The Humans are (not quite) Dead

There have been a lot of events around town that I've wanted to attend. Some I wound up skipping. Others (like the Musik Nacht) had details I missed and therefore couldn't attend. I did, however, make it to Robodonien last weekend.

Courtesy of Google Translator:

ROBODONIEN invites artists from across Europe to transform the art and Kulturfreistaat Odonien into a multimedia, interactive science-fiction setting. The installations and kinetic objects on the weekend of the 18th to 20th presents spectacular shows, and offers visitors a wealth of unusal and thrilling impressions and ideas.

Odonien, from what I can tell, is the studio or workspace of an artist named Odo Rumph. (Apologies if I don't have my facts right.) The facility is an open workshop for artists of all types. It is located in a former Deutsche Bahn repair yard. Odonien has symbolically been declared a free state in order to keep outside influences away and to foster creative ideas. (Here's another site which provides much more information if you run it through the Translator.)

My only regret was that I didn't go at night. Judging by all the photos and videos I've seen online, it was a pretty cool scene after dark. Daytime wasn't bad either, but it was definitely more of a "family" day. If you've clicked on any of those sites above, you've probably seen much better photos of the place than the ones I took. If you're lazy, here's some of my photos.

Fireballs were constantly being shot off.

I can't say that I always felt safe there.

Then again, I think that was part of the fun.

 

 

 

The Barbie-Que. Barbie dolls submitted to open flames and cleavers.

By far the coolest piece was built by Bastiaan Maris. Again from the translator: "His interest in music, equipment, sound and powerful chemical based processes have led to an ongoing research in chemo-Acoustic Phenomena and the development of sound installations and musical instrument on these principles." I'm not entirely sure what that means either, but it was cool. The photos and video I took don't do any justice. The sound created from the blasts of air and fire was pretty intense.  Needless to say, I kept my distance.

Finally, for you musicians out there, beware. I've seen the future of music and it doesn't include you.

Here's a video I cut together from the event.



And of course, I couldn't let any of this go without adding a binary solo.