With Quadrature into the universe and back
The studio of the artist duo Quadrature (Sebastian Neitsch and Juliane Götz) is located in Kreuzberg, very close to the Museum of Technology. We quickly find out why this fits so well during our conversation. But first Sebastian shows us the room where he works with Juliane (who is unfortunately sick today). The two have a child and have been making art together for a very long time – partly because they complement each other so well: Juliane likes to write concepts and do research; Sebastian prefers to build and experiment – and most of all, they both love programming!
On the studio wall hang old maps of physical reactions and metal plates with fascinating circular patterns. When we learn that the mysterious circular patterns are orbits of space satellites, we want to know: Does Quadrature have something to do with the universe?
Sebastian laughs heartily, because the question actually already explains how and why Quadrature make art: For most people, the universe is something that is “outside”. But we all have something to do with it, because we are part of it – the universe is our home, our past and our future. However, the dimensions of the universe are beyond human imagination, which is why it seems “abstract” to many, i.e. somehow alien. But there is so much to discover and understand (even about ourselves!), so Quadrature's art is often about the universe.
Sebastian knows a lot about the universe, tells us about theories of parallel universes and cosmic radiation, about black holes and spy satellites (the patterns on the metal plates!). It’s super exciting, and we ask so many questions that soon our heads are spinning a bit. We realize that Quadrature are not only artists, but somehow also engineers and astrophysicists! Sebastian explains that art has always been closely connected to science. However, science has to be “objective”, that is, it has to present facts as neutrally as possible. As artists, Quadrature is more concerned with finding metaphors – meaning images – for questions that seem unanswerable to us and imagining things instead of proving them.
Quadrature, Very Cold Spot, Courtesy the artists
The sculpture Very Cold Spot, for example, has the shape of a region in the universe that is exceptionally cold. One theory is that it could be the remnants of a collision between two universes. In another work, Quadrature uses a homemade radio telescope to collect signals from space and translate them into sounds. With these works, Quadrature would like to encourage people to think about their own dreams and speculations about the universe.
Photos: Quadrature, CREDO, Courtesy the artists
Many people have already thought about aliens, for example. Most scientists agree that there may be other forms of life in space. Sebastian tells us that already in the 70s messages were sent into space to tell possible aliens that we exist and who we are. For example, a golden record on which songs and photos from all parts of the world were stored and welcome greetings in different languages.
How would we try to tell non-worldly beings that we exist and what makes us tick? In any case, an alien must know what a soccer looks like and a pizza! We try to find signs and pictures that describe us and our world. The more we draw on the large paper web, the bigger the questions become: If we draw hands, how will the beings know that they belong to our body? If we draw a dog, do they think that‘s what we look like? Do they perhaps understand pizza as a form of currency, do they even know the idea of money? From the outside, I‘m sure our world seems kind of strange too ...
When the paper web is full of colors and messages, we roll it up and put it in a golden glittering cover. We still have to figure out how to get it into space. In any case, it’s already art, says one of us – because art is when you do something exactly as you think it!