they investigate new technologies and question them audiovisually, with particular attention to spatiality.

soundcloud.com/kathihu
vimeo.com/user10906085
current-situation.medienhaus
nonlinear.demon.nl