RADAR
BY CHRISTIAN SKJØDT HASSELSTRØM

14.05.21 - 08.08.21

”Art as radar acts as ‘an early alarm system,’ as it were, enabling us to discover social and psychic targets in lots of time to prepare to cope with them.” - Marshall McLuhan

The exhibition RADAR by Christian Skjødt Hasselstrøm explored the relationship between technology, man and his immediate surroundings. Using radar technology and sound, the interiors and exteriors of the Regelbau 411 bunkers were transformed into dynamic soundscapes and immersive environments.

Picturing radio waves travelling towards the horizon and the echo of their encounter with distant objects, the radar appears as a technological messenger of unseen phenomena. The term ‘remote sensing’ describes this detecting and monitoring of things and their physical characteristics that our own senses are unable to perceive, and which in the timeline of history and meteorology has warned us about future events: the speed and direction of missiles in war zones, a hurricane heading towards land. As such, the radar represents an extension of our senses, making it possible to act and interfere in otherwise unseen spaces: muted data on visual displays determine our next move. 

RADAR L/410A (2021)

At the heart of the exhibition, specially developed radars received information from the internal and external environment. Perceived in the bunkers as immersive soundscapes, we touched upon the buildings’ labyrinthic character; the opening and closing of the bridge; a train passing nearby. Here, the absence of any control panel dissolved man’s uncontested powers, encouraging us to be responsive to the environment in new ways.

Thus, Skjødt Hasselstrøm pointed to a sensuous and material presence at risk of being lost due to new and fast-growing technologies. As an echo of the past and a warning about the future, RADAR became a symbol of a bodily connection to the material world and the sound of the inevitable interwovenness of everything. 

RADAR L/413A (2021)

Christian Skjødt Hasselstrøm (DK) works with sound, visual art and science. As an artist and composer, he aims to challenge our sensory perception and point towards its limitations. In works that are often site-specific, exploring natural and scientific phenomena, Skjødt Hasselstrøm creates total installations and immersive environments built up by autonomous systems. His works can be seen as manifestations of or witnesses to what we as human beings are unable to perceive, and of the boundaries between our sensory apparatus and the materiality of the world. 

Photo credit: Studio Skjødt Hasselstrøm.

The exhibition was curated by Matilde Best and Simon Thykjær.

The exhibition was supported by the Danish Art Foundation, Nordic Culture Fund, Færchfonden, the Obel Family Foundation, Danish Composers’ Society, Koda Culture, Sound Art Lab and Struer – City of Sound. The project was developed in collaboration with B&O and OZ3EDR – EDR Struer.