Erich Berger (Helsinki)
Exhibition period: May 9 to 29
Opening Ceremony: Wednesday, May 9, 8 pm
Opening hours: Friday to Sunday, 4 to 6 pm

POLSPRUNG (“POLE SHIFT”) is the first installation by in a cycle of works dealing with the psychological and political aspects of the catastrophe. A pole shift is defined as the reversing polarity of the terrestrian magnetic field which occurs cyclically according to science and is long overdue at present.
Starting from (im)possible catastrophes during a pole shift a general debate on threatening scenarios and states of emergency is attempted.
Above all, the role of such scenarios in the media is of interest, and the role of the media in generating a permanent state of emergency, and the social function and possible instrumentalization of catastrophes for political and commercial purposes.

Erich Berger shows an installation consisting of three parts.

Part 1: Pole Shift Detector
A magnetometer measures the terrestrian magnetic fieldin ordert o observe a possible pole shift. Since such a phenomenon takes 10,000 years on average we will only witness a short period of the process should it begin. Eine sonification makes the deviation of the pole from its „normal“ position audible.

Part 2: Myontelescope
Ein myon telescope permanently measures the gamma radiation caused by the solar wind. In a sound installation, the measured data are set in contrast to the assumed gamma radiantion diring a polr shift.

Part 3: Leseraum
Containing information about pole shift research and disaster speculations