makrolab | lecture 310897

the makrolab lecture in the 100 days program- 31.8.1997

VIDEO LINK - audio and video of the lecture - courtesy of  Bundmedia

Good evening. The title of this 
presentation, as you could 
notice is: INSULATION/ISOLATION 
PROCEEDINGS, proceedings which 
are connected to the project 
that  me and my colleagues have 
set up at this years documenta 
and will also have the form of 
proceedings, with some 
technical terms included that I 
will try to explain as well as 
I could in if there will be any 
inconsistencies. I’ll try to 
skip the INSULTATION part, but 
if anybody will be offended, 
can register with me after the 
lecture.
The name of the project  is 
MAKROLAB - Ladomir-faktura 3rd 
surface and is the fourth 
project in this cycle of works 
and for now also the final one.  
I won’t  talk much about the 
history of the project, let me 
just say that up to now it was 
materialized as a film, and two 
performances, this, the fourth 
consequent and third numbered 
materialization was also meant 
to  encompass and upgrade all 
previous levels. 
The project was initialized as 
a response to a poem  written 
by the Russian avant-garde 
futurist writer Velimir 
Hlebnikov, whose work is very 
important for the understanding 
of the initial motives of why 
the project was set up, for the 
understanding of the project’s 
background and  I will keep 
mentioning him during the 
evening.   The title of  this 
particular poem is  LADOMIR, 
and it is a very complex and 
dense verbal artwork,  full of 
metaphors, metonymies and 
dreamlike visions.  The title 
LADOMIR, designates the 
universal land of the future, 
and is constructed by a method 
dating back to Old Russian. It 
consists of two roots  - LAD - 
which means harmony and living 
creature and MIR - which means 
peace, world, universe and both 
these parts are conjoined by 
the vowel O, for which  
Hlebnikov has devised the 
meaning of THE LETTER THAT 
INCREASES SIZE. I won’t go much 
into the hlebnikovian theory of 
language, since the field is 
very vast and at this stage not 
so important for the 
understanding of what MAKROLAB 
is, but just as a sidenote, 
let’s look at the eight letters 
of the word MAKROLAB and 
analyze them in the 
hlebnikovian manner.  M 
contains within it the 
disintegration of a whole into 
parts, A is against, K is the 
conversion of a force of 
movement into a force of 
enduring stasis (from rush to 
rest) R is unruly movement, 
insubordinate to the whole, O 
increases size, L is the 
uncontrolled movement of a 
great force of freedom, A is 
against B is growth into 
something greater, the greatest 
point of the force of motion. 
So without letters we get 
something that  contains within 
it the disintegration of a 
whole into parts and is against 
the conversion of a force of 
movement into a force of 
enduring stasis (from rush to 
rest) which is unruly movement, 
insubordinate to the whole, but 
increases size and is  the 
uncontrolled movement of a 
great force of freedom against 
a growth into something 
greater, the greatest point of 
the force of motion. You can 
decide for yourself what this 
means to you, and you should 
note that it applies mostly to 
Russian and Slavic languages, 
but hlebnikovs, we could call 
it psycho-material theory of 
language gives to the abstract 
qualities of language a very 
material consequence and 
quality, which is in turn a 
process that MAKROLAB was 
designed to do as a machine: to 
transform abstract and 
intangible qualities and 
properties present in the 
world, such as radio waves, 
atmospheric events or psychic 
movements  into material, three 
dimensional structures, 
documents, objects  through a 
de-abstractization process or 
if you want a process of 
materialisation.  I will later 
specifically show what 
strategies and methods are  
used to achieve this on the 
example of the communications 
field, which has by now been 
the part of the project on 
which we have put the most 
emphasis.  
 The creative processes of our 
LADOMIR-faktura researches  
link many different interests 
in an integral work of art, 
evolving in time as well as in 
space through what I called, 
after Hlebnikov  in his poem 
Zangezi and elsewhere surfaces 
or  planes. Within LADOMIR 
research in acoustics, 
atmosphere,  communications, 
dreams, inner life, 
linguistics, low energy 
systems, psycho acoustics, 
solar power systems, social 
evolution systems and 
strategies, wind power systems, 
weather and war strategies is 
planned and some of it was 
already conducted. But let’s 
now return for a moment to the 
poem. 
Hlebnikov’s principal 
preoccupation in the LADOMIR 
poem is the destruction of the 
old order and synthesis of the 
new. The structure of the poem 
is holographic, antiphonal, 
stark coruscation in full 
voice. Temporal relations are 
shattered, events are displayed 
as quick, disordered, multi-
layered cross-sections of time. 
Verb tenses seem distorted. 
Past and future intermingle in 
a vision of vast, fulminating 
upheaval. And all this has the 
title LADOMIR-a combination of 
harmony, living creature and 
the universe, a title which is 
a complete antithesis of the 
actual content of the work. I 
would define it as a precise 
vision of the 20th century that 
is in many different levels 
evolving in front of us.  One 
should just look carefully into 
the histories of wars that have 
happened and are still going on 
in our century, and from there 
on everything becomes very 
simple and transparent. The 
thesis is that this century is 
in a constant state of global 
warfare which goes on many 
different and often  
unidentifiable levels. Some of 
us and  you have  experienced 
the war we are used or 
