The sound process room, which Carlfriedrich Claus first installed in the Chemnitz Art Collections in 1995, can in many respects be considered the highlight of his acoustic work. It represents the culmination of his earlier works, from the early speech exercises of 1959 to the sound installations on consciousness during sleep in the 1980s, to the forty-minute sound aggregate that Claus produced in 1993 at Westdeutscher Rundfunk as a complex studio work.
Numerous sound examples will be used to illustrate the context of this “experimental existence in experimental work,” which, starting in Annaberg-Buchholz, was to become a point of reference for international acoustic art. The “gradual production of sounds when speaking” is always closely related to Claus’ handwritten language sheets and his poetological, natural philosophical, and epistemological considerations.
In conversation with radio play director Iris Drögekamp, the second part of the event will explore the significance of Claus’ work for international acoustic art. The Karl Sczuka Prize of Südwestrundfunk, the most prestigious international award for radio art, has accompanied, reflected on, and documented the development of various acoustic forms of play since the 1960s. Previous winners include well-known artists such as Luc Ferrari, John Cage, Mauricio Kagel, Gerhard Rühm, and Friederike Mayröck.
Excerpts from the current award-winning work apeiron by Leona Jones will be presented during the discussion. They can serve as a starting point for the following discussion: What role does Carlfriedrich Claus’ acoustic work play in the history of acoustic literature? And what significance do Claus’ experimental practice, his theoretical writings, and his sound processes have for the evaluation of new acoustic art in the present?
Michael Grote studied at Bielefeld University and received his doctorate with a dissertation on the acoustic literature of Carlfriedrich Claus (“Exerzitien, Experimente. Zur akustischen Literatur von Carlfriedrich Claus,” Aisthesis Verlag, 2009). He has lived in Norway since 2002 as a lecturer in German literature and has worked at the University Library of Bergen since 2014.
His research focuses on experimental literature of the 20th century, the history and theory of autobiographical writing in modernism, and media-aesthetic questions in literary studies. Since 2010, he has been a member of the jury for the Karl Sczuka Prize for Radio Art, and since 2020, he has also been a member of the jury for the German Record Critics’ Award.
Iris Drögekamp studied at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and the University of Hamburg. She has been working for ARD as an author/dramaturge/director since 2001. Since 2007, she has been teaching courses and workshops on radio plays and acoustic art at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design in Kiel, the University of Cologne, the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences, and the Academy of Performing Arts in Baden-Württemberg, among others. Since 2021, she has been in charge of the secretariat for the Karl Sczuka Prize.
Iris Drögekamp has realized a large number of productions at SWR, including collaborations with Oswald Egger, Ulf Stolterfoht, and Marcel Beyer. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the German Audiobook Prize, the European CIVIS Radio Prize, and the Karl Sczuka Prize.
Admission: 6 euros
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