As a first round of finalization we are now organising 4 seminars/talk-shows that will summarize the various research projects that’s has been produced within the framework of SYNSMASKINEN. For each talk-show we have chosen a general theme that enables us to draws lines and detect themes across the 7 main projects. The 4 themes are:

PERCEPTION
CRISIS
MACHINE
CONGLOMERATE

For each theme we have selected research-material and art-works from the various projects and are presenting them in new variations and combinations, made especially for these occasions.

About Synsmaskinen
Synsmaskinen is an artistic research conglomerate based at the Department of Fine Art at the University of Bergen. Synsmaskinen proposes a multifaceted inquiry into contemporary crises. Through a variety of interrelated artistic projects, a politically-charged horizon comes into focus: apocalyptic abysses, systemic entanglements, and hyper-complex realities.

Program 3 April
Drums: Super Heavy Metal (Kim Åke Furuhaug)
Mini lecture by professor Knut Ove Arntzen on the theater machine
Presentation of Michelle Teran´s manual on house occupation: Obra Social Manual
Screening of the video Algorithmic Surrealism by Mark Curran
Performance by Benedicte Clementsen & Frans Jacobi
Fictions by Discoteca Flaming Star, Benedicte Clementsen & Frans Jacobi
Talkshow hosts: Dante & Vergil

Visit the Synsmaskinen webpages here.

Globalised economy and culture are intertwined, forming a complex knot of overlaps and messy interconnections. Thus, in looking at climate crises one is implicitly confronted with financial crises and social crises. Given the intricacy of such structures, one method for understanding and facing these crises could be to examine certain manifestations and elements of their fallout. In this way, the inscribed objects or phenomena dealt with in the Synsmaskinen projects can be considered symptoms, symbols, contemplations - or perhaps as interventions into the crises themselves.
The name Synsmaskinen is taken from the Danish and Norwegian translations of Paul Virilio’s seminal book on the techniques of perception, La Machine De Vision. This title has inspired the overall structure and methodology of the project. SYN=vision / MASKIN=machine.
In a sense, Synsmaskinen operates as a conglomerate: each production results from different collaborative constellations of a group of international artists, including organisers professor Frans Jacobi, co-artistic-research leader Åse Løvgren, and research assistant Benedicte Clementsen.