Current Events

Moving Image Perspectives

22. December 2024 – 30. June 2025
Solo Show, Annka Kultys Gallery, London

ANNKA KULTYS GALLERY is pleased to present Greetings From Germany! (2024), a single-channel video by German artist Aram Bartholl, a poignant critique of police activities on the streets of Berlin, underscoring the potential of art to confront and illuminate complex truths. This presentation is part of Illuminated: Moving Image Perspectives, the gallery digital programme, which will take place over the course of a year, and offer unique insights into new media artists using film, video animation, as well as their latest technological explorations, including blockchain and advanced technologies such as AI.

Aram Bartholl’s, video Greetings from Germany! (2024), uses the technology of AI as a space of opportunities to explore disturbing policies around modern urban policing. The ironic title belies a serious underlying message about police activity on the streets of Berlin — a reminder that art can be a powerful tool to consider truth more fully.

For this work Bartholl chose a single image from a recording of an anti-war demonstration in Berlin where police were involved. Using this single frame, Greetings from Germany! presents six alternative realities generated by different AI video systems. The unfolding events are unsettling, playing with notions of certainty. It is difficult to know precisely what is happening as figures morph into one another. Lines are blurred between police, demonstrators and bystanders and precisely what is happening – one figure appears to dance. As the video is shot from the point of view of the audience, (reminiscent of smartphone streaming), the work gives the impression of the viewer being a witness to events unfolding. This creates a sense of immediacy, yet questions of veracity soon arise. The use of a variety of video generators shows how each of these commercial AI models give a slightly different angle to the ambiguous narrative. Shockingly, however, in the final shot, the ambiguity disappears as the viewer is confronted by a distressing clip of found footage of the incident.

This work is about holding a mirror to society, making visible aspects of public policy that might be easily overlooked or disregarded. By using one of the major tools of contemporary society – AI, Bartholl here encourages the viewer to look again, reconsider definitions of what constitutes the real, and catalyse conversations around critical issues.

Grand Snail Tour

26. September 2024 – 29. August 2025
Group Show, Urbane Künste Ruhr, Xanten Ruhrgebiet

What is the Ruhr area? An exciting metropolitan region centred around the major cities of Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg? Or a collection of scattered towns and villages from Alpen to Xanten? Or both? Does it consist of tranquil river landscapes along the Ruhr, Emscher and Lippe or is it hopelessly damaged by the scars of heavy industry? Ruhrpott, example of transformation, poverty zone – how can art open up, change and enrich this diverse region?

Urbane Künste Ruhr wants to find out and is launching the Grand Snail Tour in autumn, an artistic-performative journey through all 53 cities in the Ruhr region. Because this is an ambitious endeavour and Urbane Künste Ruhr has set itself the goal of getting to know local players, forming bonds and establishing sustainable networks, this is a three-year project.

Kick-off Grand Snail Tour in Xanten
Urbane Künste Ruhr is launching the Grand Snail Tour in autumn, an artistic-performative journey through all 53 cities in the Ruhr area. The kick-off event will take place on 26.9. in Xanten.

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Upcoming Events

material messenger

29. June – 14. September 2025
Group Show, RAUM SCHROTH im Museum Wilhelm Morgner, Soest

The exhibition at RAUM SCHROTH presents international works and artistic concepts that focus on the material itself and explore its elementary nature, characteristics and behaviour. These reflections include, in particular, possibilities of the material that run counter to customary uses, as well as surprising properties that the material does not usually display. The basic material is extremely diverse, ranging from solid substances that are also used to produce goods, to vegetable and ephemeral elements – the reference to the surrounding space, to change and transience is inextricably linked to the concept of material. This opens up the broad field of meanings that are gained in the artistic transformation of the material and which in turn interweave it with existential, everyday and social experiences and concepts.

material messenger is curated by berlin-based artist Elisabeth Sonneck and Juliane Rogge, curator at Stiftung Konzeptuelle Kunst (Conceptual Art Foundation). A programme of musical performances, lectures and talks is being planned to accompany the exhibition.

