Thomas Heidtmann Studio

NOW – A Kinetic Life

2018 | Interactive Installation / Performance

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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2019. Installation view, UnBox Festival, Bangalore, India. Photo: Elena Pi

NOW – A Kinetic Life is an interactive installation that spans a visual and acoustic connection between outer space and physical spaces that surround us. It is an orchestra of movement using elements from outer space, nature and human bodies as instrumentations. It is an expression of the ever-changing moment we are living in: NOW.

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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2019. Installation view, UnBox Festival, Bangalore, India. Photo: Elena Pi

The installation brings in sounds from all these spaces in real-time to a modular synthesizer, the heart of the installation, that Das has created exclusively for the project. The synthesizer is accompanied by CubeSat-like objects that are part of Heidtmann’s Place in Orbit* project, wearable gloves and plants with sensors.

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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2019. Live performance, UnBox Festival, Bangalore, India. Photo: Elena Pi

The experience is like having multiple ears aimed at different directions and in various locations at the same time. The real-time data from the spaces and the output result are unique each time it is performed: Natural sounds and sounds from the universe, all merging together – life, that is thriving everywhere and binding us together to live in the moment, NOW.

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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2018. Installation view, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2018. Installation view, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2018. Live performance, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany Germany.
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Bidisha Das & Thomas Heidtmann: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2018. The body sensor in use, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2018. Installation view, Lacuna Lab x3, Berlin, Germany.

NOW – A Kinetic Life is made possible through the bangaloREsidency-Expanded programme by the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore in cooperation with Lacuna Lab e.V. It is a collaboration with the Indian artist Bidisha Das.

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Thomas Heidtmann and Bidisha Das: NOW – A Kinetic Life, 2019. The artists, UnBox Festival, Bangalore, India. Photo: Elena Pi

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