KINETIC MASS – „an open-air collective performance lab“
workshop
Taking over the blank canvas of Seestadt, one of Europe’s largest development projects, we invite artists and collectives to collaborate in public space — creating ephemeral, physical, and sonic interventions.
MobMakers DIY – collective performance workshop and mentoring
In a world of individual-centered performance, what could you do with collective movement? How can you play with the site? How can you communicate, involve others, and welcome the public into the intervention?
Through a 3–4-day lab format, selected artists will work together to develop shared performance strategies, participatory gestures, responsive choreography, sound interventions, spatial awareness, and collective voice.
With mentoring and facilitation by invited artists (Peter Kirn, Sophia Bulgakova, Uli Kühn), participants will explore how to reimagine form, sound, image, and narrative in an outdoor urban setting.
The location is Seestadt, formerly Aspern. The site shows little evidence of its original life as an airfield, its dark wartime past, and then an interim identity as abandoned space and occasional auto racetrack. Here, artists are able to imagine a new kinetic reality for the location.
→ Who should apply:
Anyone working in artistic, performative, and participatory practice, — including (but not limited to) sound, music, voice, theater, puppetry, light, video, site-specific installation, and food. Most important: a desire to experiment and work collaboratively.
→ What we provide:
- Artistic mentoring and knowledge sharing
- Exchange with a diverse group of peers
- A full SONIC TERRITORIES festival pass
- Food & refreshments on site during participation days
→ Timeline:
- Submission deadline: Tuesday, 24 September 2025, 23:59
- Notification: Wednesday, 1 October 2025
- On-site participation:
- Wednesday, 15 – Friday, 17 October: Workshops, mentoring & co-creation
Saturday, 18 October: Final presentation in Seestadt (public program)
This project is kindly funded by Bezirkskultur Donaustadt and supported by aspern Seestadt. It connects with this year’s Donaustadt Kultur district themes: „Zusammenhalt“ (solidarity) and „Körper“ (body) – exploring how performance can bring people together and reflect on the body as a medium of expression in digital and urban life.
MobMakers DIY is a collaborative lab leading up to the outdoor happening KINETIC MASS: Seestadt, developed in partnership with Krach am Kanal and other local initiatives.
Kinetic Mass: Seestadt
Resident Artists, collectives, and participants are invited to come together for a shared outdoor performance day in Seestadt in cooperation with Krach am Kanal.
Inspired by projects from Unsilent Night in New York to Jogja Noise Bombing in central Java, unscripted soundwalks, noise parades, participatory choreography, and Vienna’s own landscape of DIY art-making, we invite temporary transformations of public space.
Whether moving through streets on bicycles, activating courtyards with collective sound, or sharing food and listening experiences, we aim to create moments of poetic rupture in a city still in progress.
On-site Program: Saturday, 18 October:
→ Public program begins in the late afternoon (starting at 17:00)
→ Concerts at Kulturgarage begin at 20:00
Peter Kirn is a composer/producer, journalist, and instigator, with recent collaborations with Manifest.io, MUTEK.AE, and Wonder Cabinet in Palestine, following a long history of producing open, experimental spaces for artists. He’s also known for deep dives into music tech and electronic music and live visual culture at CDM (cdm.link), as well as recent writing at Resident Advisor and for Roland, plus an ongoing show on Refuge Worldwide. Recent music outings include work on Flash Recordings, Industrial Complexx and his own Establishment.
Sophia Bulgakova (1997, Odesa, Ukraine) is an ArtScientist, interdisciplinary artist and activist based in the Netherlands. Working at the intersection of art, technology and social structures, she explores cultural identity, perception and imagination through immersive installations and performances.
Her practice combines traditions with technological innovations such as projection, interactive sound, AI and XR, creating sensorial experiences that challenge conventional narratives.
She studied sculpture in Kyiv, completed a foundation in Photography and Time-Based Media at University of the Arts London, and graduated from the ArtScience Interfaculty at the Royal Academy of Art and Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Her works have been shown at CTM Festival (DE), FIBER Festival (NL), Künstlerhaus Bethanien (DE), Sonic Acts (NL), Baltan Laboratories (NL), Mediamatic (NL) and Ningbo City Exhibition Hall (CN), among others.
Uli Kühn is a media artist, curator, and lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. His work combines sculpture, audiovisual performance, and interactive media. He is a co-founder of Studio Praxistest, a platform for experimental and site-specific artistic practice.
Krach am Kanal is a Vienna-based open collective of artists, students, and sound enthusiasts. They host monthly public interventions along the Danube Canal, exploring experimental sound art, improvisation, and audio activism. The group offers an inclusive platform for noise, performance, and spontaneous collaboration in public space.
Seestadt