THE WORLD IN MY ROOM
Series of Scenographic Studies / Part VIII
Living systems – trees and ant colonies, oceans and rivers, humans and other animals, bacteria and fungi, but also societies, cities, organizations and entire ecosystems – generate and shape countless soundscapes. They exist in constant exchange and ongoing interaction with their environments, continuously transforming themselves in the process.
By listening – also to the sounds of more-than-human nature – we may begin to perceive these dynamic relationships more consciously, and perhaps sense new forms of resonance and connectedness.
THE WORLD IN MY ROOM offers a scenographic listening laboratory: a space for pausing and for perceiving reciprocal influences through sound. The sounds originate from the various contexts of the artistic research project SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS. They do not form a narrative, but an open, non-linear field of experience – a multi-layered acoustic space between inside and outside, near and far, the personal and the shared.
The study explores listening as an embodied and relational practice. Foregrounding the sense of hearing, it invites visitors to settle into comfortable seating, take their time, and follow the layered soundscape at their own pace. By directing attention to sound, it becomes possible to experience how inner states and outer environments continuously co-produce our perception. A set of questions accompanies the experience, inviting visitors to reflect on their own hearing in relation to their emotional and situational states – and to the living systems that exist around and within us.
By the way, part of MUELLER-DIVJAK’s track “Sound of Data”, which was shortlisted and singled-out by the judges for the BBC Sound of the Year Awards 2026, is part of the soundscape of THE WORLD IN MY ROOM.
March – September 2026 – AIL Art Cabin, Angewandte Interdisciplinary Lab – University of Applied Arts Vienna
Sound credits: MUELLER-DIVJAK
Series of Scenographic Studies
The Series of Scenographic Studies is a key format within SENSING LIVING SYSTEMS. It merges artistic research activities and systems science knowledge in participatory, multisensory installations. Each study explores how systems principles become tangible through scent, sound, touch, and space.
The installations, shown at the AIL Art Cabin (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna), offer insights into the project’s research practices and questions, and simultaneously generate new ones: visitors are not only observers but active contributors. Through their interaction, they help shape both the experience and the research process. The installations change about every 3 to 4 months. Designed as experimental environments, the scenographic studies transform key system principles and project’s findings into multisensory experience.
