Spy on Me #4
New Companions

  • Festival

For the fourth time since 2018, HAU invites you to “Spy on Me” – the festival of artistic manoeuvrers for the digital present. After the previous two editions having taken place online, this time, we’re pleased to be able to present artists from Berlin and around the world not just virtually but also on site, in the flesh. This year’s focus is on our “New Companions” – all those devices and programmes that so naturally accompany us through our everyday lives these days, from GPS to memes, face filters and virtual assistants like Alexa or Siri. But we’re also talking about old companions that are coming back into focus due to pandemics and climate catastrophes: fungi, plants, animals, microorganisms. Now that we live in a more-than-human world that includes all natural beings and artificial creatures, the challenge is to rethink this interconnectedness. “Spy on Me #4” imagines an alternative future where technology and nature are connected not in an ecology of exploitation but rather through constructive resonance.

This year, the participating artists are working with artificial intelligence, augmented reality, Instagram, group chats and 3D virtual worlds on Mozilla Hubs.

With: James Bridle, Luanda Casella / NTGent, dgtl fmnsm, Digitales Labor #2 (ghostrich & Cylixe, Iyo Bisseck & Petja Ivanova & Rain Rose & Kaya Zakrzewska, Jascha Bernhard & Sriram Srivigneswaramoorthy), doublelucky productions, Geumhyung Jeong, Houseclub, Interrobang, onlinetheater.live, playField & KOPERGIETERY, Marion Siéfert, STO Union, Tactical Tech a.o.

A HAU Hebbel am Ufer festival. Supported within the framework of the Alliance of International Production Houses by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.