accustomed to identify, while 
p.e. almost everybody 
participates as a soldier in 
the global war of capital and 
this dichotomy that we everyday 
live, this constant state of 
psychic violence and pressure 
is precisely identified and 
described in LADOMIR.
Hlebnikov’s influence and 
coding for understanding is 
available of course also 
elsewhere in his writings and 
let me now quote from a 
manifesto he wrote in 1916: 
People of Earth, hear this! The 
human brain until now has been 
hopping around on three legs 
(the three axes of location!) 
We intend to refurrow the human 
brain and to give this puppy 
dog a fourth leg-namely the 
axis of time! People from the 
past were no smarter than us; 
they thought the sails of 
government could be constructed 
only for the axes of space. But 
now we appear, wrapped in a 
cloak of nothing but victories, 
and begin to build a union of 
youth with its sail tied to the 
axis of time, and we warn you 
in advance that we work on a 
scale bigger than Cheops and 
our task is bold, majestic and 
uncompromising. We are 
uncompromising carpenters, and 
once again we throw ourselves 
and our names into the boiling 
kettles of unprecedented 
projects. 
and he continues and ends LET 
THE MILKY WAY BE SPLIT INTO THE 
MILKY WAY OF INVENTOR_EXPLORERS 
AND INVESTORS_EXPLOITERS. 
Raise high the winged sails of 
time, you government of young 
people, now comes the second 
time we raid the flame of the 
investor/exploiters. The 
investor/exploiters in snarling 
packs have always slunk behind 
the inventor/explorers, now the 
inventor/explorers drive the 
investor/exploiters away. 
Every industry of present day 
planet earth - from the point 
of view and in the language and 
style of the 
investor/exploiters themselves 
- is a “steal” from the first 
inventor/explorer: Gauss. He 
founded the study of lightning. 
Yet while he was alive he 
didn’t even get 150 rubles a 
year from his scientific work. 
Your memorials and laudatory 
articles try to justify the 
glee you feel at stealing him 
totally blind. And to pacify 
the rumblings of your 
conscience (which is 
suspiciously located in your 
vermiform appendix). Your 
supposed idols - Puskin and 
Lermontov - met their deaths at 
your hands in a field at the 
edge of town like rabid dogs. 
You sent Lobachevsky to be a 
parochial school teacher. 
Mongolfier would up in a 
madhouse. And what about us? 
The militant vanguard of the 
inventor/explorers? This is why 
inventor/explorers, in full 
consciousness of their 
particular nature, their 
different way of life and their 
special mission, separate 
themselves from the investor 
exploiters in order to form an 
independent government of time 
and put up a line of iron bars 
between ourselves and them. The 
future will decide who winds up 
in the zoo, inventor/explorers 
or investor/exploiters, who 
winds up chomping at the iron 
bars. 
Well, this was 1916, and today  
we approximately know how’s 
eating the iron bars more often 
and the world is a different 
place from then, but the laws 
he talks about remained the 
same and stay in place.  
Hlebnikov put an enormous 
emphasis on the understanding 
and developing of the senses of 
the temporal dimension. 
Temporal dimension as an 
alternative to the Euclidean 
spatial world we live in. He 
did this very mathematically, 
with a lot of calculations 
about the consequence of 
historical events. He divided 
history into precise rhythmical 
patterns, sometimes made little 
mistakes and corrections, but 
usually his theory of history 
rhythms holds. Time wins over 
space, and since history is 
decodable looking back, future 
should be as well. Hlebnikov 
predicted the 1917 revolution 
exactly with his calculations, 
and has proved many rhythmical 
sequences in important 
historical events. With this he 
has also foreseen, that the 
construction of time will have 
global impacts, that time 
division is going to be the 
activity in which roles and 
elements of power are going to 
be distributed. Globalisation 
on all levels which Hlebnikov 
talks about has occurred, large 
sums of capital are invisibly, 
abstractly moved through 
networks, through a space-time 
continuum which is one of the 
centers of world power. Maybe 
there’s no central record of 
them, but maybe, as we will see 
later  there could be one.  
People are moved at high speeds 
with the use of modern 
transportation, the same goes 
for goods. Everything is in a 
floating, flying phase, with 
the occasional time stop at 
different destinations. The 
empire of space has been 
overcome in the late 20. 
century and it seems we are 
definitely living in the period 
of the time-dimension, which 
has in a certain sense become 
the central point of our lives. 
We are constantly defined by 
time, timetables, dates, our 
lives are planned, the time 
stamp of our computer messages, 
our electronic identifications  
place us in the abstract and 
immaterial space of the  
networks.  This abstractization 
and dematerialisation has been 
widely discussed lately, 
especially by debates around 
the work of Virilio, 
Baudrilliard and their 
disciples, I just want to 
stress, that the dimension of 
time has become central to the 
late 20th century social and 
economical developments and the 
despatialisation seems to be 
one of the most common 
processes in the contemporary 
first world, or so it seems. 
This illusionary process has 
forced individuals and larger 
social entities  to live in 
time rather than to experience 
and master space as they were 
used to in the past.  Space has 
in the first world lost it’s 
place in consciousness over 
time and with this loss, a loss 
of orientation senses occurred 
too. A loss that has never 
 
