Dr. Marco Donnarumma
Undoing the 'normal': machines for sensory reconfiguration
Intensive Workshop, English/Deutsch, 2 SWS, 2 ECTS
2 Blocks in Hardenbergstr. 33, Room 110:
Monday through Thursday, 7.4.-10.4.2025, 14-18 h
Thursday through Sunday, 29.5.-1.6.2025 14-18 h (Thu/Fri) and 11-15 h (Sat/Sun)

Registration on Moodle starts now: https://moodle.udk-berlin.de/moodle/course/view.php?id=2659
Enrollment Key: normal

Western society teaches that only one system of perception exists, that of the abled and productive body. But there exists as many perception modalities as there are bodies. I think of deafness as another mode of listening, for example. In this sense, listening has nothing to do with 'normal' cochlear hearing, it rather happens in another, complex sensory context where haptics, vision, and proprioception combine with different intensities. Thinking of perception as a realm of multiplicities opens up endless possibilities of artistic experience. Body technologies, such as sensors, robotics and prosthetics play an important role too: they can be normative, in the sense that they force a body to conform to the 'normal' or they can be imaginative, controversial and empowering.

In this workshop, open to both disabled and non-disabled students, we will deconstruct 'normal' perception and the myths that come with it. We will then focus on observing and defining each of our own unique modalities of perception in order to gather them in a cartography, a map of the potentials of sensing. In the second part, we will use our map to imagine new body technologies. We will look at the methods to design, engineer and handcraft sensors, robotics and prosthetics that, subverting commercial and medical devices, explore and mobilize the difference and uniqueness of sensing. The final outcome will vary for each student, depending on their own background knowledge and expertise. Those with no or little technological know-how can develop ideas for a speculative prosthesis and how they would realise it. Those with previous experience in sensor and electronics can independently create small prototypes. In both cases, the workshop will provide students with a blueprint for their own further projects.

The workshop will be joined by guest Christian Schmidts, an engineer and researcher pursuing an interdisciplinary exploration at the interface of design, technology and culture.
We aim to create the conditions for a comfortable learning experience. We invite registered participants to share their accessibility and comfort needs in advance with the artist to allow for adequate planning.

Fulfilment criteria for ungraded accreditation: participation to 80% of the workshop is required to gain 2 ECTS. We are happy to discuss the percentage in the case of specific situations that may affect participation independently from the participant’s willingness to attend.

Marco Donnarumma is a media/sound/performance artist, inventor, and theorist. He is a co-founder of the performance group Fronte Vacuo, and a composer, producer, and musician with Dadub and Leiche. Donnarumma creates technological bodies to explore the boundaries of experience, aiming to provoke resonant aesthetic encounters that question how societal powers regulate the human body. Becoming late-deafened has only intensified this approach. His transdisciplinary practice blends contemporary performance, new media art, and interactive computer music into solo performances, productions, installations, and films that defy categorisation. Rooted in movement research and sound art, he brings these disciplines into contact with light, robotics, and AI to form a sensual, uncompromising aesthetic. To do so, he invents and handcrafts body technologies—such as AI-driven robotic prostheses and biophysical musical instruments—that explore visceral forms of interaction and generate music from the sounds of the human body. Close collaboration with scientific laboratories is often central to his artistic process. Widely regarded as a pioneer in the field of performing arts and emerging technologies, Donnarumma has toured 36 countries with works spanning theatre and dance (Wiener Festwochen, European Theater Forum, Volkstheater Wien, Münchner Kammerspiele), contemporary art (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Ming Contemporary Art Museum, Museo del Carme, CENART), contemporary music (IRCAM, World New Music Days, Sónar +D, musikprotokoll), and media art (ZKM, Chronus Art Center, LABoral, Kontejner, Ars Electronica). He has appeared at numerous festivals (transmediale, CTM, Donaufestival, Panorama) and biennials (NEMO Biennale/HeK Basel, WRO, Meta.Morph). More information on https://marcodonnarumma.com, https://frontevacuo.com and https://dadubsound.com.