From Cosmos to Commons: Between Stars and Signals

21. June – 17. August 2025
Group Show, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg

Participating artists: Aram Bartholl, Zach Blas, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Charles & Ray Eames, Sasha Litvintseva & Beny Wagner, Timo Nasseri, Norbert Pape & Simon Speiser, Trevor Paglen, Katie Paterson, Marie Pietsch, Agnieszka Polska, Jana Schumacher, Hoda Tawakol.

How do we navigate a world in which our actions have a planetary impact? In our post-global era, we cannot see ourselves merely as inhabitants of the Earth. Essentially, we are geological actors whose economic, ecological and political decisions leave profound marks on the globe. From this perspective, the Earth can be viewed as a dynamic system within a much larger cosmic structure.

The group exhibition Between Stars and Signals at the Kunsthaus Hamburg focuses on the bigger picture and spans an arc from humanity’s early understanding of the world and its orientation on the stars all the way to the planetary paradigm and modern technologies such as GPS. The participating artists have engaged in the topic of physical movement through space and time along with its philosophical and social implication. The works on view, spanning video, wall and spatial installations, reflect complex relationships between humans, nature and the cosmos – and make us think. For the question remains whether the digital transformation will lead to a deeper cosmic consciousness or whether it will distance us even further from our immediate experience of the world.

From the Cosmos to the Commons marks the beginning of the five-year programme conceived by City Curator Joanna Warsza. In 2025, it includes exhibitions at the Planetarium Hamburg, Stadtpark, the Kunsthaus Hamburg and a symposium at the Warburg Haus. Since 2024, the project City Curator Hamburg has been hosted by Kunsthaus Hamburg.

Curated by Anna Nowak

Echokammer

20. – 22. June 2025
Group Show, Fasskeller, Berlin

mit: Aram Bartholl, Hannah Hallermann, Verena Issel, Anne Mundo, Finja Sander, Moritz Stumm / Stefan Neuberger,Philip Topolovac, Viron Erol Vert
kuratiert von Dirk Teschner

Der Ursprung des Begriffs Echokammer findet sich in der analogen Tontechnik als architektonischer Bestandteil eines Tonstudios und dient der Erzeugung oder Verstärkung des Halls. Ein starker Hall (Nachhall) entsteht mit acht oder mehr Sekunden in Kirchen. Echo ist ein verstärkter Nachhall mit darüber hinausgehenden Zeiten.

Außerhalb von Ton und Hall verweist der Begriff Echokammer auf einen Raum, in dem Aussagen verstärkt und Störgeräusche, etwa anders lautende Meinungen, geschluckt werden. Der Großteil der Menschen neigt dazu, sich mit Gleichgesinnten zu umgeben, um sich gegenseitig in einem geschlossenen Raum in der eigenen Position zu verstärken. In einer Echokammer rezipieren Mediennutzer hauptsächlich Informationen, die ihre eigenen Ansichten unterstützen. Mit Argumenten, die ihre Meinung in Frage stellen, setzen sie sich dagegen kaum auseinander. Dadurch entstehen geschlossene Netzwerke. Die Folge ist eine Verschärfung der politischen Debatte, ohne Hall ins fremde Tal. Die Suche nach einem gemeinsamen Klang kann aber nur außerhalb der engen Kammern gelingen.

Loops Series

22. May 2025
Talk, New Practice in Art and Technology, MA Design & Computation TU Berlin, Berlin

Loops is the public event series of New Practice in cooperation with the Berlin University Alliance exploring current questions facing our society at the intersection of art, science and technology in a unique discursive format. Afterwards, the Bar provides a space for exchange between guests, researchers, students and the public.

This session welcomes Aram Bartholl, a seminal voice in contemporary media art whose work interrogates the blurred threshold between digital systems and physical life. Merging conceptual art, hacker culture, and urban intervention, Bartholl’s installations and performances expose the hidden infrastructures of the internet while playfully reanimating digital symbols into everyday public space.