occurred to the centers of 
power.  And since the space-
time sense is not embedded into 
our culture and our way of 
life,  and is still a skill to 
be learned or at least 
understood, the individual has 
been left in a floating 
position without a real sense 
of exact orientation and 
identification capabilities. 
The mesmerizing super-speed of 
the world around him disables 
him psychically and also 
politically.  The time island 
is suddenly enough, the 
subconscious feels it found a 
time territory upon which it 
can rely and since it’s 
qualities are so abstract and 
the energy needed to live  it 
in this suspended position so 
minimal it can stay there for a 
very long period without any 
impact on the space-time 
reality, where it is all 
actually happening.  A complete 
numbing of higher senses, a 
splendid isolation, total 
controllability has occurred 
through this space to time 
shift. But we don’t need to 
look far to realize, that 
battles for space are 
continuing, even raging. 
Bosnia, Africa, Chechnya, 
Northern Ireland, Baskia, 
Indonesia, Cambodia, 
Afghanistan, Cashmere, Israel, 
Palestine, Syria, Lebanon all 
this territories are in 
constant state of war, a war 
for space and capital, the time 
dimension there serves only as 
an orientative designator of 
achieved and non achieved 
goals. On the other hand the 
movement of capital especially 
in the first world makes us 
feel an believe that the space 
battles don’t exist anymore, 
that everything is smooth and 
fluid. But as we will see 
later, this smoothness and 
fluidity has, besides it’s very 
obvious spatial material 
consequences also a traceable 
path, which we can decode and 
observe, learn from it, try to 
find the concealment, or maybe 
just confirm it’s emanations in 
the space-time realm, the realm 
of the real. 
For overcoming this situation, 
this illusion of 
controllability and safety of 
the immaterial cushion of time, 
one must use strategies similar 
to those of your opponent. The 
time realm as Hlebnikov speaks 
about it has been mastered by 
the investor/exploiters, while 
potential inventor/explorers 
serve the first group or don’t 
realize they’re living in a nil 
dimension, totally controlled 
from outside. The loss of space 
orientation is confirmed in one 
of the most notable cultural 
aspects of the first world, 
which is the leisure industry, 
our holidays. This industry 
created itself through 
processes of disorientation and 
lost spatial paradigms and 
serves as an artificial 
substitute to the needed and 
real mastering of space-time. 
There’s millions of first world 
explorers going to explore the 
unknown territories every year 
in organized groups, with a 
defined view, with a limited 
time scope. They are brought to 
rediscover the already 
colonized, discovered, 
changed....they are discovering 
prepared reality, their  
contacts with the cultures 
where they are placed are 
economical, they’re assuming 
the role of 
investors/exploiters. The 
mutation is complete and roles 
intangibly changed. 
Makrolab was created as a 
laboratory, as a set of tools, 
as a machine to try overcome 
this situation. 
First we must note that 
Makrolab always defines the 
space where it is set,  it 
needs the concrete and very 
material dimension of space for 
it’s existence. By defining 
it’s material territory it 
intervenes in concrete reality, 
which is by definition a 
political gesture.  This kind 
of spatial intervention, 
together with the main 
activities of the lab define a 
challenging territory which 
start a relation with the realm 
of  the spectacle as we know 
it.  Guy Debord in his report 
on the construction of 
situations said: “Our central 
idea is that of the 
construction of situations, 
that is to say, the concrete 
construction of momentary 
ambiance of life and their 
transformation into a superior 
passional quality. We must 
develop a methodical 
intervention based on the 
complex factors of two 
components in perpetual  
interaction: the material 
environment of life and the 
comportment which it gives rise 
to and which radically 
transforms it.”   Navigation 
and a sense of precise  spatial 
orientation are needed for this 
together with a precise sense 
for time and concrete political 
space-time. Definitely more 
skills than the today’s TIME 
BASED individual is accustomed 
to.  Makrolab is a declarative 
position outside of the 
spectacle, also outside of 
society (I stress the wording 
declarative) and is designed as 
a closed and isolated space-
time, which will in it’s inner 
logic and structure function as 
a communication center and 
reflective tool. But, 
decoratively in isolation, set 
in a specifying setting, where 
it communicates with the world 
only through mediators, be it 
technological or social 
interfaces. The thesis is that 
only this kind of position, 
which is declaratively isolated 
and enables a thorough 
communication between a limited 
number of individuals can 
create a code for the evolution 
of social relations and once 
again overcome the time only 
paradigm.  The thesis is that 
individuals in a restricted, 
intensive isolation can produce 
more evolutionary code than 
large social movements of great 
geographical and political 
extent. Makrolab was created to 
test this thesis. A creative 
individual in communication and 
interaction with other creative 
individuals has the goal to 
develop an apparatus of 
individual reflection of a 
wider social and political 
state of affairs and it’s 
subsequent transformation. One 
should not understand this as a 
return to individuality in the 
intimacy, sense, which is by 
definition a closed psychic 
entity,  but as setting up of 
the state of isolation, which 
acknowledges the alienation and 
communication with similar 
alienation around it  as it’s 
main method of operation. 
Alienation is a fact that must 
be used to our advantage. This 
method is different from the 
setting up of new societies, 
but recognizes the existence 
and strives towards a 
definition of autonomous zones 
in the wide sense of the word.  
Today this kind of structure is 
possible because of the 
extensive technological 
developments, in the 60.p.e. 
other less “dangerous” 
autonomies were possible.  
We have set MAKROLAB for the 
first time at an art 
exhibition, here at documenta. 
This specific context gave the 
work a position which sometimes 
defined it differently than 
expected. Makrolab had quite an 
extensive number of visitors 
during the documenta and we, 
who lived and worked there had 
to interact with them. Because 
of it’s position we had mainly 
to talk to the villagers from 
Lutterberg, Speele and the 
Staufenberg area and to the 
golfers, that were playing golf 
just 30 metres from the lab. 
One would immediately ask where 
is the isolation here? When 
choosing the position of 
MAKROLAB I have come upon other 
pieces of land but they were 
all natural reserves, so this 
one was the only suitable at 
the end. We had also a 
technical requirement of an 
approximate line of sight 
position in connection with the 
video link for our daily 
communication with the console 
visitors here at the documenta 
halle. Isolation of course, in 
a communication project sounds 
like a contradiction in terms, 
but in the framework of the lab 
the isolation was thought of 
and also realized as a state of 
mind and was enabled only  
because of the technological 
interfaces used during the 
project. We had to interact 
with the s.c.art public. Lovers 
of art, hundreds of them, who 
were, mainly asking the same 
question: Is this art?

