Muscle Memory
Exhibition dates: 01.04 – 11.06.2017 Location: Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin www.kunstraumkreuzberg.de
The exhibition “Muscle Memory” is a multi-layered investigation into the notion of muscle memory, which is defined in neuroscience as a type of movement that becomes familiar to the muscles through repetition over time. It gives a metaphorical approach to how structures of power create and manipulate the memories of individuals through the biological mechanisms of their very own bodies. In doing so, the exhibition revisits the historical background of the Bethanien Hospital building as the ‘body’ of the project, incorporating the building and its vicinity into the exhibition as an embodiment of the muscle memory.
In 1905, the former Bethanien Diagnosis Center opened an extended wing to be used as the Operation Unit, which is now known as the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien. In this regard, the operation room will house the exhibition. During events in the public program, the exhibition will restage the former morgue (Leichenhaus), washhouse (Waschhaus), Ökonomiehof, infection unit (Infektionspavilion), and Feierabendhaus that were previously located in the Bethanien garden in 1905.
The exhibition invites the Field Kitchen Academy, a mobile platform for alternative information production, for the public program with neuroscientists, contemporary dancers, Zen Masters, kinesiologists, parkour training, and cooking actions to delve deeper into the political, social, and corporeal connotations of muscle memory.
Artists: Adel Abidin, Jenny Baines, Maja Bajevic, Marcio Carvalho, Cevdet Erek, Ingo Gerken, Gözde İlkin, Marisa Maza, Ahmet Öğüt, Sophia Pompery, Svenja Schüffler and Vahit Tuna.
Curator: Ece Pazarbaşı
* All events will be in English. ** Meeting point for all events is Kunstraum Kreuzberg/ Bethanien
1/4/2017, 7PM LOCATION: FORMER OPERATION WING (KUNSTRAUM KREUZBERG/ BETHANIEN)
Artists talk with the participation of Adel Abidin, Jenny Baines, Marcio Carvalho, Ingo Gerken, Göde İlkin, Marisa Maza, Ahmet Öğüt, Sophia Pompery, Svenja Schüffler and Vahit Tuna. Moderation: Ece Pazarbaşı
by Heike Brunner, Alternative Medicine Practitioner
5/4/2017, 7PM LOCATION: FORMER WASHHOUSE
Our muscles are composed by the vegetative and the autonomic nervous system. This is an old function for 'flight response' in the moment of danger. Although we are living in a modern society; this function is still working and it is helpful for diagnosis, or to check out what is good for us and what is not. Heike Brunnen will give an introductory talk about the art of muscle testing through its history, additionally practice the test with the participants, supplying simple and useful tips that we can use in your daily lives. The talk and the workshop is open to all from 9-99.
Max. 12 people. Please register by 4 April by sending an email to bethanien1@kunstraumkreuzberg.de
Heike Brunner is living and working in Berlin since the 1980s. She teaches Kinesilogy since several years at Alternative Medicine Schools and as well as her Practice room at the Chisalon in Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain.
The acquisition of new motor skills is often an interplay between two different learning systems: episodic memory and procedural memory.
The first system allows the fast encoding of flexible memories but it also requires conscious effort. For this reason, expert and automatic motor performance requires the encoding of skills through the procedural memory system, which also needs extensive training and repetition. The term 'muscle memory’ refers to the 'motor learning’ occurring within the procedural system.
In this talk, we will review the research investigating the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying motor learning. We will first review the research using serial reaction time tasks (SRTT) in which participants repeatedly execute simple linear sequences of movements. Then, we will show that the human capacity to generate new sequences of movements goes beyond the simple representation of linear structures. This capacity, we argue, requires the ability to represent hierarchies.
We will introduce our novel methods to investigate the generation of hierarchical structures in the motor domain. These methods are based on the use of fractal rules, which have also been shown to exist in language and music cognition. Finally, we discuss our exciting results and what they mean for human cognition in general.
Mauricio Martins graduated as a medical doctor from the Lisbon Faculty of Medicine in 2010. Then he worked as a PhD candidate in the University of Vienna, having completed a thesis on the cognitive and neural underpinnings of hierarchy, recursion, and the evolution of language. Since 2014 he is a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. His current work focuses on the the processes of acquisition and use of abstract rules governing the representation and production of hierarchical structures in the musical and motor domains.
by Mauricio Dias Martins, MD PhD
Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt University zu Berlin
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
20/4/2017, 7PM
LOCATION: FORMEROPERATION WING (KUNSTRAUM KREUZBERG/ BETHANIEN)
by Hermann Kipping, Headcoach at ParkourONE Berlin
7/5/2017, 11.30 AM - 13.30 PM LOCATION: THE VICINITY OF THE BETHANIEN BUILDING
Parkour - The art of overcoming obstacles physically and mentally. It is confronting architecture with our bodies. It is the activity or sport of moving rapidly through an area, typically in an urban environment, negotiating obstacles by running, jumping, and climbing. At our Workshop you will be professionally accompanied, individually and ideally challenged. You learn to take personal responsibility and make decisions. We accompany you playfully and yet genuinely on the path of the art of efficient movement, creating an interconnection between our bodies and Bethanien.
