The workshop is dedicated to the existential ability to survive in
extreme situations. This is a matter of life and death. In the course of a day, everyencounters situations for which asolution can be found. But what about the situations for which we have no solution
at hand?

First, Petko Dourmana introduced the theory and
history of the struggle for survival. Various scenarioswere presented, showing how and why people prepare fordisasters and crises. Various
survival kits were then presented, which are used, for example, in extreme cold,
in the military, in water or in the desert.

The participants had brought pictures with them that were
to do with “survival”. Based on the images,
own survival strategies were formulated and then discussed and adapted under the
conditions of Petko
Dourmana’s “Post Global Warming” exhibition scenario.

Day one – “The discreet charm of invisible reality”

December 4, 2008

The
first workshop will be dedicated to the invisible infrared world that surrounds us
. In principle, all digital imaging devices can make infrared light visible. However, this function is limited by the manufacturers
.

The workshop is designed to help participants understand
the limitations of our eyesight and enable them
to discover the invisible beauty that normally remains hidden from our eyes
.

During the workshop,
works by several artists who make use of this technique, such as Robert Rauschenberg with “Open Score” or Oliver Lutz
will be presented and discussed. The practical part will involve working with technical
equipment such as digital cameras, video cameras and multimedia projectors
, which can easily be used to visualize and capture
infrared light images.

In addition,
multimedia projectors are modified so that they only emit infrared light
that can be made visible with night vision devices.
Selected results of the workshop will be uploaded to the Drupal website
. Finally, the film “They Live” by Carpenter and other films in which infrared light is used will be shown. This will be followed by an open discussion round at
on the topic previously discussed.

Second day – “The art of survival”

December 5, 2008

The
second workshop is dedicated to the existential ability to survive in
extreme situations. This is a matter of life and death. Every
encounters situations in the course of a day, and there is a
way to solve them.

But what about the situations for which we don’t have a solution?

First
there will be an introduction to the theory and history of the fight for survival
. Various scenarios will be presented, showing how and why people prepare for disasters and crises . This will be followed by a presentation of various survival kits
that are used, for example, in extreme cold, by the military, in water
or in the desert.

This is followed by a role-playing game in which
the participants assemble a wide variety of items, which they have previously purchased from a
supermarket, into thematically different
survival kits. The groups work out what is important in the fight for survival and which survival strategies seem particularly useful. For a journey into the future, past
or into fantasy worlds where the participants encounter unforeseen
difficulties, each group puts together an individual survival kit adapted to the
respective circumstances.

It also shows how politicians manipulate mass media for their own purposes and use disasters to their advantage. Finally, instructional, artistic and promotional videos for survival training are shown.