Disturbed Ground

Vartan Markarian »Horizons of Disappearance«

20:00

undo despot x Zeynep Schilling x alen hast + myk rudik w/ lighting by zeroday »Heavy Waters«

20:10

Khrystyna Kirik x Mark Bain w/ lighting by zeroday »The Core«

21:00

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At the core are two new commissioned works created by pairing Ukrainian and European artists undo despot, Zeynep Schilling, Khrystyna Kirik, Mark Bain, and alen hast + myk rudik of u2203 studio. The project is co-curated by ∄, CTM Festival, Mariana Berezovska, and alen hast from u2203 studio, and supported by Goethe-Institut. Disturbed Ground builds on previous artistic investigations held at ∄ in autumn 2024 under the title, Echoes of the Earth.

Exploring how the force of war imprints itself into land, Khrystyna Kirik and Mark Bain’s »The Core« uses seismic data recorded during missile strikes, environmental phenomena such as earthquakes, and daily baseline readings, they translate this violence into vibration and sound, layering inaudible yet physically impactful low-frequency waves, sonic winds and frequency pools, dense drones, voice, and high frequency textures. Enhanced by special lighting from Kyiv artist @zerodayyy, the work unfolds as a journey through five acts, descending from the surface into the depths of the ground. This work is about destruction, but rather than hardening in response to trauma, it asks: what does the land feel, and can we learn to feel with it?

A collaboration by undo despot, Zeynep Schilling, and alen hast + myk rudik of u2203 studio, »Heavy Waters« explores the layered and evolving life of rivers in Ukraine, weaving their transformation from mythical entities and life-giving sources to key assets for industry and now, to sites deeply affected by war. Visual language informed by folklore, scientific research, and ecological documentation is combined with the affective and emotional capacities of sound and composition, transporting the waters and the landscapes they shape and feed. Waters hold more than just physical matter. They carry memory, trauma and loss that settle beneath the surface. Like buried memories, these sediments may shape the future in ways we cannot yet fully see or understand.

An additional video work by Vartan Markarian will be shown in conjunction with the performances. Created as part of the Echoes of the Earth residency which inspired Disturbed Ground, Markarian’s »Horizons of Disappearance« navigates the tension of the forest as a space of ecological richness and respite, and potential catastrophe due to large-scale anthropogenic factors such as climate change and war.

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Disturbed Ground is co-produced by ∄ and CTM Festival with support from Goethe-Institut’s Co-production Fund and Musikfonds. Curated by Mariana Berezovska, alen hast (u2203 Studio), ∄, and CTM Festival.

»The Core« by Khrystyna Kirik and Mark Bain is further supported within the framework of CTM’s Radio Lab with Deutschlandfunk Kultur, ORF, and tekhnē. tekhnē is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

The video work »Horizons of Disappearance« was produced within the framework of Echoes of the Earth, a project by Mariana Berezovska, Mila Kostiana, and alen hast that was supported by ∄ and Goethe-Institut.