Traversing Topologies

Imagining worlds and knowledge with/through artistic research

Conference 2022
13 + 14/15 May

With decentralized actions, walks, performances, and interventions, Traversing Topologies: Imagining worlds and knowledge with/through artistic research explores mental, geographical and digital landscapes, and in the process designs forward-looking perspectives for artistic research and knowledge configurations. The conference connects three linguistic regions (Gotthard area, Valais and Ticino).

registration closed

download the program as pdf

Parallel program in Valais – see below

Friday 13 May — TICINO

(Lugano/Chiasso)

Stop or Go: A Workshop on mobility, transport and storage of goods
in the southern region of Switzerland

Organized by the SARN Working Group Methods & Practices – Flavia Caviezel, Academy of Art and Design, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland & Priska Gisler, Academy of the Arts, Bern University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with Silvia Converso und Iolanda Pensa, SUPSI.

During the SARN conference of May 13-14, 2022, the working group Methods & Practices organizes a one-day workshop on mobility, transport and storage of visible and invisible, liquid, solid, ephemeral goods in the border region of southern Switzerland.

This workshop on May 13 offers the opportunity to discuss, reflect and experience ideas, wishes and artistic work while visiting two concrete sites that are both typical protagonists regarding the circulation and storage of material and ideal goods. The workshop consists primarily of two parts: The day will start with a site visit to the data storage centre CSCS Lugano. Intertwined with a tour, two artistic-research projects will be presented there. In the afternoon, we travel to Chiasso/Balerna in order to visit the bonded warehouse Punto Franco with a tour and get to know different approaches by two artistic and design researchers.


Morning and afternoon tour Site visit to the CSCS, the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre in Lugano and Site visit to Punto Franco (bonded warehouse) in Chiasso/Balerna
9.30	Site visit to the CSCS, the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre in Lugano
9.35	Tour through CSCS with Michele De Lorenzi (deputy director)
10.30	Presentation by Andrea Helbling: exposition, presentation and discussion of a photographic method making visible data infrastructures
11.15	Performative fieldtrip by Patrick Keller & Joël Vacheron: territorialized data management, storage design
12.00	closing notes, sandwiches will be distributed
	Transfer to Punto Franco (Chiasso)
13.30	Tour through Punto Franco with Paolo Brenni (managing director)
14.00	Geo-located data in a spatial context by Christine Schranz (HGK, FHNW): Augmented space – speculative space in the topic of art storage (Experiencing an augmented reality app, co-developed with FHNW School of Architecture)
15.15	Storage Walking by Marie-Anne Lerjen: Experimenting on an embodied way of reflecting infrastructural appearances
17.30	Visit of the exhibition Intangible Thresholds, Campus SUPSI Mendrisio with Nicoletta Grillo and Linda Herzog
	Transfer to Hospental

Parallel program in Ticino see above

Friday 13 May — VALAIS

(Sierre)

Walking Writing Mapping

With Nihan Somay & Eduardo Cruces, Aldis Gedutis & Vytautas Michelkevičius and Ronny Hardliz.
Organized by Petra Köhle, Federica Martini and Caterina Giansiracusa (EDHEA — The Valais School of Art).

This symposium on May 13 will take place in the alpine town of Sierre in the canton of Valais. Surrounded by an impressive landscape, the site is witness to the (post-)industrial development of the valley, which in nowadays has become an international laboratory for research into the effects of climate change. The multi-layered nature of this landscape is reflected in the symposium’s two workshops in which collective writing is practiced as an act of solidarity and mapping with artistic means examined as a possible way of understanding better what “to know” could mean.


For those arriving by train we will meet at the train station and walk to the EDHEA main building where the first workshop will take place. The afternoon will take place outside and includes walking (on roads and flat terrain). Program
9.45	Meeting at the train station in Sierre, walk to EDHEA main building
10.15	Welcome with coffee and introduction to the day, main building EDHEA, Route de la Bonne-Eau 16, Sierre, chapelle
10.30 – 13.00	*Cordones Des-industriales (a dialogue)* — collective writing with Nihan Somay and Eduardo Cruces
13.00 – 14.00	Lunch (provided by the symposium)
14.00 – 17.00	*The Impact of Artistic Research on Topography of* Knowledge — a participatory walk with Aldis Gedutis and Vytautas Michelkevičius
17.30	Train to Hospental (with discussions and sharing of the findings) Alternative transfer to Hospental by Cinema Car – Traversing the West Bank towards Hospental, Ronny Hardliz (5 Persons max.)

