Energie_Passagen [Energy_Passages] – Reading and (De)Scribing the City
Language is intellectual energy which shapes a city. The conversations of its
inhabitants and the language of politics and of the media represent flows of
energy. They form the city’s invisible architecture which is »measured«
and made visible in this installation.
Starting point for »Energie_Passagen« are texts taken from a mass
medium, the daily newspaper. An automated computer process analyses the German
newspaper, »Süddeutsche Zeitung«, and reduces it to catchwords.
The terms which are filtered in this process are then projected as the »information
flow« onto the square »Salvatorplatz« in Munich.
As a visitor, you have a choice of terms which you can select
and »throw« into the flow. Thus, movements of text are initiated and links between
the terms become apparent. The resulting networks of terms create contextual
links and new meanings which differ from the original linear texts. Computer
voices immediately react to your »input« and accompany you in an
echo of many voices.
In addition, a world map visualizes the path through the geographic landscape
of news which the visitor takes based upon her/his choice. A developing linear
illustration emphasizes the links between local location and global events.
The visible result of this interactive process is the »Living Newspaper«.
Its dynamically generated texts are also projected onto the »information
cube«. The de-construction of the newspaper based upon the fragmentation
and transformation of its original content facilitates a new form of reading
and understanding. The flow’s artificial voices invite you to discover
new contexts.
»Energie_Passagen« demonstrates how meaning is generated by difference
and offers a sensuously perceptible scope of action which releases a new communication
potential.
We invite you to visit the »Energie_Passagen«
Webinstallation
and take a look at further projects by Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss:
http://netzspannung.org/about/mars/projects/en/.