The unreasonable silence

«The unreasonable Silence of the World »- a public dialogue space

«The unreasonable Silence of the World» is a project in public space that explores the contexts of philosophy and physics.

The starting point is the examination of the black hole, which stands for the intangible nature of the world constitution and is a link between themes of art, natural science and philosophy.

Through an installation and a performance taking place in it, the aim is to transfer themes of existentialism and contemporary theories of physics into artistic forms and thus to make them tangible. Other events in the form of talks, readings and workshops, take on the imparting of the latest scientific findings and place them in a philosophical and socio-political context.

The interaction of the various events creates an entire project that creates a publicly accessible dialogue space over a period of five days.

The project is located on the Bullingerplatz in Kreis 4 in Zurich. The square with its centered fountain, the star-shaped roads and the surrounding cooperative buildings is interesting from an architectural as well as historical point of view and ideal for the most heterogeneous group of «participators» too to reach.

The project is part of the program of the «Gasträume - Art in the Public Places of Zurich ,» which the city of Zurich writes out.

Interdisciplinary, exchange, dialogue

The world is subject to constant change. In times of acceleration, alienation and succesxity, tried-and-tested structures lose the most valid and thus value ever before. Fears open up where sense disintegrates, the absurd comes to light and the individual cannot cozy himself with the silence of the world. The laws of our immediately perceptible environment are no longer sufficient to be able to explain the cosmos in its entirety. The natural sciences, ostensibly theoretical physics, are looking for new universal variables and theories, thus disclosing supposed truths of the arbitrariness of the world. For example, loop quantum gravity theory dispenses with variables t (time) and x (space), which is tantamount to a revolution in theoretical physics. Our felt reality is being questioned. New realities can no longer be made perceptible and comprehensible by means of our sensory organs. Contemporary, empirical insights are much more based on a thought achievement. Conspiracy theorists and fake news question this empirical science, arguing with subjective, felt realities. If even from the highest points, the legitimacy of the empirical sciences is questioned, the next step is the social legitimacy of democratic institutions as well as philosophy and art. They all interact dynamically with each other and depend on each other. They benefit from an open society that looks confidently to the future, enters into dialogue and does not indulge in fear. All these fields deny themselves absolute, unrefutable truth and face their own ignorance soberly. They leave room for doubt, compromise, relative, absurd, freedom. And so it seems of the utmost importance to make the mostly abstract discourses of the natural sciences/natural sciences of theoretical physics accessible to the general public and understandable. The project «The unreasonable Silence of the World» aims to contribute to this: In my research work, I dealt in the field of theoretical physics, among other things, with Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which, like no other theory, has revolutionized our contemporary understanding of the world. Already in the following generation Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus established French existentialism, which like probably no other philosophical direction has shaped our self-image. Based on the study of these two fields, I hope to show the parallels and interactions that there seems to be between philosophy and science. Through an artistic translation, in the form of an installation in public space as well as a performance taking place in it, these questions and insights are to be made tangible and communicable. In addition to the performance, other events in the form of talks, (pre-) readings and workshops will take place in the same framework. A dialogue space is to be created that is open to the public and takes on the topics of «understanding the world» (theoretical physics), self-image (philosophy) and perception. Physicists, philosophers, historians and artists are invited to study the current research of theoretical physics and place it in philosophical, historical and socio-political contexts. A workshop is expected to focus on meditation, focusing on the physical and psychological location of the self in the world.

This is what I need backing for.

In my position as a young artist, I have no capital, which would make it possible to finance such a project on my own. A large part of the budget is anchored in the installation. The floor area of the well is to be provided with mirror foil. This material is very expensive and the amount of about 80m2 is correspondingly very important. In addition to other materials for the installation, as well as the performance, it is very important to me to pay all those involved (construction helpers, talk guests, workshop managers, etc.) at least symbolically. In the art field, (self-) exploitation takes place that is not compatible with my ideal. Personally, however, I will forgo a fee. In addition to these costs, communication costs are incurred (printing flyers, posters, program, etc.) and costs for catering to the participate. It is supposed to be everyone’s part possible to have everyone. Without having to spend money on it.