For the duration of the Festival, HAU 2 will be turned into a listening environment where we will endeavour to contact spirits of The Zodiak Free Arts Lab, the legendary music and performance space, opened in 1967 by Conrad Schnitzler, Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Boris Schaak, and active till the end of 1969 on the ground floor of this very building. A novel platform with an open-door policy and a serene disregard of filters such as "education", "skill" and "virtuosity", The Zodiak served to incubate and launch the musical careers of Kluster, Ash-Ra Tempel, Tangerine Dream, Human Being, Agitation Free, Klaus Schulze, as well as other projects of the "Berlin School" so inadequately described by reference solely to krautrock and cosmic music.
Like many a nightlife venue, The Zodiak existed for a short time only. In this makeshift laboratory, which was decorated in minimalist black and white, and equipped with the barest essentials, the intersection of various vectors inherent to the time and place propelled some astounding developments. Then as now however, economic and structural challenges ultimately spelled the end for this type of laboratory. Yet such apparent failure must be read perhaps, also as a prerequisite of the extraordinary artistic intensity with which The Zodiak blazed a trail in the annals of music. Either way, how such a unique moment crystallizes when people abandon their comfort zone to tread new ground and test novel styles of perception and expression, and how they endeavour to maintain such a space under threat, are just two of the mysteries that The Zodiak is calling upon younger generations.
In addition to performances and artworks from, and talks with former Zodiak protagonists, a range of contemporary musicians will present projects that engage with the underlying concepts of the Lab in its heyday. Two panel discussions will illuminate The Zodiak’s past and consider our current situation in the light of its acoustic and situative utopias. In the HAU 2 foyer artefacts and original art work from The Zodiak are exhibited, kindly provided by Sven-Åke Johansson, himself a participant in the activities at The Zodiak. The artists who follow hard on the heels of the 3-day Zodiak Revisited program in HAU 2, are not directly related with The Zodiak as such, but their unconventional performances, their quest for novel ways of perception and communicating, and the consistently experimental character of their interdisciplinary approach certainly perpetuate the vibe of its increasingly vague legacy.
MON 30.1. › 19:30 › HAU 2
ZODIAK REVISITED I
Conrad Schnitzler (DE)
"Piano Works (Disklavier)", Free Arts Lab (INT)
TUE 31.1. › 15:00 › HAU 2
ZODIAK REVISITED II – CON TALK
Wolfgang Seidel (DE), Jens Strüver (DE), Thomas Fehlmann (CH/DE), Moderator: Geeta Dayal (US)
TUE 31.1. › 19:30 › HAU 2 ZODIAK REVISITED III
Conrad Schnitzler (DE)
"Cassette Concert" conducted by Wolfgang Seidel (DE), Borngräber & Strüver (DE)
WED 1.2. › 15:00 › HAU 2
ZODIAK REVISITED IV
Hans-Joachim Roedelius (DE), Borngräber & Strüver (DE), Sven-Åke Johansson (SE/DE), Moderator: Paul Paulun (DE)
WED 1.2. › 19:30 › HAU 2
ZODIAK REVISITED V
Köhn (BE), Qluster (DE)