Recent Events

Jahrestagung Intervenierende Künste

9. – 10. May 2025
Talk, Hau 2, Berlin

Jahrestagung 2025 | Digital Interventions. Bodies, Infrastructures, Politics
09.05.2025 – 10.05.2025

Veranstaltung in englischer Lautsprache | Eintritt frei | Anmeldung erforderlich | teilweise barrierefreier Zugang: Bedarfe bitte bei Anmeldung angeben
Ob wir online sind oder nicht, es gibt kein Außerhalb des Digitalen. Das Digitale ist immer schon in uns und in unserer alltäglichen Umgebung eingewoben. Unsere Körper, Infrastrukturen und Politiken sind grundlegend mit digitalen Technologien und Praktiken verflochten. Die Tagung Digital Interventionsuntersucht die Möglichkeitsräume künstlerischer Praktiken, die darauf abzielen, emanzipatorische Räume des Digitalen zu schaffen und zu sichern oder die vielfältigen Formen von digitaler Überwachung, Ausbeutung und Unterdrückung herauszufordern. An der Schnittstelle von Kunst, Aktivismus und Hacking wird auf der Tagung die konkrete Materialität und Verkörperung des Digitalen als Ort und Mittel digitaler Interventionen analysiert.

Der Begriff „digitale Interventionen“ selbst offenbart dabei grundlegende und unlösbare Widersprüche. Denn die digitale Sphäre ist ein Raum der Zuflucht und des Widerstands, in dem Anonymität und vertrauliche Kommunikation vor Gewalt schützen. Zugleich ist der digitale Raum massiver Überwachung, Trolling und Desinformation ausgesetzt, die den Raum politischer Meinungsäußerung kapern und zersetzen. Wenn soziale Medien von der Aufmerksamkeitsökonomie bestimmt sind, das Internet vom Plattformkapitalismus strukturiert und der politische Diskurs durch Algorithmen untergraben sind, welche Praktiken und Bruchstellen bieten sich Kunstschaffenden und Aktivist*innen, um in diese Entwicklungen zu intervenieren und sie zu hinterfragen? Wann kann Komplizenschaft in Kritik umschlagen?

Mit dem Fokus auf Körper, Infrastrukturen und Politik, folgen wir der Hypothese, dass es eine zentrale Aufgabe der Künste ist, dysfunktionale Prozesse, falsche Kategorien und ideologische Reduktionen sowie die Komplizenschaft von Plattformen und Onlinediensten mit der Staatsmacht und dem militärisch-industriellen Komplex sichtbar zu machen, zu kritisieren und zu entwirren.

Die Jahrestagung 2025 des SFB Intervenierende Künste wird organisiert von der Arbeitsgruppe „Digitaler Aktivismus“ in Kooperation mit dem HAU Hebbel am Ufer.

Programm:

Freitag, 9. Mai 2025
HAU 2
18:00 – 18.30 Begrüßung/Einführung
Sarah Reimann (HAU Hebbel am Ufer)
Karin Gludovatz (Sprecherin SFB 1512)
Simon Teune und Iryna Kovalenko (Tagungsorganisation SFB 1512)

18:30 – 19:45 Keynote
Aria Dean: Labor, Art, and the Vernacular Aesthetic Online
Introduction: Brigitte WeingartWechsel ins HAU 3

21:00 – 21:45 Performance
Claudix Vanesix: Non-Fuckable Tokens (NFTs)
21:45 – 22:30 Artist Talk mit Claudix VanesixFür den Besuch der Abendveranstaltung von Claudix Vanesix: Non-Fuckable Tokens (NFTs) ist der Kauf einer Eintrittskarte erforderlich.

Samstag, 10. Mai 2025
HAU 209:30 – 10.00 Einführung
Florian Schlittgen und Naomi Boyce (Tagungsorganisation SFB 1512)10:00 – 11:00 Keynote
Brigitte Weingart: The (Micro-)Politics of Meme Culture
Introduction: Matthias Warstat

11:00 – 11:15 Pause

11:15 – 12:30 Roundtable
Aram Bartholl, Jean Peters und Şirin Fulya Erensoy: Art Challenging Digital Repression
Facilitation: Simon Teune

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Break and Workshop
Kill Your Phone mit Aram Bartholl (Workshop 1) ODER Shrink Your Files mit Matthias Grotkopp (Workshop 2)14:00 – 15:15 Roundtable
Pekka Kallioniemi und Muriel Fischer: Desinformation (and) War
Facilitation: Florian Schlittgen und Iryna Kovalenko

15:15 – 15:45 Pause

15:45 – 16:45 Lecture Performance
Azadeh Ganjeh: Not a Body for Burial
Introduction: Matthias Grotkopp16:45 – 17:00 Pause

