Session 4 The Poetics of Hybrid Space
Friday, 16:15 – 18:00, De Balie
The concept of Hybrid Space does away with misleading spatial dichotomies that have accompanied the rise of digital and networked media; real versus virtual; physical versus immaterial; flows versus places (Manuel Castells). Hybrid Space instead points at a layering of physical and information and media infrastructures, social, cultural and economic flows superimposed in one and the same space. Hybrid Space indicates the simultaneous presence of heterogeneous spatial logics at play in our everyday living spaces. This spatial heterogeneity is amplified by the growth of real-time communication and media technologies. Especially the rise of portable and wireless media, which we carry on our bodies and access in a variety of spatial contexts, heighten this daily experience of the heterogeneous.
In contrast to the sterile phantasies of seamless immersive virtual spaces, Hybrid Space emphasizes discontinuity, inconsistency, intimacy, heterogeneity, and paradox. The volatile presence of physical absence mediated by proliferating communication and media technologies permeating virtually every aspect of daily experience (gsm, wifi, umts/3G, gps, dvb, radiography) creates a powerful and rich locus for various forms of artistic and poetic intervention. Such aesthetic and artistic interventions in turn intensify the experience of an increasing spatial hybridity that has become so pervasive so quickly, that it has become almost impossible to recognize as a startling new experimental condition.
This panel will explore the new conditions of experience emphasized by the concept of Hybrid Space through the prism of a series of artistic and interventionist projects drawing on the increased hybridity of the contemporary spaces of everyday life. The panel was selected and will be moderated by Eric Kluitenberg, and features presentations by Duncan Speakman, Lancel/Maat, Peter Westenberg and Elizabeth Sikiaridi.
Eric Kluitenberg (NL) is a media theorist, writer on culture, media and technology. Kluitenberg heads the media program at De Balie, Centre for Culture and Politics in Amsterdam.
Karen Lancel and Hermen Maat create ‘meeting places’ in public spaces. These performances and installations are designed as seductive, visual environments. The artists invite their audience to experiment and play with social technologies – and to reflect on their own perception of body, identity, community and alienation.
Duncan Speakman (UK) examines how we use sound to locate ourselves in personal and political environments, creating experiences that engage audiences in public spaces. He is develops site-responsive soundwalks, street games and pervasive theater works.
Peter Westenberg (NL) is a visual artist and filmmaker who engages in open source practices.