Friday 13 May — GOTTHARD AREA

(Hospental)

Evening & Night

After the parallel programs in Ticino and Valais we all meet in Hospental, where we have dinner together, sum up the day and sleep over at Walchwilerhus.

Permanent installation: Aerobic Topologies I-XVII by Carolin Melia Brendel & Helena McFadzean

Important:
Be aware that Walchwilerhus offers simple accommodation and rooms with 4-13 beds.
Sleeping bag, sheet and slippers must be brought along.

Saturday 14 May — GOTTHARD AREA

(Urserental)

A topological trajectory through the landscape in the Gotthard area:
Hospental/Realp/Andermatt

Organised by Rachel Mader, Maia Gusberti, Pablo Müller ( Lucerne School of Art and Design)
Moderation and curatorial complicity by Jens Badura

Topologies order and cross territories just as they have the potential to open up spaces of imagination. We invite all participants of the conference as of Friday evening to the Gotthard region — the geographical node of the involved regions and infrastructural hubs. On Saturday, this geographically and historically multi-layered transitory landscape will serve us as a stage for actions and explorations that question topologies with artistic means and productively and speculatively transform and interpret them. The interventions are accompanied by culinary and philosophical locutions.

We take the train at 9.41 in Hospental towards Realp – the timeline below is an estimate and might change slightly. We’ll be walking in and through the landscape, so please bring good shoes and weatherproof clothing.


Program (time schedule tba)
09.15	Jens Badura: genius loci – morning remarks upon a sitespecific journey
10.00	Nik Thönen & Michaela Schwentner: Nach dem Alpsegen / After the Alpine blessing – performative Intervention
10.50	Annina Bogen: On potentialities / reservoirs – performative Intervention
…	Gabriel Gee & Anne-Laure Franchette: A Pass into the past – culinaric Intervention
14.30	Rebecca Squires & Nino Baumgartner: The Radical Traverse of Space-Time Through the Picturesque Landscape:A SHORTKUT walk, talk, and re-envisioning of J.M.W. Turner's Schöllenen Gorge
evening	Ilka Becker, Sarah Kolb, Jutta Strohmaier: Mycelial Space – platform launch
ongoing	Carolin Melia Brendel & Helena McFadzean: Aerobic Topologies I-XVII – permanent installation
	Ronny Hardliz: Cinema Car, Shuttle (5 Persons max.)

Important:
Bring your headphones and good shoes (we are hiking)
and warm weatherproof clothing.

Saturday 14 May — GOTTHARD AREA

(Hospental)

Evening & Night

After a long day with hiking through the Urserental, you could stay another night at Walchwilerhus
to eat and discuss the day with us and to join the contribution of San Keller on Sunday.

Important:
Be aware that Walchwilerhus offers simple accommodation and rooms with 4-13 beds.
Sleeping bag, sheet and slippers must be brought along.

Please register (limited number of participants).

Sunday 15 May — GOTTHARD AREA

(Hospental / Andermatt)

San Keller: "What does Urseren Valley read?“
release of the reader about Urserental – performative lecture(s) / reading hike

9 – 20 May 2022
Exhibition — Lugano

Intangible Thresholds

An exhibition at the library of Campus SUPSI Mendrisio with
Nicoletta Grillo: Traveling flowers and other stories
Linda Herzog: On-Site and the Imaginaryorganised by Silvia Converso und Iolanda Pensa, SUPSI.

Opening hours: Mon. – Fr. 09.00 – 18.00

Biblioteca, Dipartimento ambiente costruzioni e design
Campus Mendrisio – Via Flora Ruchat-Roncati 15, CH-6850 Mendrisio

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