POLSPRUNG – Disastrous test arrangements (2012)

POLPSRUNG deals with the psychology and politics of disaster. A polar reversal (POLSPRUNG) is a reversal of the earth’s magnetic field. According to science it occurs cyclically, is long overdue and potentially disastrous. The work asks how we deal with threatening scenarios and states of emergency. What is the role of mass media in the production of a permanent state of emergency? What is the social function of disasters, their possible exploitation for personal, economic and political purposes?

● Disastrous test arrangement #1: Polar Reversal Detector / A magnetometer measures the earth’s magnetic field to detect a possible polar reversal and make the deviation of the pole from its “normal” position audible through sonification.

● Disastrous test arrangement #2: Muon Telescope / A muon telescope permanently registers the gamma radiation caused by the solar wind, comparing the measured data with the speculatively disastrous gamma radiation data during a polar reversal.

● Disastrous test arrangement #3: Reading and Feedback / Includes information about polar reversal research and disaster speculation. The disaster notebook invites spectators to give personal feedback on their fear of disasters.

Biography

Erich Berger is an artist and cultural worker based in Helsinki/Finland. His interests lie in information processes and feedback structures, which he investigates through installations, situations, performances and interfaces. His current explorations of deep time and hybrid ecology led him to work with geological processes, radiogenic phenomena and their socio-political implications in the here and now. Berger has exhibited widely in various museums, galleries and major media-art events in Europe and worldwide, like Ars Electronica Linz (AT), File Festival Sao Paulo (BR), Sonar Barcelona (ES), or the Venice Biennial (IT). His works received several awards and prices from Prix Ars Electronica (AT), the Bawarian Broadcasting Station and ZKM (DE), Vida Telefonica (ES), LABoral (ES), Files Prix (BR).A magnetometer measures the earth's magnetic field to detect a possible polar reversal. As a polar reversal on average lasts 10,000 years, we will witness during the exhibition only a short section of the process if a jump begins. A sonification makes the deviation of the pole from its "normal" position palpable.

A muon telescope permanently registers the gamma radiation caused by the solar wind. The measured data are compared with the speculative disastrous gamma radiation data during a polar reversal and made tangible for the spectator.

Includes information about polar reversal research and disaster speculation, a magnetite laboratory and the disaster notebook for personal feedback on fear of disasters.