Alternative Space LOOP presents “Technical Gardens: The Ideal Breeding Ground” by artist duo, Jana Kerima Stolzer and Lex Rütten through February 24.

“Technical Gardens” is a multimedia sound installation whose protagonists are those organisms that accompany us every day: A semi-fictional narrative is created based on the evolution of microorganisms and scientific articles on the secret population of the surfaces of electronic devices, which are inhabited by large numbers of these life forms. Heat combined with sweat creates the ideal habitat. Thanks to exponential growth, bacteria, unlike humans, can adapt very quickly to new living conditions, creating a new kind of super-organism that absorbs electro-smog and uses technical infrastructures to move around. The fictional futuristic narrative is presented in the form of text fragments, composed sound pieces and a stage-like installation, the fictional future narrative is made experienceable.

Since 2016, Jana Kerima Stolzer and Lex Rütten have been collaborating together on scenic installations and performances that understand the living environment, which is influenced by technology, as a changing and formative component of the world. The duo relates the interaction between environment and living beings not only to the human being, but equally to flora and fauna. Accordingly, the protagonists within the multimedia works are mostly entities that have no voice in reality: Mixed beings from nature and technology, plants and animals, which convey their own view of the world in musical-like environments.

The duo collects stories in the world based on evidence-based research to develop narratives that allow for new cross-connections. Thus, historical and scientific research mix with science fiction to sketch the (im-)possible for the future. The works are set in physical as well as in digital (immersive) spaces, which is why the duo produces in exhibition contexts as well as in the independent theater scene.