Experimental Studio: Shaken Grounds

Seismography of Precarious Presences
What holds us together, when the world is more than we can comprehend?

In April 2026 the research project Shaken Grounds. Seismography of Precarious Presences will be setting up an experimental studio at AIL and open and share it for various occasions with a wider public through participatory film shoots, workshops, and talks.

The project was funded through the Austrian Science Fund’s Programme for Arts-based Research (PEEK) from 2023 to 2026. The methods and artefacts developed during this period will be presented in the experimental studio and lead to an exhibition, that opens 4 May, 18:00 (Save the date!)

The exhibition in May will make visible the first curatorial axes of a group exhibition and conference planned for 2027, featuring Italian, Icelandic, Croatian, and Austrian artists at the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb (Muzej suvremene umjetnosti Zagreb). The exhibition is supported by Creative Europe.

With contributions by:
Valerio Acocella, Bjarki Bragason, Arno Böhler, Alexander Damianisch, Oscar Fernadez Bellon, Helga Franza, Nicolas Freytag, Sabine Folie, Aleksandar Gabrovski, Nikolaus Gansterer, Mariella Greil, Victor Jaschke, Peter Kozek, Anna Líndal, Vesna Meštrić, Werner Moebius, Susanna Ravelli, Sylvia Scheidl, Ana Škegro, Lucie Strecker, VestAndPage, Et.al

Shaken Grounds brings together artists, scientists, and curators to explore how seismic disturbances of the Earth shape perception, bodies, and collective forms of living together.

Not only natural but also anthropogenic forces give rise to (or intensify) seismic processes. What forms of precarity shape this socio-geological dynamic, and what new uncertainties does it produce? How do human and more-than-human actors move on ground that is increasingly unstable – geologically, politically, and existentially?

Situated at the intersection of artistic research, geology, somatic practices, performance art, and film making, the project understands seismography as an open, transdisciplinary practice: a method of perceiving, translating, and relating bodies, technologies, and the planet Earth at sites of heightened seismic activity.

Experimental Studio Program:

Apr 20–22, 16:00–18:00

Open Studio

Open studio offering insights into film shoots, performative experiments, and installation-based works exploring the relationship between the body, landscape, and seismic processes.

Apr 24, 17:00–20:00

Live Jam (Part of Long Night of Research)

Live jam and live edit blending performance, sound, and film as part of the Long Night of Research.

Exhibition Program (May):

May 4, 18:00

Exhibition Opening

An installation-based experimental setup combining film, drawing, sound, and performative elements. The exhibition offers insights into the artistic research of the Shaken Grounds project and the upcoming EU project.

May 12, 17:00

Public Conversation and Guided Tour

May 26, 17:00

Closing Reception and Guided Tour

Further Dates in various locations, besides AIL:

Apr 11, 14:45–16:00

Shaken Grounds, Trembling Bodies #10

at brut Wien, Nordwestbahnstraße 8–10, 1200 Vienna / Admission: free

Presentation as part of the cARE festival at brut Wien, in the context of the HEART Project (brut Wien). Performance presentation from the ongoing work of Shaken Grounds, spanning performance, film, and artistic research.

With: Nikolaus Gansterer, Mariella Greil, Victor Jaschke, Peter Kozek, Werner Moebius, Lucie Strecker

7 May, 14:25

EGU General Assembly 2026 – Oral Presentation

Austria Center Vienna (ACV), Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1, 1220 Wien, Room -2.93, details tba

Session: EOS1.2 – Building Bridges: Art-Science Collaborations for a Sustainable Future