Egon March Institute

Founded in 1986, the Egon March Institute signify the first Slovene creative unit for theory, research and production in the field of new media. It is the institute of Slovene pioneer of media art Marko Košnik, who is beside the concept developer also known on his sound installations, sound and dance performances, further he creates interactive theatre environments and acts as video instrumentalist.

History and Characteristics

Marko Košnik, who started his carrier in 80's as cofounder of Laibach, is since 1991 within the frame of the Egon March Institute engaged in corporate interdisciplinary productions, performances and installations that combine directing, programming of interactive systems, synchronisation and transmission via the Internet.

Even before anyone else was aware, he was defining what was alternative media, the need for media laboratory, the need to form international connections between intellectuals - all becoming global emigrants. In 1991 he got his regular transmission on Radio Študent (RŠ): Egon March Institute presents. Some of broadcasts are documented on the web page of the Institute, chapter Sounds.

The circle of collaborators in his projects are since the beginning largely international; University TV, STEIM, and project Van Gogh TV Piazza Virtuale broadcasted by Radio Študent (RŠ) and KUD France Prešeren Arts and Culture Association, where he organized a part of the project at Dokumenta IX in 1991: Piazza Virtualle in Ljubljana connected a local newly born (commercial) TV (Channel A, Kanal A) to transmit the picture from the satellite TV (SAT1) with the sound of Radio Študent (RŠ) which was a mix of telephone conversations between (intellectuals) in Belgrade, Ljubljana and a live sound broadcast from a nearby club with artists and intellectuals gathered to put forward their view of war in Bosnia. The nerve centre was, of course, in Kassel, where further links where pouring in. Also the pictures with picture phones and bbs being put on the TVscreen. The interactive TV programme was marked with all pre-internet technological solutions.

He has held numerous performances, lectures and workshop tutorials around Europe and has initiated educative media environments - for example the Ministry of Experiment.

Full complexitiy of his interdisciplinary approach was presented in PARA trilogy, including Parahouse (self-producing environment for networked performance, Ostranenie 1997). The Egon March Institute organised the hEXPO - International Festival of Self Organising Cultural Forms in Ljubljana/Koper/Maribor in 2000.

Projects

Marko Košnik's first intermedia projects include Stvar - Das Ding - The Thing, premiered at Hfbk Hamburg in 1991, Figure in Space, Man in the Case, a performance/installation presented in the gallery environment of Škuc Gallery and Opna, phase II, developed for the opening of the first Ostranenie Festival in Dessau in 1993.

The projects Cukrarna (Sugar Factory), a dance performance for synchronous video projection that premiered at Medienbiennale Leipzig in 1994 and A B Sence (1996) were developed together with Mateja Bučar, cf DUM Association of Artists. Marko Košnik presented an interactive form of environment also at the New Moves 97 festival in Glasgow.

The PA-RA trilogy consisted of: (i) Parahouse, a cross-field study between ergonomics of the public place (the house) and different purposes its rooms are used for in the social context, its first phase being performed during the Ostranenie Festival in Dessau in 1997; (ii) Paparapapa, a continuous one-week performance by three artists located in Ljubljana, Frankfurt and Paris, synchronised via Cu-See-Me conferencing system and real video/audio transmissions over the Internet; and (iii) PA-RA, a multimedia theatre performance premiered at Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana in 1998.

In 2000 the Desktop cinema was premiered at the Kino Reitschule, Bern and presented at the Slovenian Cinematheque, Ljubljana and Pekarna Magdalena Network, Maribor. In 2001 a chamber opera for theoretical narration, music, live video and computer graphics under the title TheoThea was produced at SKC Belgrade within the international symposium Theatre in Theory.

During 2002-2003 Marko Košnik was mostly concerned with research work at Codelab at Podewill, and during a residency in Mexico (Anthropomedia Project). In 2002 he toured as a performer, playing his live video instrument in the Postworkshop Live Video and Music spectacle at STEIM, Amsterdam.

In 2006 the artist lived in his multimedia installation Batiskaf Trst at Mala Gallery, Museum of Modern Art. operabil kobe, a dance solo, performed by Sumi Masayuki, was developed at the residency at Tesla-Berlin and presented in Osaka, Kobe, Maribor KIBLA Multimedia Centre. In 2007 Egon March Institute presented his new project operabil POW, a performance lecture with topographic imagery in Museumsquartier, Vienna.

In 2008 a new production of Egon March Institute, the Operabil, a step-by-step project that engages collaborators to present sets of ideas through the artistic medium of the opera. The project operabil memotopia was performed by Barbara Thun (voice) and Marko Košnik (live-manipulation of topographic imagery) in Klanggalerie Tube, Munich, at the Exposition of New Music in Hudebni klub Fleda in Brno, Czech Repubic and at KIBLA Multimedia Centre, Maribor. In 2008 Košnik’s performance operabil conspirare concluded the opening ceremony at the Auditorium of the eminent Berlin festival Transmediale 08.

Additionally, Marko Košnik has produced significant texts for various media and has conducted numerous workshops and lectures related to intermedia practices.

External links

Egon March Institute

Contents

History and Characteristics

Projects

See also

External links

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