17:00 – 18:00 Keynote
Joana Moll: Follow the Body: Materiality and Resistance in the Age of Data Extraction
Introduction: Matthias Grotkopp18:00 – 19:00 Abschlussdiskussion
Facilitation: Margarita Tsomou19:00 – 20:30 Pause (Abendessen nicht inklusive)

 

Critical Art vs. Prank Politics – creative tactics for post-moral paradigms

8. May 2025
Talk, hosted by V2 Lab, Online

Online-symposium, Thursday 8 May 2025, 15:00-17:30 CET, organized by Dani Ploeger

Contributors:
Aram Bartholl, Francis Hunger, Nora Nora O’Murchú, Dani Ploeger, Hito Steyerl, Florian Weigl

In February, Benjamin Netanyahu presented a gold plated pager device to Donald Trump, in reference of last year’s Mossad attack on suspected Hezbollah members, using explosive pagers. Not only did this gift mark another step in a seemingly escalating sequence of official glorifications of acts of state-sanctioned violence that are legally questionable at best (the United Nations Human Rights Office denounced the attack as a “terrifying violation of international law”). Its form also suggests that representatives of nation states in the Global North are shifting their previous focus on keeping up the appearances of an enlightened moral high-ground towards a strategy of prank-like utterances that blatantly display a politics of obscene violence that accompanies globalized power.

The hyperbolic representation and aestheticization of political transgression to expose the perverse implications and undercurrents of hegemonic power have long been a prominent tactic in critical art  practices. Now that this approach has been co-opted by the representatives of power themselves, thus normalizing the public display of violent excesses, what artistic and critical tactics – if any – might still have the potential to raise moral concerns and motivate resistance?

Critical Art vs. Prank Politics is a one-day online symposium organized by Dani Ploeger, Professor of Performance and Technology at the University of Music and Theatre Munich in collaboration with  V2_Lab for the unstable media.

GALLERY SURFING – chat is this real

29. April 2025
Workshop, panke.gallery, Berlin

Join us for a live Gallery Surfing session at panke.gallery with NYC-based net artist Maya Manand Berlin-based media and concept artist Aram Bartholl as they browse the web together. The artists will talk about their practices, showcase current projects, surf their favorite websites, and share their open tabs and personal desktops.

In their works, Maya and Aram explore online economies, social media, and current technologies, as well as their aesthetic, personal and societal implications. Having participated in the early developments of AI applications – from glitchy GAN-generated animations, random text generators, and face filters to the current AI models that generate sophisticated videos from single images – Aram and Maya share the experiences they have gained by using these tools and reflect on the effects they’ve had on their own artistic practices, as well as the online and offline environments they inhabit.

As both Maya and Aram have been at the forefront of bringing net art into physical spaces, they will also share insights into the curatorial formats they have developed: from Aram’s speed showsand one-night group exhibitions on phones – one of which recently happened at panke.gallery – to Maya’s sacred screenshots, taken from the phones of 20 artists and exhibited at her project space HEART in NYC.
At panke.gallery, both artists will share the space and their screens.

Come surf the net with us!
…and don’t forget to visit the gift shop on your way out.

International Day Against Police Brutality

15. March 2025
Workshop, Refuge Worldwide, Berlin

This Saturday (11AM-5PM) we welcome Ides Of March, a grass-roots initiative organised by local citizens seeking to raise awareness around the topic of police brutality, in collaboration with KOP Berlin, a campaign for victims of racist police violence.

On March 15th, 1997, the first observation of the international day against police brutality took place in Montreal, Canada, initiated by the Collective Opposed of Police Brutality as a response to extremely violent and racist behaviours perpetrated by authorities. We take this opportunity to explore the topic of police brutality on a local and global level, as well as interlinked practices of racial profiling. With the backdrop of weekly, if not daily, reports of police violence against protestors in Berlin, the topic is more relevant than ever. The event comprises an installation curated by Ides Of March with guest contributors including Aram Bartholl, which is open throughout the event, plus a panel talk from 2:30-3:30PM and free toolkits. The panel talk is titled Beyond The Shields: The Contemporary Function Of Police Brutality In Our Society and will take place in English. The speakers are Ignacio Rosaslanda (Unpublished), Gonca Sağlam (KOP Berlin), reporter Julian Daum and moderator Rahim Chattaika.

