3hd 2018 is interrogating the powerful systems that dominate our world. Now in its fourth year, the hybrid festival announces the theme, “System.Lure”, in a program that is running October 23 to October 27. As always, it will be happening at a number of venues in Berlin, including HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Säule, OHM, Studio 1 at Kunstquartier Bethanien and the Internet. Musicians, performers, and artists who work across disciplines have been invited to probe the political conditions of contemporary media, as well as ideas of community, alongside methods of protest and dissent.
By exploring the power relations of society at large, 3hd playfully acts out ways to dismantle the dominant architectures that confine us. “System.Lure” questions the relationship between humans and machines, the law and nation states, and the flow of money and people under capitalism. Instead of merely naming the oppressive structures of patriarchy, political systems and social convention, 3hd looks at the possibilities for resistance. Sabotage, hacking, and manipulation; diversion, entrapment, and deceit. These are all typically concealed methods serving a political purpose, which form an essential part of grassroots activism and strategies of unlearning.
For five days, 3hd will interrogate these ideas in a series of installations, concerts, performances, panels, workshops, online commissions and, for the first time, a film program curated by Yony Leyser and dealing with race, gender identity, pop culture and deviant social histories. Performing at Säule’s “Energy Exchange” Night, PC Music affiliate QT and Toronto-based singer-songwriter Casey MQ will present their unique takes on electronic pop. One is an augmented performance project complicating identity and releasing just one song, produced in collaboration with Sophie and A.G. Cook, called ‘Hey QT’. The other blurs the borders between ambient production, melancholic soul and distorted club music. Casey MQ will be releasing debut EP Nudes via Creamcake on September 28.
At HAU, New York’s “Queer Black Diva” MHYSA will present an experimental approach to queer dance music and RnB, while Milan’s STILL questions Italy’s overlooked colonial past through computerized riddims channelling a gospel of polyphonic voices. Simone C. Niquille examines the shifting meaning of education in a heavily-mediated present with a YouTube playlist of ‘How To’ videos called “Public School”. Meanwhile, Salim Bayri’s “Sad Ali” avatar will playfully sabotage 3hd’s own website by shining a smartphone light on parts of the program.