Meeting Point: Kunstraum Kreuzberg/ Bethanien
* Free admission
** Beginner's level, no previous experience is required.
*** All events will be in English.
Max. 12 people. Please register by 5 May by sending an email to bethanien1@kunstraumkreuzberg.de
by Tuğçe Tuna, Contemporary Dancer
21/5/2017, 11.30 AM - 13.30 PM LOCATION: FORMER MORGUE
Symbol Body is the space where the energy is transformed in the body, where the body is left alone with its organic structure and the space that the flesh is separated from the bone. The workshop will be guided by somatic theories, inviting participants to observe their bodies with a notion of connectivity. The general themes of the workshop are the mobility within immobility, body-space relationship through muscle memory.
Tuğçe Tuna, mover, body reader, choreographer, interdisciplinary performance and contemporary dance artist and academician. Tuna develops a wide range of representational forms incorporating body, space and concept in response to the diverse contexts of her projects. She has been working in many capacities and many contexts both in Turkey and internationally since 1993 including numerous international festivals, organizations, academies etc. Also teaching Europe, in Istanbul, Tuna has been teaching contemporary dance and movement techniques, composition‐improvisation and repertory at MSFAU Performing Arts Department since 1996 as an Associate Professor and as guest faculty member of SEAD‐Salzburg since 2002. In 2012, Tuna was in Germany (Berlin & Köln) as DAAD scholars. One of her piece called ‘DISPLACEMENT’ which premiered in 18th Istanbul Theater Festival, won the jury prize in ARENA Festival 2013 in Germany. Tuğçe Tuna is ‘considering the body ‘as the space in which one lives and practices her own politics.’
by Álvaro Valera Sosa, Architect
Problem: Main issues of a healthcare system in EU
Strategy: Patient-centered care and design in perspective
Concept: A supportive neighborhood environment for hospital care
Alvaro Valera Sosa since 2001 developed architectural projects in countries such as Venezuela, Spain and the UAE. In 2007 he participated in numerous healthcare projects as part of a national hospital network overhauling led by the Venezuelan Ministry of Health. In 2012 he established evidence-based design research at the TU-Berlin seeking to include systematic research in healthcare design processes.
As a public health researcher and architect, his vision is to reach quality of care and a more sustainable healthcare system by developing novel clinical care possibilities within disease prevention & control mechanisms at the neighborhood level.
LOCATION: FORMER OPERATION WING (KUNSTRAUM KREUZBERG/ BETHANIEN)
30/5/2017, 7PM
by Zen Masters Sun Woo and Ji Woo
4/6/2017, 11.30 AM - 13.30 PM LOCATION: FORMER INFECTION UNIT
Ji Woo and South Korean former Buddhist Monk Sun Woo will give a workshop on removing repetitive negative behavior patterns rooted in the past that are ingrained into our physical bodies, mind and soul.
Sun Woo has been working as a spiritual guide in the last 30 years. He’s trained in South Korean temples for many years. His long practical experience, combined with his Buddhist training led to his extraordinary healing power. He has strong level of empathy, and a loving personality. His guidance made life changing transfers in his student’s lives. His teachings not only limited to Zen it’s also open to all beliefs and cultures. He committed himself to guide to people to find their optimal capacity of their lives. He lived in South Korea and London for many years. He is also qualified Physiotherapist and Acupuncturist. Currently he lives in Istanbul and will be coming especially for this programme from Istanbul-Turkey to Berlin for a limited time.
Ji Woo left her successful business career in London to help people in their journey of life. She lived in England for 20 years then moved to Turkey to help and guide the people there. She has 24 year’s experience on meditation. She has gentle approachable attitude and genuine desire to help, has enabled many people to change their lives for the better. She has created many personal development programmes.
by Ece Pazarbaşı
8/4/2017, 12 PM; 20/5/2017, 12 PM; 10/6/2017, 12 PM
by Hanna Hegenscheidt
EVERYDAY MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9.30-11.15 AM LOCATION: STUDIO 142, 1. OG, KUNSTQUARTIER BETHANIEN
The purpose of Klein Technique™ is education, not on the superficial level of mimicking form, but on a profoundly deep level of understanding the full use of the body as an integral whole to maximize full function of each individual’s unique movement potential.
by Mime Centrum
EVERYDAY MONDAY TO FRIDAY10.00-11.30 AM LOCATION: STUDIO 2, KUNSTQUARTIER BETHANIEN
https://www.mimecentrum.de/bewegungs.htm
Der Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien ist eine Einrichtung des Bezirksamtes Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
Das Projekt Muscle Memory wird gefördert aus Mitteln der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, Fonds für Kommunale Galerien, Fonds für Ausstellungsvergütungen, dem Bezirkskulturfonds und dem Recherche-Stipendium. Unterstützt wird das Projekt durch das Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen IFA und dem Kulturinstitut Finnlands.