schedule:
a year of research and conversations, 4 days of construction/
2020 Q3 - 2021 Q2
collaborators:
MedAustron Proton Therapy Center - semester partner
Aleksandar BACKOVIC - video piece
KÚN Ákos - construction assistant
BLENDING IN
For our first year Project Work we had MedAustron as our collaborator from Wiener Neustadt, Austria. They are one of the few cancer treatment centres in Europe where they offer Ion Beam Therapy for patients. This method is known to be the most accurate and effective way to eliminate tumorous cells. The treatment itself is a radiation treatment, a radiation of protons and carbon ions accelerated to very high energy levels. This acceleration happens in the establishments very own particle accelerator from where the beam leaves into one of the four irradiation rooms. ←
During our visit at the institute we had the opportunity to have a look at one of the patients (irridation) room that was still under construction at that time.
We got introduced to the room's specific interior and atmospheric design elements, such as the wall coverings reminiscent of wood, the adjustable background lighting and thematic ambient sound options.
Behind these well constructed sensory and physical facades, there lied the technological heart of the room, a so called proton gantry. A seven meters tall, 200 tonne machine that is capable of bending the accelerated proton beam and direct it towards the patient. The gantry itself is also surrounded by highly specific surfaces meeting the required industry standards for such an enclosure.
This very distinct border between the humane and the mechanic made me wonder, what are the effects of hiding the mechanics of a system behind simplified, almost dogmatic surfaces.
Does it really relax you?
Are we afraid that we would not understand?
Does accepting this not-knowing actually relaxes us?
Approaching the structure one finds themselves intimidated by the unified white monolith curving above them. Only a tiny box breaks the flow of the clean, unambiguous medical curves.
In the middle of the box there seems to be small reflective window. This should be the source of the laser, however if one looks into it, one can only see themselves.
The uplifting classical music and the shilouette of an armchair lures the visitor behind the structure.
While sitting comfortably in the armchair the structure reveals itself.
Unregular patterns of planks, uneven cuts, cracks from screws, PU foam.
But all this chaos seems to constitute of clear connections. Patterns that our mind can easily decipher and understand. The crown of a tree does not overwhelm us despite the millions of tiny joints and connections.
All visitors mentioned a strange, unexpected calmness as they stepped behind the structure.
Short sequence from the movie Soylent Green (1973) by Richard Fleischer.
Shown on an old TV hidden behind the structure as a part of
"Time 1,2,3,4 - The Treatment" by Alaksandar BACKOVIC
Blending in was a part of a group exhibition called Outlines of absence, contours of presence, held at the the Art and Science department studios during the Angewandte Festival. We presented works stemming from a year-long encounter with MedAustron.
Driven by notions of traces and invisible forces, the exhibition distinguished each individual’s grappling with the encounter.
Starting with a waiting room where from the visitor started a circular journey around our studio space bumping into our individual thoughts.
↓
Brochure designed by me
The two sides of the structure do not only exist in space, but in time as well. Documenting and reflecting on the buliding and deconstruction process made me think about the weight of human projection from an other angle...
Growth and Decay are parts of one symmetric curve. One could even call it a circle or spiral, based on your point of view.
Its hard to tell when one transforms into the other.
Is it an axis or a middle point, is it a peak or the center of something?
Growth and Decay folding onto and into each other articulate the essence or the Idea.
This Idea is the force that directs growth but then it immediately becomes a starting point for decay. The longevity of a manifested Idea is almost nonexistential. Being pinched between overweighing turbulent dynamics, it becomes near insignificant.
/ BOOK SHELVES / A KITCHEN / STOOLS / ANATOMY OF A DREAM / ORDER IS THE SOUL / THREE SHELVES / ELEVATOR / SANTSAT / BAUHAUS UP / LEFTOVER / RHYTON / KOLORÁDÓ / LIVE ACT / PHOBIA DESIGN / LEVES / INLAY / FLIP / MT. MOME / BUNKI /