(the which was  a privilege and 
opportunity at the same time 
and had to answer mainly Of 
course the frame of the an art 
event gave MAKROLAB hundreds of 
them, who were, mainly asking 
the)

For this kind of investigative 
zeal we had two answers: It is 
when our lawyers advise us 
so...(the so called American 
version) and Since we are set 
in the context of an art 
exhibition this definitely is 
art, yes, you could call it 
also so (the more lengthy, 
conceptual European version).  
Both are evading the question 
in a sense, and I hope that I 
will have the opportunity to 
evade it later on too, fact is 
that MAKROLAB, with it’s shift 
from the center of the 
exhibition produced a lot of 
questions of the kind. 
Isolation and mediation 
suddenly started to have real 
consequences especially in the 
communication with the art 
event itself. I, rather than 
the very wide and socially 
precisely placed term art, or 
even artistic activity, use the 
term TIME PROGRESSING ACTIVITY 
for MAKROLAB, precisely because 
the situation that we have 
created posed serious 
contextualisation questions. As 
explained before, we have 
created an interface here in 
the physical space of 
documenta, that would enable 
the visitors to contact the lab 
and communicate with it’s crew. 
The context of the spectacle 
around it proved this task 
almost impossible and although 
we had up to 50 calls a day,  
the content of them was usually 
very poor, brief alienated 
communication, actually, just 
affirmation of communicating 
capabilities. There were few 
contacts that were on the other 
hand very valuable and will 
have a continuation in the 
future and we could say, that 
the console was set up for them 
to happen, but the contemporary 
art exhibition nomad usually 
has 3-5 minutes maximum for 
each work, and the console 
demands more. Here I could 
again quote Debord, for the 
last time today - maybe: “The 
construction of situation 
begins on the ruins of the 
modern spectacle. It is easy to 
see to what extent the very 
principle of the spectacle - 
nonintervention - is linked to 
the alienation of the old 
world. Conversely, the most 
pertinent revolutionary 
experiments in culture have 
sought to break the spectator’s 
psychological identification 
with the hero so as to draw him 
into activity by provoking his 
capacities to revolutionize his 
own life. The situation is thus 
made to be lived by it’s 
constructors. The role played 
by a merely bit part playing 
pubic must constantly diminish, 
while the role played by those 
who cannot be called actors but 
in a new sense of term, 
“livers” must steadily 
increase.”  
What is Makrolab?  I defined it 
as a closed and 
isolated/insulated environment 
which  in it’s inner structure, 
the structure of the micro-
social events functions as a  
communication center and a 
reflective tool-machine. But it 
is declaratively set into 
isolation a position in which 
it is supposed to observe the 
world only through mediators. 
The thesis is, that only this 
kind of isolated position can 
produce the code for the 
evolution of social relations. 
So, isolated individuals in a 
restricted space, extended time 
and intensive communication 
produce more evolutionary codes 
in social relations than wide 
scope political and 
geographical social movements.
What are the strategies or 
methods to achieve this? In one 
of the earlier program texts 
about this project entitled 
SCIENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL _ 
MAPPING OF LADOMIR I wrote:
The redefinition of social and 
individual terms and the 
subsequent materialization of 
their redefined status in new 
evolutionary conditions, 
demands appropriate physical, 
psychic and material 
preparation. PROJEKT ATOL, 
 
