In the context of the talk Protocolling Demolition, the philosopher Elisabeth Schäfer and the artist Katrin Hornek talk about the work on and with break-ins in the materiality of the earth, along critical contact zones.

Katrin Hornek studied performative art and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Katrin Hornek's works playfully engage with the strange paradoxes and convergences of life in the age of the Anthropocene, that new geological epoch in which the effects of capitalism, colonialism, and exploitation are inscribed in the materiality of the earth. With her installations at the interface of art and scientific research, she makes the complex interconnections of nature and culture visible and tangible.

Elisabeth Schäfer is a philosopher at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna, where she has been teaching since 2010, and at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her research and teaching interests are: Deconstruction, Queer-Feminist Philosophy, Écriture feminine, Writing as Artistic Research, Performance Philosophy. She continuously conducts lectures, lecture performances, interventions, etc. Together with Tanja Traxler, Elisabeth Schäfer is working on the research project "Critical Contact Zones. Exploring the Entanglement of Art, Science, Philosophy, and Society in Climate Change".

Matthias Seier was born in Münsterland. Studied cultural and literary studies as well as sociology in Dortmund and Athens. From 2014 assistant dramaturge at Schauspiel Dortmund, from 2018-2020 permanent dramaturge. Since 2020 dramaturg at the Volkstheater Wien; there he organized the three-day festival The new normal together with Christoph Gurk in 2021, as well as the thematic weekend Tiefenbohrung on post-fossil narratives with Calle Fuhr in February 2023. Further work as dramaturge and author at Schauspielhaus Hamburg and Volksbühne Berlin. The productions he supervised, Das Internat (director: Ersan Mondtag, 2018) and humanistää! after Ernst Jandl (director: Claudia Bauer, 2022) were both invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen. In the critics' poll of the trade magazine Theater heute, the dramaturgy for humanistää! was voted the best dramaturgy of the season with five mentions.

Overview of the additional program

Wed, 18^th January
7:00 pm: Open archive
8:00 pm: Protocolling Demolition Talk with Katrin Hornek and Elisabeth Schäfer, moderated by Matthias Seier

Fri, 20^th January
7:00 pm: Open archive
8:00 pm: Deromanticizing Nature Talk with Fahim Amir and Nanna Heidenreich, moderated by Anna Laner

Sat, 21^st January
5:00–7:00 pm: Fighting in Contaminated Spaces – Fieldwork with Erde Brennt
Followed by the performance Tattooing the Earth

Sun, 22^nd January
5:00–7:00 pm: Fighting in Contaminated Spaces – Fieldwork with LAGDA
Followed by the performance Tattooing the Earth

The performance collective Freundliche Mitte was established in 2011 by writer Gerhild Steinbuch, set designer Philine Rinnert and actor Sebastian Straub as part of a joint project at steirischer herbst. The collective has chosen to work without the authority of a director. It constantly grows by new accomplices from different artistic and scientific fields such as architecture and music and collaborates with experts from various initiatives and societies. Since 2018, Freundliche Mitte have been working closely with Vienna-based musician b.fleischmann. Joint works include: Am Schönsten ist das was bereits verschwunden ist (steirischer herbst, Graz, 2011), Previously On (Garage X, Vienna, 2014), Finsternis (brut Wien, 2016), BERGEINS (brut Wien, 2018), Oratorio Europa (brut Wien, 2019), Sportplatz Europa (brut Wien, 2021).
www.freundlichemitte.com