The discourse series, put together by Andreas L. Hofbauer and Jan Rohlf, gets to grips with the underlying currents in this year’s Festival program, sounds out artistic oscillation fields and their respective parameters, and strives to pursue the fleeting manifestations of all things spectral. Loosely conceived, overlapping modules – devoted to a thematic spectrum encompassing Posttraumatic Euphoria, Trash/Flows, Invisible Attacks and the rallying cry Respect spectrE! – are designed to give rise to a special kind of think tank. The question of how theoretical clusters can be built into spectral constructions of reality for the purpose of accelerating or vaccinating these to either liberate fertile seeds for alternative designs or turn against their original sources in a frenzy of destruction and annihilation will be investigated from a diverse range of viewpoints. If indeed we are all sailors on the mother ship, answers must be found to such questions as whether the captain’s name is Ahab or Vere, whether Billy Budd or perhaps even that spectral, non-sailor-like Bartleby is at the helm – or whether we are all caught in the bustle of the pleasure boat Fidèle, where con-men are busy, setting traps.
 
Iranian philosopher Reza Negarestani, now living in exile in Malaysia, will discuss the effects of xeno-communication, whereby it is no longer a matter of us remaining open to an occurrence but rather of the dark material currents that open us up. 
 
Mark Fisher from the UK (noted by Slavoj Zizek for his ‘best diagnosis of the cul-de-sac in which we find ourselves at present’) will talk about the impact of hauntology and the current capitalist state of siege. 
 
Byung-Chul Han (KR/DE), presently the most innovative philosopher in Germany, addresses in his lecture the defining impact of stone on certain types of architecture – including silicon architecture – and in particular its unyielding resistance to light in a transparent society. 
 
Julian Wolfreys (UK), renowned not least for his influential interview with Jacques Derrida (published under the title ‘As if I were dead’) devotes his slot to the shadows cast and musings muttered by cities and walls. 
 
Secrets and the phantom impact of their transmission and re-enactment are the topic addressed by the International Necronautical Society. 
 
Geographer and temporal alchemist Bradley L. Garrett (UK) hacks the encoded and overlapping patterns of memory inscribed in our physical urban environments and produces quite special answers to the question of what ‘laying a ghost’ might mean. 
 
Artists James Ferraro (US) and Daniel Lopatin (US), who take the stage at CTM also as musicians, speak about their approach to the weird psychedelics of increasingly hyper-real realms of consumerism and communication. 
 
AUDiNT (the author of Sonic Warfare Steve Goodman, and Toby Heys, UK) will discuss the invisible deployment of physical violence and potential counterstrategies.
 
Founders and participants of the Zodiak Free Arts Lab – Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Wolfgang Seidel, Sven-Åke Johansson – and next generation artists – Thomas Fehlmann, Borngräber & Strüver – discuss with Geeta Dayal and Paul Paulun to throw light on the dynamics of a chaotic and ground-breaking laboratory.
 
Artistic interventions are a further highlight of the theoretical discourse agenda –– Martin Clausen (DE) investigates the potentially devastating effects of brainwashing by engaging his audience at HAU 3 in an exercise worthy both of Franz Anton Mesmer and modern coaching professionals while Laura López Paniagua (ES) dispatches an audio-archive full of anonymous secrets into the city, like an indecipherable shibboleth –– and its themes are reflected of course also in the music and exhibition programs (see details below).
 
Screenings of work by Nina Menkes (US) Phantom Love, Bradley L. Garett (UK) Urban Explorers: Quests for Myth, Mystery and Meaning and Ken McMullen (UK) Ghost Dance are likewise scheduled.