UNTER DRUCK interdisciplinary media art project

UNTER DRUCK is an interdisciplinary media art project exploring the intersections of live performance, digital animation, and cybernetic technologies. Bringing together artists from theatre, media art, music, and information technology, the work investigates the relationship between physical presence and digitally constructed characters.

Set in an imaginary Nordic forest, the performance draws on Scandinavian folklore to explore social pressure, personal expectations, and emotional vulnerability. Its protagonist, Hedda, encounters a series of mythical beings — a forest troll, an anxious Nisse, a restless Muckla, and the threatening water spirit Nöck — whose conflicts reflect recognisable human experiences.

Rather than approaching these themes through psychological realism, the work uses the symbolic language of fairy tales to create distance and abstraction, allowing personal and social tensions to unfold within a fantastical environment.

The virtual characters and animated landscapes were conceived and visually developed by Pola Rader, while their cybernetic animation was realised through reality-mapping technology by Dirk Hoffmeister. The interplay of live acting, moving images, and technological mediation creates a hybrid theatrical space in which physical and virtual presences coexist, challenging conventional boundaries between performer, image, and digital counterpart.

Developed in spring 2022, UNTER DRUCK premiered during the 20th Lübeck Museum Night in August 2022, followed by performances on 3 and 4 September 2022 at St. Catherine's Church (Katharinenkirche), Lübeck.

Selected Performances

2022 — 20th Lübeck Museum Night, Lübeck, Germany, August 2022

2022 — St. Catherine's Church (Katharinenkirche), Lübeck, Germany, 3–4 September 2022