Though they are often seen as opposing phenomena, art and technology are inextricably connected. On one side humans, on the other side machines. We are all familiar with the subversive use of machines, devices and instruments as an artistic method or strategy. Yet without precise technological knowledge, pirate radio operators would not be able to build the broadcasting equipment to disseminate their politically and culturally subversive messages. The history of electronic music includes many close collaborations and a great deal of mutual inspiration between composers, engineers and scientists. In the age of the internet the age old question of the irreversibility of the conventional roles of the artist and technician, of the sender and recipient, of the producer and consumer is continually being re-examined. The four-part film programme of the Trans-Positionen festival explores the reciprocal relationship between art and technology and counter and mainstream cultures, with a special emphasis on electronic and digital media. The international selection of historical and contemporary films extends the thematic focus beyond radio and television to include unusual forms of speech and the representation of societal crises and political upheaval. The film programme also experiments with its own form: the combination of advertising, documentary, experimental film and music and the performance of a radio essay with film excerpts turns the cinema likewise into an absolute realm of acoustic experience.