which is a non profit 
organization I’ve set up in 
Slovenia in 1993, tries to 
enable the creative 
communication of individual 
forces to converge into a 
scientific psychic entity that 
would in its last stage result 
in the creation of an 
insulated/isolated environment, 
space/time. 
Insulation/isolation is 
understood as a vehicle to 
achieve independence from and 
reflection of the actual 
entropic social conditions. The 
environment will serve as a 
development surface for the 
further formation of new, 
creative social, spirtual and 
economic relation, based solely 
on integral individuality. 
LADOMIR_faktura is the first 
training stage of the project 
pointing the way towards the 
achievement of final PROJEKT 
ATOL goals:
- communication will be 
developed through 
technological, representational 
and pedagogical systems
- insulation-isolation autonomy 
will be achieved through 
energy/material and space time 
autonomy 
- the dematerialisation of 
logos will be replaced by the 
logoisation of the material
- methods for the augmentation 
of maximum sensory awareness 
and sensory connection will be 
used throughout the work. 
This was the first program 
text, plan for MAKROLAB and 
this is how the initial scheme 
looked like. ‘(scheme) On the 
scheme we have the metatextual 
basis of the work, comprising 
of avant-garde strategies, 
isolation insulation 
strategies, war, communication 
strategies, sexuality and 
urbanity, Hlebnikov laws of 
time and real history time. 
Sort of a life setting basis in 
a way if I look at it now, 
trying to include everything 
that my life  in the first 
world at the late 20th century 
should be consisted of. This 
scheme later developed into 
different works, the urban 
element being taken over by my 
UCOG-144, or URBAN COLONISATION 
AND ORIENTATION GEAR 144 
project, which addresses the 
rediscovery and recolonisation 
of individual urban space 
through the use of satellite 
based navigation technology and 
data transfer communication. 
The UCOG-144 proceedings with a 
lot of situationist texts and 
technical information are 
available from PROJEKT ATOL and 
you can later talk with me or 
drop an e_mail message and I 
will send them to you. It is an 
ongoing project, same as 
MAKROLAB, with no definite end 
in sight. 
If we return to MAKROLAB we 
will see that in the initial 
scheme some of the units 
present there are also part of 
the lab as it was developed for 
the first time in 1997. 
The energy unit and receiving 
unit are there, now called 
energy suite and communications 
suite. The living quarters are 
there, the system unit, which 
was envisioned as a central 
processing unit is in a way 
also there, together with audio 
electronics, video a.s.o. One 
of the elements still missing 
in this phase is the heat unit, 
with micro-ecosystems for food 
growth and the light unit with 
position and environmental 
lighting. So basically, our 
autonomy in this phase was not 
complete. 
Let’s now look at the lab as it 
was constructed in 1997, to be 
first placed in the framework 
of documenta. The units the lab 
consists of are the following:
- communications suite
- living quarters
- hygiene systems
- micro-ecosystems (not 
realized)
- control console
- energy module
- storage
- telemetry
- sensors
The communications suite is 
consisted of a rack with three 
working positions and equipment 
ranging from a HF receiver and 
transmitter unit and antenna, 
SCPC satellite audio receivers, 
a general coverage 
communications receiver,  3 2m 
FM radio stations, a satellite 
video signals receiver, a 
mircowave video transmitter and 
receiver, decoders and decoding 
software, computers to  
satellite antennae of all 
kinds, L-band, C-band and KU-
band ranges. This suite enabled 
the communications part of the 
project, which concentrated on 
the mapping of 
telecommunications signals of 
all sorts. From HF modulations 
at slow speeds, to high speed 
fax communications running over 
satellite networks., to packet 
radio communications. One of 
the important parts of this 
monitoring is also weather 
systems monitoring and 
meteorological observations and 
these are due to expand in the 
next phases of the project. 
Here the sensors play their 
part and also the telemetry 
data, which was sent via packet 
radio a few times during our 
stay in the lab.  The 
communications project was as I 
said before in the center of 
the labs activities for the 
first 55 days of the run and I 
will return to a more detailed 
proceedings description later. 
The living quarters are 
comprised of a simple kitchen 
and storage facility and were a 
make shift solution because of 
the lack of funds for a more 
complete development, which 
applies also to the micro-
ecosystems project for growth 
of autonomous food, so there’s 
not much to say about this at 
the moment, besides that we’re 
not really happy we didn’t 
manage to work it out in this 
phase.  The energy suite is 
comprised of a 600W + 1200W 
peak power photovoltaic solar 
power system, together with a 
propane gas back up generator 
and was and is functioning I 
would say with a 85% 
reliability. There are some 
minor problems with it, but 
nothing very serious, although 
we sometimes ran on less than 
60% power and had 9 complete 
systems shutdowns because of 
low power and generator 
starting failures. The control 
console suite of the project is 
located here in the documenta 
halle, and is a system that 
consists of a microwave video 
link receiver and monitor, an 
internet connection and  an 
extensive archive of the 
initial phases of the project 
on micro-film, where you can 
find exact plans, letters, 
agreements, metatextual 
material, a very extensive 
Hlebnikov database and quite an 
extensive Projekt Atol database 
and the initial program text of 
the lab: THAT’S WHY WE BUILT 
MAKROLAB in 13 different 
languages.  Of course there’s 
also the very difficult to use 
radiotelephone for the 
communication with the lab 
One of the main interfaces of 
the MAKROLAB during the 
documenta is and will be in the 
future the MAKROLAB website 
which I will tour for you now 
very quickly, and the 
interested can later browse 
through it from home. The 
address is: 
http://makrolab.ljudmila.org...
......and this is how it looks 
like....
The internet was as it could be 
expected one of the main 
interfaces of the project, and 
the lab got approximately 30 
messages a day from the 
console, usually the ID forms I 
showed you to which we replied 
with a form letter confirming 
the MISSED contact usually. 
Some of the replies were then 
