field research and participatory installation, since 2001

In 2001 the ‚ISF – Institut für sozio-ästhetische Feldforschung‘ was founded as a fictive survey institute for socio-aesthetical research in Berlin. This field study is located between an enlarged concept of sculpture, portrait and pseudo-scientific strategies and consists of diverse segments and artistic transformations. The ISF reflects on the effects of fictitious possibilities of genetic engineering and medical knowledge related to the aesthetical body perception and body image of mankind.
In cooperation with Dr. Bodo Lippl from the Institute for Social Sciences, Empirical Social Research of the Humboldt University Berlin, a six-pages-questionnaire was developed for the ‚ISF‘-visitors, providing the basis for the artistic field research. Multiple choice questions, personal statements and self-drawn images were chosen to depict the relationship between the own and a different body.
The final segment of the questionnaire introduces the interviewees to a hypothetical postmortal lifeform, when they could exist under certain conditions. The participant is requested to select three of his organs or body parts to create a fictive body and to represent the wanted combination by means of a drawing. These drawings are the foundation of the ISF – Archive containing 2500 questionnaires, artistic videos like ISF – Hybrid Figures or sculptures like ISF – Liquid Identities, ISF – Ghosted Bodies and scenic installations like Am Puls. Thus the visitor is invited to be active in a process of cultural imaging and becomes part of a collective visual archive.

survey desks 210 x 120 x 140 cm | 1 shelf 130 x 30 x 10 cm | questionnaires | 6 chairs

installation view: ISF as in-situ installation in the whole building of Goethe Institut | Athens | 2003