Nikos Arvanitis Discourse Modulator Public art project "Kongress der Wissenden" Festival 9. and 10. September 2022 Open space beneath the Lentos Art Museum, Ernst-Koref-Promenade 1, 4020 Linz Organized by Kunstraum Memphis Discourse Modulator, installation view, open space beneath the Lentos Art Museum, Linz, Austria, 2022 "Discourse Modulator" appropriates the table tennis game and proposes a unique round table. It aims to promote the development of public debates and experiment with dialectical formats. Visitors are invited to play table tennis as other 'diplomats' and discuss current urgent issues. The project explores the dynamics of a round table as a spatial structure, a physical and psychological state, a cloud of concepts and a community, through the interplay of confrontation and solidarity, and the analogies between physical movement, language, sound and rhythm. Discourse Modulator, detail, 2022 Discourse Modulator - Proposed Rules The speaker may arrange the materials in her/his court according to the needs of the defense assembly. Each speaker may use the gray area as an extension of her/his/its court. A rally is the period during which an argument is developing and the ball is in play. Before the service and while the ball is in play, an argument occurs. In service, the ball shall be forfeited if it touches the defense assembly. Lets are rallies in which the result is not recorded. A point is a rally of which the result is scored. A discussion shall continue even after the conclusion on a rally. During a rally, the server will strike the ball first and propose the topic of discussion. It is the receiver who speaks, as they are the second to receive the ball and they are the ones speaking on the topic. Whenever two points have been scored, the speaker of the next table clockwise becomes the speaker. This is until the end of the game, unless all speakers score ten points or the expedite system is in operation. In that case, the sequences of serving and receiving shall be the same but each speaker shall serve for only one point in turn. The server may direct the service to any of the other speakers. The receiver shall then make a return directed to any of the other speakers and thereafter each speaker in turn in that sequence shall make a return. The ball having been served or returned, shall be struck so that it hits the opponent's table. This is either directly or after touching the defense lines or / and the gray area. The ball may bounce twice on the courts before being returned. A discussion shall be won by the first speaker who scores eleven points, unless all speakers score ten points. In this case, the game shall be won by the first player who gains a lead of two points. Discourse Modulator, installation view, open space beneath the Lentos Art Museum, Linz, Austria, 2022 Close Window