continuing, some of this 
communications are still going 
on.  As you could see, the 
internet also served as a kind 
of presentation platform of the 
project, with all kinds of 
data, from finances to future 
projections. This internet 
presence will remain in place 
also during project pauses 
between two settings up of the 
lab. 
One of the more invisible units 
of the project is the 
MICRO_SOCIAL  environment that 
has developed  and has a lot to 
do with the conscious isolation 
effort. You can imagine that it 
is rather peculiar to live and 
work in such a restricted space 
for quite and extensive period 
of time. The reflection of this 
moments is not finished yet and 
in my current experience has to 
be dealt with after few 
different settings of the 
project and the documenta 
context was probably not the 
most ideal for this element, 
since we had so many visits all 
the time.
COMMUNICATIONS 
Let me know briefly go to the 
communications suite and the 
activities going on in the 
communications part of the  
project and the projections and 
future plans developed from 
there.  In one of my texts 
preceding MAKROLAB in 1995  I 
wrote: In the undefined 
historical context of the 
development of  science and 
industry the arts have the role 
of the servant. They feed on 
the remains left of the table 
of systems that are more 
powerful and have more impact 
on reality. The wider use of 
technological tools in the 20. 
century, is the result of the 
partnership between science and 
industry, which is on the first 
level achieved through military 
applications, through the art 
of war making and on the second 
level, when it’s 
materialisations have been 
tried out and developed in wars 
and war contexts it slowly 
integrates into the so called 
civil economic sphere and at at 
last, on the third level into 
art. 
This is the case of the 
computer, the internet, the 
imaging systems,  almost 
everything that can come to 
your mind. Telecommunications 
are also a prime example for 
this, with military 
superpowers, the US, NATO and 
RUSSIA having their OWN, 
proprietary global satellite 
based secure telecommunications 
systems already from the 
beginning of the 70’s on. Art 
and progressive social contexts 
are lagging in this sphere, and 
with the exception of the 
internet, which because of it’s 
decentralized nature (is it 
really I’m asking myself after 
the shutdowns occurred in the 
past) cannot compete or 
challenge their more powerful 
brothers. One of the possible 
strategies here is to study the 
tools of your enemy, to develop 
concrete strategies of 
resistance, which are very 
complex and might be seen as 
politically totally incorrect.  
A new state of awareness must 
be developed in connection with 
the completely changed and now 
invisible power structures 
which at this very moment shape 
the state of the world. Here I 
will repeat one of my earlier 
suggestions, which I see as a 
viable, but hardy realizable 
alternative: Build a global 
independent satellite 
telecommunications network, an 
alternative to the Intelsat 
system and the new low orbit 
commercial systems that are 
slowly becoming reality. A 
multinational interdisciplinary 
organizational effort would 
develop tactics and strategies 
and confront the global 
capitalist and state 
multinational organisms with 
organized resistance and 
provide an alternative, non 
commercially based means of 
reliable and secure telecom. 
All you need is to place, 
control and run four 
satellites. I repeat this 
suggestion because I think we 
should start thinking about it, 
since there’s no reliable 
communication otherwise, as we  
 we have learned in the past 
two years, this has appeared in 
Covert Action Quarterly and 
Nicky Hager wrote a book about 
it, a very sophisticated 
military and state intelligence 
gathering systems exists, set 
up by the US and it’s allies 
under the secret UKUSA 
agreement. The states 
collaborating under this 
agreement are the US, NEW 
ZEALAND; AUSTRALIA; GREAT 
BRITAIN AND CANADA with their 
respective intelligence 
agencies. Under the UKUSA 
agreement, a telecommunications 
gathering and monitoring system 
was set up named ECHELON. Now, 
we know that spying of all 
kinds has been going on for 
centuries and will continue, 
but apparently the ECHELON 
network has something special 
to offer. It basically listens 
and records everything running 
via the large Intelsat 
satellites, whose new 
generation can carry 90.000 
simultaneous phone calls, 
together with e_mail messages, 
faxes, telex. This is done by 
using supercomputers and voice 
and data recognition software 
protocols. So, we  the 
inhabitants of this planet, get 
to know in the nineties, that 
everything we say on the phone, 
whatever that is is being 
monitored and recorded for 
security purposes of these 
countries and their allies. 
Search engines that the ECHELON 
system uses search for 
keywords, such as bomb, attack, 
or maybe freedom, David, 
documenta, whatever the 
operator on the terminal 
wishes. You don’t need to be a 
nuclear scientist to understand 
the implications the usage of 
such a system can have and 
there have been recorded abuses 
for political purposes of 
intelligence gathering of all 
kinds, and it seems that now 
there’s a system which makes 
everything easier - for them. I 
don’t need to say that the 
existence of this system is 
still not recognized and that 
the whole affair is highly 
illegal even in jurisdictions 
of the UKUSA agreement 
signatory countries. There are 
no warrants whatsoever for any 
of the listening procedures 
going on and there’s no 
publicly available record of 
monitoring posts although one 
of the possible locations is 
also here in Germany, Bad 
Aibling.  
The modern encryption 
technologies would disable or 
tamper such a system but 
unfortunately, they are not 
readily available and there are 
new agreements p.e. between the 
EU and the US to make the 
encryption keys available to 
governments. Basically, they 
would let us encrypt our 
messages, but hey, in any case, 
leave me the key...so I can 
read it. In any case of 
course....we are used to such 
cynical attitude from our 
governments, but we are 
definitely not used to large 
data, voice, e_mail and fax 
collection baskets which are 
being searched by programs for 
keywords. Our private 
conversations....
My colleague Brian Springer, 
who worked at the Makrolab from 
June 25 to August 6 has written 
a short note about our 
activities and his role in 
them, together with a proposal, 
with which I will end today’s 
talk:

NOTES FROM THE CORPORATE UNDERGROUND

This summer I was a guest researcher at 
Projekt Atol’s Makrolab. During
the course of my residency at Markolab 
we studied alternative
information collection, display and 
distribution systems. I say
alternative because we approached the 
sky hovering over Lutterburg as a
living library of weather systems,  
bird migration patterns, and
telecommunication infrastructure. My 
focus was on telecommunications and
satellite systems in particular. Armed 
with satellite dishes, radios,
and wires we approached the sky as one 
large unmarked library with
voice, video and data communication 
pouring from its shelves. In many
cases the texts intercepted from  the 
various satellites had no page
numbers, index, or titles. In case you 
are wondering, such wireless
library investigations or interceptions 
are totally legal under German
telecommunications laws as long as the 
communications are not shared
with a third party, such as an audience 
at an arts event. So I’m not
going to name the names of the authors 
of our "readings" but we did
stumble across some interesting texts, 
such as corporate officials
discussing the impending demise of the 
citizens of Freetown in Sierra
Leone. These authors detailed the role 
of the diamonds trade in the
conflict and candidly revealed the 
political mechanisms in the UN which
were and currently still are blocking 
the citizens’ evacuation. They
wondered if  the mercenary assault was 
immediate or if they would wait
for the rainy season to wash  out the 
roads and help them cut off  and
starve Freetown. The authors claimed 
the UN official in charge  would
not order an evacuation before the 
rains started for purely political
reasons. Had the swallows perched on 
Makrolab migrated from this
conflict? Would the clouds moving 
overhead become a part of this
assault? As stated before, legally I 
cannot say. At Makrolab we were
digital witnesses cloaked in silence. 

Instead of these clouds I could talk 
about practical satellite
receptions techniques. Or I could talk 
about the difficulties of using a
global communications system as a 
medium for appropriation.  Or the need
for artistic strategies when dealing 
with an un-indexed and endless
library which you cannot get your arms 
around. Or the dangers and
miracles of this type of open embrace. 
But for me the most important
question is, can there be a way to 
publicly disclose the details of the
cloud over Sierra Leone? Is there a way 
to legally hi-jack the
information super hi-way for 
journalistic and artistic purposes? 
Does
the model of abduction of privacy by 
the security and corporate state
provide any clues?

It has been several weeks since I have 
left the Makrolab and returned to
my home in the US. Near where I live is 
the oldest psychic community in
the US. This community was started in 
the mid 1800s by a number of women
who professed the ability to speak to 
the spirits, to the dead. At this
time it was uncommon in the US for a 
woman to speak in public. In the
1800s US women were often considered to 
be property of their husbands,
and they did not have the right to 
vote. But in this community they were
encouraged to speak out because they 
were speaking someone else’s mind.
They were vocalizing the thoughts of  
spirits, not their own thoughts.
Empowered by the ability to speak in 
public these early spiritualists
soon began publicly stating their own 
thoughts about the rules of
society. They became part of the early 
women rights movement which
eventually legally transformed women in 
the US from property into
citizens with the right to vote.

I’m not really overwhelmed with the 
spectacle power of  spiritualism,
but I do find it an interesting method 
of alternative information
collection and display. Recently I had 
a spiritual  reading from a
psychic at this community. The medium 
said she saw a spirit who was
presenting a number of pieces of pipe, 
some curved and bent to specific
angles. I told her I had a relative who 
recently had died who had made
his living as a pipe fitter. She said 
that this person was showing her
these pieces of pipe because it was his 
craft to make them all fit
together. He was telling her that the 
project I was working on is also
all in pieces and that I should not 
worry about where the pipe was
going, but that I should just keep 
trying to put the different pieces
together. So in that spirit of things 
that don’t quite fit, these are
some notes from the corporate 
underground--one possible method for
re-defining public and private in order 
to explore the corporate body. 