Blog Archive for Tag: fffffat

YOUR ART!! Party at F.A.T. GOLD at Eyebeam

April 9, 2013

YOUR ART Party – FAT GOLD at Eyebeam from Aram Bartholl on Vimeo.

YOUR ART!! party at Eyenbeam last Saturday was super cool!! As part of the F.A.T. GOLD program visitors were invited to build a golden necklace to show art from their phones.  The concept is based on an intervention I did with Khoi Vinh during the Seven on Seven conference at Rhizome 2012.  More documentation about the F.A.T. GOLD exhibition at Eyebeam to come.









http://www.flickr.com/photos/bartholl/sets/72157633205582132/

‘Express Yourself’ intervention with Khoi Vinh during the Seven on Seven conference at Rhizome 2012.

Prior YOUR ART!! party at my birthday party in Berlin Dec 2012



http://www.flickr.com//photos/bartholl/sets/72157632425447016/
 

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TPB AFK bootleg

February 12, 2013


Last Friday I made a cam bootleg of the world premiere of the TPB AFK film at Berlinale. Whole story and video etc can be found on FFFFFAT :))

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YOUR ART!!

October 25, 2012

!!! POSTPONED TILL MARCH13 DUE TO STORM SANDY !!!

http://fffff.at/your-art/

FAT LAB WANTS YOUR ART!!

Participate!! Be part of FAT GOLD at EYEBEAM Nov 2012!!

The YOUR ART!! killer exhibition series includes:
YOUR ART!! KARAOKE ARTIST PANEL
YOUR ART!! GOLDEN NECKLACE PARTY
YOUR ART!! DEADDROP SHOW
YOUR ART!! ENDLESS SCREENING
Submit your ART today and be part of this awesome series!! FAT will show all your pieces during FAT GOLD!! Be included in the YOUR ART!! DEADDROP SHOW. Everything will be uploaded onto this DeadDrop and will be available to the public 24/7. (You can also upload your works there any time yourself)!! Also, your files will be projected in YOUR ART!! ENDLESS SCREENING in maximum size in the FAT GOLD exhibition. If you are in NYC drop by and make your own YOUR ART!! GOLDEN NECKLACE. Show off your works on your personal phone necklace at the FAT GOLD closing party or participate in the YOUR ART!! KARAOKE ARTIST PANEL discussion. Present and discuss works ( you’ve never seen before as if their where your own 🙂 and win a YOUR ART GOLDEN USB DRIVE!! It s gonna be KILLER!!
Aram Bartholl 2012

YOUR ART!! GOLDEN NECKLACE test run with Khoi Vinh during Rhizome Seven on Seven

SUBMIT your art here  YOURART@datenform.de

(links preferred!!)

!!! POSTPONED TILL MARCH13 DUE TO STORM SANDY !!!

include: name, titel, year, website
deadline: Nov 5, 2012
FAQ in the comments
F.A.T. GOLD: Five Years of Free Art & Technology
AT EYEBEAM
November 5–17, 2012,
Grand opening Nov 7, closing party Nov 11, more TBA soon
www.gold.fffff.at

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YYEAAAHHH FFFFFAT 5 GOOOOLD

October 24, 2012

!!! POSTPONED TILL MARCH13 DUE TO STORM SANDY !!!

HANG ON!! 2 WEEKS TO GO! BE READY FOR THE MONSTER!!

F.A.T. GOLD: Five Years of Free Art & Technology
curated by Lindsay Howard
AT EYEBEAM
November 5–17, 2012
www.gold.fffff.at/

I am very much looking fwd to the upcoming FAT lab show FAT GOLD  at Eyebeam NYC in 2 weeks. CU there!!

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ONLINE GALLERY PLAYSET

May 23, 2012

[first published on fffff.at/online-gallery-playset]

Make your own gallery today! Curate awesome art from the Internetz and run your first show in 5 min!

ONLINE GALLERY PLAYSET from Aram Bartholl on Vimeo.

You always dreamt to run your own gallery? This is your chance! Make your
own gallery in less than 5 minutes. Curate the best online shows ever!

