ABVXHMN // epidemicspheres // covid.19-

The pandemic generates a diffuse feeling of affiliation. China, Japan, USA, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Iran, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Austria … The virus spreads, take territories and leave traces. It pulsates, vibrates, interacts in and with the various spheres: private-sphere, public-sphere, economic-sphere, techno-capital sphere, info-sphere, psycho-sphere. Above Human is an interactive spherical projection mapping installation that displays the real-time data of COVID-19 inside an epidemic-sphere. It makes the invisible visible, the immaterial material. It is not just an audio-visual experience but an active and communicative act: the global outside flows into the local inside and merges into a space of coexistence. In line with Peter Sloterdijk, the “sphere” becomes a symbol for “spaces of coexistence” as spaces that deal with crucial information to understand humanity better. When visiting the Above Human installation, the encapsulated spherical entity of the virus occupies the human body via tracking cameras to display its existence.

Anna Pompermaier (AT), Cenk Güzelis (AT)
Cenk Güzelis (TR, 1990) is a Ph.D. Candidate and Assistant Professor at the Institute for Experimental Architecture ./studio3 in Innsbruck University. His research explores the materiality of interactive virtual spaces and their impact on human cognition. His artistic projects and teachings consider the importance of time-based media and XR technologies as embodied interfaces that can challenge the notion of cognition by interfacing human and non-human entities to define another sense of self and to develop a new perception of materiality.

Anna Pompermaier (IT, 1991) is an architect, engineer, digital artist and researcher at the Institute for Experimental Architecture ./studio3 of Innsbruck University. In her works, she investigates the influences of immersive technologies on the future of design. She explores the potential and implications of architecture across realities, investigating digital and actual materialities through the use of XR technologies and public interactive installations.