situated ladders (excerpt)

Shaped by resonance, miscommunication and noise, the polyphonic live sculpture situated ladders (excerpt), dissects the linguistic registers within which astrophysical knowledge is constrained. The installation is composed of a heterogeneous field of ladders, where 3 to 5 performers reframe textual fragments from scientific papers documenting experiments aimed at detecting neutrinos and dark matter. The performance enacts the conditions under which scientific knowledge in astro-particle physics is translated between different regimes of language and interpretation. The work does not explain this process. It performs it.

Context and Research

This work was born from a personal research endeavour conducted during the artistic research project within the framework of the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1258 on Neutrinos and Dark Matter, developed between TUM, the Academy of Fine Arts Munich (AdBK), and Haus der Kunst.

The research investigates the conditions under which scientific facts become not only visible, but also comprehensible and translatable to broader audiences. Rather than disputing the validity of scientific facts, the focus lies on elucidating the mechanisms that facilitate their accessibility and interpretation.

Within this broader aim, a subgoal was to develop a visual model to represent such conditions. Two visual models are proposed, with the latter offering the most comprehensive representation developed so far. This preliminary analysis outlines points of convergence and divergence between scientific and artistic representations of knowledge, contributing to a more holistic understanding of how both domains can communicate the same idea. To achieve these objectives, the project draws upon and integrates key concepts from the philosophy of science, science and technology studies (STS), and visual epistemology.

The three-dimensional visualisation model is then translated into a performative installation composed of a heterogeneous field of ladders — arranged within the model itself — inhabited and vocalised by performers who function as neutral agents, temporarily shaped by the epistemic position they occupy.

The ladders are not used as tools for “ascent”, but as spatial markers of epistemic positions: they function as coordinates within a conceptual topology that maps how knowledge can be inter-semiotically represented.

This specific version of situated ladders was made possible thanks to close conversations with: Haus der Kunst Director Andrea Lissoni; AdBK Professor of Photography Armin Linke; and the curator of the Neutrinos and Dark Matter exhibition, Katrin Bauer.

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Notes on Production

situated ladders (excerpt) was conceived, researched, scripted, directed, and performed by Matteo Giacomelli as a solo undertaking, with no dedicated production budget. All elements of the work — including research, concept development, performance score, direction, set design, and lighting — were developed and executed independently. The ladders and lighting equipment were sourced entirely from Haus der Kunst’s own institutional resources.

The concept for the work was presented to Haus der Kunst Director Andrea Lissoni prior to production and was immediately accepted and received positively, leading to its premiere in the Südgalerie — a space typically reserved for solo exhibitions by established international artists.

The Südgalerie’s dimensions and architecture necessarily shaped the scenography and lighting design of this version. Future iterations of the work may adapt to circular, frontal, or traverse viewing configurations depending on the hosting venue.