KSR by TOTSTELLEN

a narrative journey through the ruins of utopian architecture.

"the fragmented architecture of the ruins of capitalism, is to be taken as a completly new and unknown landscape. a nutrient medium, freed from its past „logic“ force, it can be the breeding ground for an evolving & to be developed utopia in which profit is not the only value. ksr10 & ksr8, were two abandoned office buildings. both have been a resort, a precious null, in a system devoted to the increase of profit. such places are confronted with the strong law of large numbers, which decreases the possibility of their existence, the longer you seek for them."

"utopias seem much more attainable than one may have previously thought. and we are now faced with a much more frightening thought: how do we prevent their permanent fulfillment?" ( nicolas berdiaeff )

---

reviews of KSR:

"Collapsing old buildings feature in a rare outing for the video format courtesy of German based artist Totstellen. A ten minute film of various mechanical dinosaur beasts tearing apart steel reinforcement and crumbling concrete in a way that's weirdly compelling. Not auto destructive art but architectural destructive art, a 60’s tower block in Hamburg that was the last squat in the city, the images and sounds of it being slowly brought to ground via hydraulic jaws and pneumatic drills as captured by Totstellen in a bid to try and make sense of why his former home was being flattened in the name of capitalism. Some sounds are manipulated, some looped, some processed, some added to but when its raw it works best. Working with primitive and borrowed equipment Totstellen wandered the place alone in the days before its end mixing the sounds he found there with the ones from the actual demolition; hence plenty of sawing metal, pounding drills, donkey engines puttering, the crunch of glass underfoot and at its heart stillness and the shrill squeal thats feedback teetering on the edge of rupture. Fifty minutes worth of field recordings that I feel are only slightly marred by a slightly overzealous wish to introduce industrial noise elements during the first track ’10’ [the second track being ‘8’]. Still, there’s plenty to admire here, not least the sleeve which is a rough cut from a buildings blueprint which has been overprinted with a stark image of steel reinforcing. More Einstürzenden Altbauten than neubauten really. Think TNB symphony or musique concrete meets concrete." (IDWAL FISHER)

"KSR consists of recordings of empty office buildings KSR 8 and 10, where a lot of money has been raised and now they are abandoned. The field-recordings are edited with a four-track recorder. Also Totstellen uses instruments made from objects found in these empty buildings. The recordings were made in 2002 and 2003 in Hamburg. The atmosphere of the music in noise and industrial. KSR 8 ends with a lot of feedback tones. KSR 10 is is more quiet and you will walk into different rooms and atmospheres. This one also shows a film with shots of the demolition of one of those buildings. A beautiful piece of music about critics to the ruins of capitalism. Highly recommended!" (VITAL WEEKLY, jkh)

"Gerda Grimm ist mit ihrem Projekt TOTSTELLEN eine der Wenigen, die mit Noiseästhetik und entsprechender Verpackung unvermindert auch noch ein genuin industriales, nämlich fundamental systemkritisches Bewusstsein verbinden. Die Verhältnisse werden als Zumutung wahrgenommen, als anästhetischer Angriff auf Sinn und Sinnlichkeit. Ästhetik ist untrennbar mit Ethik verbunden. Hinter kapitalistischen Fassaden fällt der Blick 360° auf dystopische Abgründe. Die Utopien der einen erfüllen sich als Alpträume der anderen. Unproduktive Relikte, zwischenzeitlich als Niemandsnischen besetzt, werden von Abrissbaggern demoliert. Zwischen den Trümmern beginnt die Suche nach neuen Alternativen, nach Auswegen aus Nutzungszwang und Profitlogik. Schritte knirschen auf verschneitem Bauschutt. Der Krach des Abbruchs und der Klang der Fragmente und des Schutts sind auf KSR (Totes Format / 2000+1 tilt, totform07, CD-R + video) Quelle einer Musik aus geklopfter, federnder, rumpelnder, sägender Zweckfreiheit, mit dem Beat von Mauerspechten, der sich mit alarmiertem Sirenengesang mischt. Tinguely-Automaten aus Schrottteilen schnurren und pulsieren ihren spielerischen Leerlauf. Homo ludens vs. Homo oeconomicus, ohne große Worte." (BAD ALCHEMY 67, rbd)

A collection of releases by GRM's projects and TOTES FORMAT releases.

totes-format.weebly.com
linktr.ee