  1. Dowload the ONLINE GALLERY PLAYSET (A3 or 2 pages A4)
  2. Print, cut and make your very own white cube.
  3. Curate awesome art from the Internetz.
  4. Develop a precise hanging layout. (…cut some frames)
  5. and install the art! (…match browser windows with frames)

BANG!! You just made your first show! Invite your
friends and play together. It‘s super easy and sooo much fun!!
Aram Bartholl 2012 for TAXI art magazin






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How To Avoid Facial Recognition

May 15, 2012

or ‘YOU GOTTA FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO PAAARTY (ANONYMOUSLY!!)

How To Avoid Facial Recognition from Aram Bartholl on Vimeo.

This is not a hoax! It really works! But you ll need some extra training for your neck muscles 😉 Don’t be worried about party pictures any more. Just keep your head tilted when ever a friend pulls a camera or you travel to the UK. You’ll be safe! In case you are not an expert in software like Kyle’s ofxFaceTracker you can also test this just with your phone or camera. Facial recognition is default nowadays (especially on all the Faceboogles….)!!


by Kyle McDonald & Aram Bartholl
Berlin 2012
first posted on fffff.at/how-to-avoid-facial-recognition May 9 2012

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How To Turn Code Into Art

October 12, 2011

[1st published on fffffat]

Art aware hackers!! Your code can be art! Yes, no kidding!!!

Recent events have shown again that computer code and its power is still underestimated by the public and governments. The way software is written, it s quality, openess, closedness etc. has a very high impact on which way society is taking.  Some small changes or features in code can result in an enormous loss of democratic values or lead to a hidden surveillance state.  Because comparably only few people can read and understand code it is so important we communicate it, discuss it in public and make it art! 🙂
Congrats to the CCC for revealing and revers engeneering this incredible piece of software and to FAZ (a leading german news paper, circulation of 360.000) which went of the charts by printing 5 full pages assembler code. Awesome!

BOINGBOING: Chaos Computer Club cracks Germany’s illegal government malware, a trojan that spies on your PC and lets anyone off the street hijack it
Germany’s Chaos Computer Club published the sourcecode for a piece of malware used by the German government to spy on citizens. The software was discovered in the wild and reverse engineered. It can be used to spy on or control remote PCs. Because of flaws in the software, anyone who was infected with this by German police was vulnerable to spying by “anyone on the street.” The German supreme court banned the use of trojans to spy on German citizens in 2008. ….

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Free Ai Weiwei – glasses !!

June 17, 2011

[first released on fffff.at]

Make your own FREE Ai Weiwei glasses today!! Download the post card PDF, print double sided, cut and mount the parts!! Show off your pair of FREE Ai Weiwei glasses!!
Aram Bartholl 2011

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Ai Weiwei – FUCK OFF – Bookmarklet

May 26, 2011

[1st released on fffff.at]

Say it like Ai Weiwei!! Make some noise!! Free Ai Weiwei!!


Drag and drop the link below to your bookmarks tool bar above (tutorial below). Hit the FUCK OFF – Bookmarklet in desired situation while you surf the web! Say it like Ai Weiwei!! Post your screen shots in the comments!

Ai Weiei – FUCK OFF – Bookmarklet

FUCK OFF !! Deutsche Bank, BMW and Siemens for keeping their mouths shut about Ai Weiwei’s arrest. Yes, just keep sponsoring art shows and culture in China and pretend nothing has happend …. FUCK OFF !!!



Based on the awesome

>> Kanye Vision Bookmarklet <

by Evan Roth & Tobias Leingruber 2009

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The Legendary Night at Roter Krebs 2010

May 26, 2011

[1st released on fffff.at]

FAT at Roter Krebs, Ars Electronica 2010 from Aram Bartholl on Vimeo.

Last year I curated the program for the category Digital Communities at Ars Electronica 2010. The whole thing was called TELE-INTERNET and a mix of talks, workshops, lab, hacker space and performances. We also had a night program at Roter Krebs (which is definately the best party place in Linz!!). Looking back this night was very special and became one of my personal highlights in F.A.T. history !! (…besides the TM fake G-car 🙂 Finally I managed to get it documented! Enjoy!!
[VIDEO links: TELE-INTERNET, evan-roth.com/cream, tortureclassics.com and Theo’s awesome mixes ]

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