In the US the latest incarnation of 
virtual reality or the virtual body
really started in the late 1800s when 
the corporation was given eternal
life and its body was inscribed with 
the rights of the individual.
Before this time corporations were 
heavily regulated and in some states
simply illegal.  Corporations could 
only live for a specific period of
time, say 10 to 20 years, in order to 
fulfill a project such as building
a road, bridge or building. When the 
project was complete the
corporation in many cases had to die. 
It had to dissolve and its assets
were liquidated and distributed to its 
share holders. Majority and
minority shareholders had equal voting 
rights. . One corporation could
not buy another one. Corporate mergers 
where illegal. Their profits were
limited and capped. Corporate owners 
were more often held liable for
harm and debt than a non-corporate 
entity. Profit was not seen as the
corporation’s private property, but 
instead was still part of a public
system of power. 

Following the Civil War the cyber-
infant was born when the US Supreme
Court ruled that a private corporation 
was in fact a "natural person"
under the US Constitution. The 
Constitutional amendments which were
ratified some 20 years earlier to 
protect the rights of freed slaves
were now applied to the corporate body, 
which could now not be killed
since it had a right to the life and 
liberty. Like the former slaves the
corporations were also given the right 
to own property. Now their profit
was their private property. 
Corporations transformed into a body 
able to
participate in elections and the 
process of self-governance before the
former slaves and indigenous peoples, 
before the female spiritualists at
the psychic community, and before most 
people without property.
Internationally this type of corporate 
`legal person' included the
`private company' of English commercial 
law, and the `Gesellschaft mit
beschrnkter Haftung' of German 
commercial law.
 
Endowed with the legal skeleton  of a 
natural person this new virtual
body began its pursuit of life, liberty 
and property by merging with
other bodies through corporate 
takeovers and other contortions of
capital with which you are probably all 
too familiar. One of the most
important mutations of this new body 
was its ability to be at two places
at once--an internal reproduction which 
creates a parallel body,
transnationalism, the flesh of the new 
telecommunications
infrastructure.

So one question Projekt Atol has been 
asking itself is, is there a way
to inscribe the rights of the 
individual on its corporate body? Is 
there
a way to create a parallel version of 
itself as a transnational in order
to open the doors of this wireless 
library to the public in order to
reveal the hidden texts of the various 
corporate bodies surging through
the network? Wouldn’t  the existence of 
such a living library in and of
itself, as a structural act, a 
corporation intervention, be as 
important
as any books on its shelf?

Action on the construction of this 
library is proceeding along a path
dealing with the corporation and 
individual rights. We have targeted
several host countries which have the 
necessary legal foundation for
supporting the weight of this project. 
Our target countries have a
telecommunications policy which allows 
individuals to listen to or tap
certain types of wireless 
communications networks. These 
interceptions
are legal  as long as the person does 
not share this information with
someone else, a look-but-don’t-tell 
model.  We are currently attempting
to graft this law, the individual’s 
right to listen, onto our new
corporation in same way the rights of a 
natural person can be grafted
onto the corporate body. Once this 
inscription has taken place the
corporation will be able to share the 
communications it has intercepted,
internally, within its body of 
employees, directors, and most
importantly its stock-holders--a sort 
of corporate underground.

Of course these texts, journalistic  
investigations and artworks  will
not be shared with a third party, such 
as an audience at an art event.
That would be illegal. To enter this 
library you will have to rethink
notions of artist and artwork, public 
and private, owner and investor. 
The pubic will be invited to become a 
part of this new private entity by
purchasing stock. As stock-holders they 
will have access to the private
internal artifacts of the corporation. 
Currently we envision selling
about 5000 shares of stock for about 10 
DM per share, limit one share
per person.  If you are interested in 
becoming a member of this
enterprise you should visit the 
Makrolab web site and send us an email.
You will be notified about our first 
public stock offering and the
implications of your investment.

END OF NOTES

So much from Brian, and any 
interested stock-holders can of 
course visit the website or 
apply directly with me. 
I should end by proposing a 
plan for the future of the 
Makrolab. As I told you before, 
we plan to move the platform to 
other concrete physical 
territories and proceed with 
different fields of research. 
The telecommunications project 
will live also outside of 
Makrolab in the future and I 
hope for some concrete 
proceedings from it already 
early next year. In the future, 
the weather systems research 
and bird migration research 
will take a more active role, 
with the communications mapping 
project kept as an ongoing  
multi-year activity. 
Bird migration as a cross-
border strategy was very 
interesting for us already from 
the beginning and I would like 
to proceed with it in  a more 
thorough fashion, not just 
solely as an interest. 
Also the colonization territory 
mapping system, the observation 
of the micro-social and micro-
topological environment in 
which the lab is set will be 
started. MAKROLAB will function 
in many emanations, and until the 
next physical one, you can follow 
the research on the net and 
written publications. On September 
11 or 12 we will also organize a 
final all night sound research event, 
that will end phase III. of the project 
here at documenta. 
Thank you very much, now we can 
proceed with the questions. 

31/8/97