Interdisciplinary exchange program:

Art meets Science

New perspectives on data science: Through innovative exchanges with the Academy for Theater and Digitality, HIDA enables the exploration of data science and artificial intelligence in the performative arts.

Innovative Exchange Program

Are you an artist? Do you work as a technician? Or you work as a coder or programmer and would like to develop creative formats that open up the topic of data science artistically? Then this offer should be just right for you:

Together with the Academy for Theatre and Digitality, HIDA is launching an exchange programme for artists and technicians in 2021.

AI and Arts & Culture

With the joint project, HIDA and the Academy of Theatre and Digitality want to promote the development of formats that open up the topic of data science artistically to the public and make cutting-edge research based on artificial intelligence accessible to the theatre and the cultural scene of tomorrow.

With the exchange programme, we give artists and technicians (e.g. coders, programmers, etc.) the opportunity to carry out a self-organized research project at the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund as well as at one of the 18 Helmholtz Centers of the Association.

Academy for Theater and Digitality

Academy for Theater and Digitality

The Academy for Theater and Digitality in Dortmund is committed to reflecting on current developments for the performing arts, especially in terms of technology and the associated consequences, and to offering events for people working in theater and performing arts:

 

"The world as it presents itself to us has become more complex. (...)  The digitalization of all areas of life has played a not to be underestimated part in all this. The tools it creates are used by people today as a matter of course. And we are now faced with the epochal task of investigating the numerous new connections between the digital and analog worlds, i. e. digitality: phenomenologically, sociologically, philosophically, technically and – as a core discipline of the Academy – artistically." 

 

 

Homepage Academy

The Academy for Theater and Digitality was founded in 2019 by the former artistic director of Schauspiel Dortmund, Kay Voges. Its goal is to accompany the theater and the theater professions into a future that will be increasingly shaped by digital technologies.

Overview of the funded projects

Funded Projects

Bnaya Halperin-Kaddari and Kerstin Ergenzinger: Common Ground: Sounding out arctic warming.

The issue of the climate crisis is so vast and complex that its urgency is often difficult to grasp. The Arctic is currently warming at an unprecedented rate and terrestrial Arctic landscapes are changing rapidly as a result. In the "Common Ground" project, research data from the Arctic was made audible using sonification techniques and brought to life as part of a performance. The artists made the sonified data audible in a walk-in installation using specially created sound bodies and instruments. Through interference, visitors were able to manipulate the sonified data by immersing themselves in the sound space. The project was realized together with Julia Boike from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI).

 

Martin Hennecke: The (Un)Answered Question - A musical data science experimental set-up

Based on the composition "The Unanswered Question" by composer Charles Ives, Martin Hennecke developed a prototype performance in which bio-data recorded by the audience and participants via human-machine interfaces was processed in video projections and live orchestral remixes. In this way, Martin Henneke created an immersive live experience using tools and techniques from the field of data science. The projections and compositions were linked to the audience data and that of the performers via artificial intelligence, turning the performance into a unique event. Two working groups from different Helmholtz Centers collaborated on the project: Thoralf Niendorf from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) and Andreas Schreiber from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Through a cooperation with the Saarland State Theater, "The (Un)Answered Question" premiered in Saarbrücken in November 2022.

 

Do Mayer and Hen/i: "Disco Earth"  - An artistic, scientific and social perspective on climate change.

In 2023, the third project - “Disco Earth” - had its successful premiere. The project started in October 2022 in cooperation with GERICS (Climate Service Center Germany) and the Hereon Helmholtz Center. The film director and performance artist Hen/i and the programmer and artist Do Mayer combined in their project "Disco Earth" an artistic, scientific and social perspective on climate change. The two artists approached the consequences of climate change and explored the means by which we can effectively cool the earth in the local area. Adaptation is key here. How can humanity adapt to the facts and consequences of climate change, what can it improve in the future? The artists tried to make applied climate research tangible through a mixture of digital simulation and transdisciplinary experimentation. They used a computer game-like simulation, which shows physical data on climate change in a virtual world, and a social dance performance, which intended to give form to the psychological aspects of human responses to climate change, as a means of communication. The result was an interactive presentation of scientific findings and an interpersonal experiment. Under the title "Disco Planet: Letheia", the artists presented their project at the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria, from September 6 - 10, 2023.

Program Structure and Application

In total, the research project comprises 5 months, of which the 1st and 5th month are spent at the Academy in Dortmund and months 2-4 at an individually identifiable Helmholtz Center. HIDA supports the 3-month research stay at a Helmholtz Center with the HIDA Research Scholarship.

The next call for applications is expected to take place in autumn/winter 2024. We will inform you about the application procedure here in time.

Detailed information on the completed call for applications 2022 can be found here. If you have any further questions about the program, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Contact

Xenia von Polier
Communication & Marketing Manager

Contact

Xenia von Polier
Communication & Marketing Manager
Helmholtz Association, Friedrichstraße 171, 10117 Berlin
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