Novaya Zemlya

Noyaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, situated above the polar circle. It was a centre of experimentation for nuclear trials under the soviet era. This live performance proposes a hallucinated travel through the reversible relationship between image and sound. It explores the notions of remoteness and multiple temporalities, and it draws an audio-visual cartography where reality and perception cross one another.

Thomas Köner studied at the Music Academy in Dortmund, and at CEM-Studio in Arnhem. His work revolves mainly on the combination of visual and audio experiences, and develops into installations, concerts, videos, photos and multimedia works. In 2000, he received the “New Media Prize” at the Montreal International Festival New Cinema New Media. In 2004, he received the “Golden Nica” of Prix Ars Electronica, the “Produktionspreis WDR/Deutscher Klangkust – Preis” (German prize for sound art). His media installation “Suburb of the Void” received the Transmediale prize 2005 in Berlin and was presented at the Venice Biennale, at the Fenice Theatre, as a live performance. Various important museums has acquired his audio-visual works for their collection: mainly the Pompidou Centre, the Museum of contemporary art of Montreal, the Comunidad of Madrid, the FRAC of Limousin. In 2008, he participated at the Media Art Biennale in Seoul. In 2009, he received the MuVi prize at the International short film festival of Oberhausen. Thomas Köner is nominated for the Nam June Paik prize in 2012.