Timm Burkhardt is an artist, lecturer and PhD researcher at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar working at the nexus between art and technology. He builds installations on social topics that spark visitors' thoughts through voluntary or unconscious interaction.
Who plans the planning?
To mark the founding of the Faculty of Art and Design, a copper beech was planted on the campus of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in 1993. Twenty-five years later, the tree was scheduled to be removed without replacement as part of the controversial redesign of the outdoor areas.
Although students pointed out its historical significance and protested against the felling, the tree was cut down. The responsible planners justified the felling with a planning status that was too advanced and could no longer be changed. The tree became a symbol of the planners' ignorance of the needs of students on their own campus.
If one now shakes one's head, the tree will be visible again for seconds. The trick: A band of 400 LEDs shows vertical sections of the tree picture in rapid succession. The image is created by the persistence of vision effect when viewed with lateral head movement due to the inertia of the human eye.
Privacy Machine
A digital proclamation: I want to be private today and not appear in your social media photos.
The concept: stand in front of the screen and take a badge or a scarf to wear. Both these items have a special pattern on them. As long as this pattern is recognized by the camera, the software will automatically pixelate your face.
It is however an unrealistic wish, as ultimately manufacturers would have to integrate this into their smartphones as a small default software.
Ars Electronica Festival, 5 - 9.9.2019,
From the Lab to the Studio, Galerie Eigenheim Berlin, 16.3 - 24.4.2019
Machine to support the starving artist
This work is designed to undermine the vital but patronizing „Harz IV“ agenda of the German government, in which self-employed individuals must send in records of their expenses in order to verify the necessity of the support they receive.
Made of stainless steel, this unobtrusive machine is suited to the harsh environment of the streets, generating receipts of random items, quantities and sale amounts. Like an actual receipt, each statement is printed on thermal paper, and could be legitimately sent to the authorities.
HfG-Archiv Ulm, 22.11.2019 - 29.2.2020
Ars Electronica Festival, 5 - 9.9.2019
Bauhaus Studio100, 18 - 25.6.2019
Spectrum 2 / about paper,
Galerie Eigenheim Berlin 17.12 - 28.1.2017
Accountability Machine
A Compass built in reaction to the current political climate, this machine delegates narrative responsibility to each person it encounters, to both oppose the feeling of being unheard, and to remind the viewer of, their critical part in a more complete whole.
The work is completed and operating only when a human approaches it. The presence of the viewer causes the compass needle to pull toward them, with each person then becoming „true north“.
A collaborative work with artist Kathryn Gohmert.
Goethe Institut Kultursymposium Weimar, 19 - 21.6.2019
Woche der Demokratie, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, 1 - 10.2.2019
Manifest of Practice, 16 - 27.1.2019, III.
Berliner Herbstsalon, 11 - 26.11.2017
Surveillance Printer
This work addresses the invisible yet ubiquitous gaze of video surveillance. As soon as a visitor is within the detection range of the camera, the printer begins working, rapidly printing the current camera image at a high rate. The surprised visitor finds themselves immediately reproduced on a multitude of printouts. Allowed to take their picture with them, this action is also captured and printed, demonstrating that one can never cover all of their tracks.
Installed in the central surveillance room of a former prison for the exhibition "Das Glücksprinzip" at Kunstfest Weimar, curated by Galerie Eigenheim. 22.8 - 06.09.2015
I can't help it
Yes, it's beautiful, but I have to ... with my car now.
An underground car park exit
vs.
40 square meters of freshly laid turf.
Part of the „Parklandschaften“ exhibition, curated by Galerie Eigenheim during Kunstfest Weimar, 24.08 - 07.09.2014
The preENTER Sessions
An ongoing installation and performance project in which visitors generate the content. The works central point is an installation composed of six flatbed scanners. Visitors are invited to creatively interact with the scanners, by scanning themselves or the objects they carry. These images appear immediately on a large projection or in a live video performance, becoming part of a constantly growing world of faces, body parts, objects, messages and abstract forms, which can be best described as an uncensored visual snapshot of a time and place.
preENTER.de
A collaboration between YouAreWatchingUs and Pentatones, performed at Ars Electronica Festival, European Media Art Festival, Fusion Festival and Chaos Communication Congress (et al.)