Another special episode of “Behind the Screens – Behind the Scenes”: Sophie Emilie Beha was in Cologne this time for a workshop that took place at the KHM in Cologne.

Attention, it gets loud in this episode! Sophie and the participants in the MELT workshop scream their heads off. The research project “Counting Feelings” – we also recommend S02 / F03 – by the media art duo MELT deals with the meaning of data for trans* and autistic people. The project enters the next round in a workshop at the KHM in Cologne: it is about screams as resistance and a shared data set. It is about a trauma-specific practice where grief, anger and mistrust come to light. Feelings are collective and powerful tools against structural oppression. The collective cry is collective power.

The artist duo has been working on the “Counting Feelings” project for more than two years. Thanks to the great interest in data and access to data, they are constantly asking further and new questions, exchanging ideas and engaging in discussion – the “Scream Workshop” is also a result of the previous considerations. The special feature: The auditory material – i.e. the screams – form the data set. They are not evaluated or transferred into data, but are the data set.

Screaming is a “full-body experience”. Taking space can be difficult for many people and the project is also about providing this space. Screaming has a physical and a mental dimension: we raise our voices to the highest possible volume and can ask ourselves questions such as “What are we screaming against?”, “What are we screaming for?” And “What is the name of our cry?”. Some workshop participants scream regularly in their everyday lives, at home or in nature, but for many it is a special experience.