Recap of Table Talk No. 1

At the GUI’s inaugural Table Talk, Lydia Askani gave us some insight into her artistic research project “Circle and Surface: Lunar Relics Scrutiny” in the form of a lecture performance. In her work, Askani explores the appropriation of artifacts and forgeries of cultural assets, interweaving fact and fiction so skillfully that listeners and viewers often find themselves approaching what is presented with newly awakened skepticism. In her performance, Askani repeatedly drew attention to the possible instrumentalization of artifacts in the context of geopolitical power struggles and, in this context, critically and humorously questioned the role of institutions with regard to the assignment of meaning to objects and their contextualization.