About the Workshop
Satellites are used for almost all modern achievements, from communication or navigation systems to environmental monitoring and military purposes. Their number is rapidly growing in an exponential rate. Just in the last three years the number of active men made objects orbiting earth increased in about 300% while the amount of space junk still exceeds that many times over. Currently there are more than 20.000 objects in near earth space.
Despite all of this, we hardly notice their existence or talk about them in daily life. From earth they are visible only in the rare case that they are in the perfect angle to reflect the sun. But all necessary data about the positions and paths of satellites is known and publicly available.
The 3-day workshop will dive into the topic of this rather new layer of infrastructure and its meaning for our technology driven society. The participants will learn about the history and current developments of near earth space exploration, where and how to get data and information about satellites and will together work on related concepts and speculative narrations.
Instructor
Sebastian Alexander Neitsch
About the Instructor
Sebastian Alexander Neitsch (1982, DE) started focusing on his media art practice during his early art and technology related studies in Halle (Germany) and Linz (Austria). Since 2010 he works as independent artist and educator with a main focus on technology and human-machine interactions.
Since 2013 he is part of the artist collective Quadrature.
Their artistic research focuses on data and physical experiments and they understand technology as a means to read and write realities. Together, they pursue a transdisciplinary approach, using various media such as time-based performance and installation as well as classical sculptural and two-dimensional works.
For some years, the artists have been working on the methods and stories involved in exploring our world and the cosmos around us. For Quadrature, the universe represents an intangible but very real place for their reflections, evoking both the most elemental emotions and the most advanced scientific theories. The boundaries and limitations the human mind and its physical representations encounter resonates in all their work.
Who can take this course?
Anyone interested in technology, science, society and outer space. No special skills are required except of speaking english.
How to prepare for the course?
The workshop does not require any special knowledge but it helps if the participants have at least some basic understanding of programming.
Capacity
30 Pax
