Title:
Sensory Reconfiguration: undoing the “normal”
Facilitator: Artist, inventor and theorist Marco Donnarumma
Dates: November 7 & 8, 2026 (Saturday and Sunday), 11am – 5pm and November 9 & 10, 2026 (Monday and Tuesday), 2pm – 8pm
Location: Un-Label Studio
Language: English Spoken Language (Peer-to-peer translation into German spoken language available upon request)
About
Perception as a field of multiplicities – this workshop uses sensors, biosignals and performative experiments to explore what is possible as an artistic practice beyond the ‘normal’ body.
Western society conveys the idea that there is only one system of perception – namely that of the capable and productive body. In reality, however, there are as many ways of perceiving the world as there are bodies. Marco Donnarumma is late-deafened – and does not see this as a loss, but as a different, complex form of hearing. His workshop begins precisely here. In this sense, hearing has nothing to do with ‘normal’ hearing ability, but takes place within a different sensory context, in which touch, sight and depth perception interact with different intensities. Thinking of perception as a field of multiplicities opens up endless possibilities of artistic creation. On stage, technologies such as sensors, robotics and prosthetics play an important role: technologies can be normative, forcing a body to conform to what is ‘normal’. Or they can be imaginative, controversial and empowering, by harnessing and celebrating what lies beyond ‘normal’ perception.
In this workshop, we will examine ‘normal’ perception and the myths surrounding it, with a particular focus on the relationship between sound and body. We will then observe and describe our own unique (sound) perceptions, bringing them together in a ‘map of sensation’ – a kind of map of the potentials of sensing. This is achieved through collective reflection, through performative sound experiments involving our bodies, and by experimenting with several body-based technologies that Marco has developed over the course of his artistic practice. These include, for example, biophysical musical instruments that make music from the muscle sounds produced by a person’s movements. Or prosthetic organs that enable a rich, internal physical experience of sound through touch, vibration, bone conduction and the body’s acoustic resonances.
In the second part of the workshop, we will use our map of modes of perception to explore how knowledge embedded in bodies with disabilities, when combined with new technology, can give rise to innovative approaches in the performing arts. We will learn practical methods for designing and crafting sensors, robotics, and prosthetics that explore and activate the diversity and uniqueness of sensation. Building on this knowledge and small-scale prototypes, we then develop experimental performative formats (solo, duos or in groups). In these formats, technology becomes a tool for exploring the political potential and aesthetic richness of disabled bodies and making them tangible. These experiments can be presented at the end of the workshop as part of a small showcase or discussed with an audience – depending on what the participants decide.
The WORKSHOP:sound, media, performance will be held in English, with peer-to-peer interpretation into German spoken language available upon request.
For interpretation into German Sign Language (DGS) please register until the 22nd of Oktober 2026.
The workshop is aimed at professional and semi-professional artists and cultural practitioners, with or without disabilities. Participants should bring some experience in the field of sound, media or performance. It offers a space to intensify and deepen one’s own artistic practice and to continue developing on an ongoing basis. The format is understood particularly as empowerment for artists with disabilities who are already working actively and who wish to further develop their artistic practice, professional perspectives or visibility in a focused way, or who have questions regarding leadership in this field.
The workshop creates an inclusive working environment that enables collaboration on equal terms, exchange and collective artistic creation.
Facilitator
Marco Donnarumma
Marco Donnarumma is an artist, inventor and theorist. His oeuvre confronts normative body politics with uncompromising counter-narratives, where bodies are in tension between control and agency, presence and absence, grace and monstrosity. Working interchangeably as a sound and visual artist, performer, choreographer, and theater maker, he presents his work on stage, in concert halls, museums, and galleries. He is best known for using sound, AI, biosensors, and robotics to turn the body into a site of resistance and transformation. He has presented his work in thirty-seven countries across Asia, Europe, North and South America and is the recipient of numerous accolades, most notably the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education’s Artist of the Science Year 2018, the Prix Ars Electronica’s Award of Distinction in Sound Art 2017, a Digitalive Award 2018 by Romaeuropa Festival – with Margherita Pevere – and a ZER01NE Creator grant in 2024. For his contribution to the field, Donnarumma was named a pioneer of performing arts with advanced technologies by the major national newspaper Der Standard, Austria. He writes on music, performance, and technology, integrating aesthetics, feminist studies, and critical theory with scientific research. His writings are published, among the others, in ACM Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, Computer Music Journal, Frontiers in Computer Science, Performance Research and cultural outlets such as Hyperallergic and Furtherfield.
Accessibility
All event rooms are accessible. Assistance dogs are welcome.
- Accessible to wheelchair users, at ground level (door width: Studio entrance door 85 cm, Studio glass interior door 105 cm)
- Accessible bathroom with shower and toilet, including a hoist for wheelchair users (door width: 82 cm)
- Access to the garden is accessible via a stairlift for wheelchair users (door width from Studio to the storage room where the lift is located: 77 cm, door width from the storage room to the garden: 100 cm)
- Automatic door opener on the front door
- 3 dedicated disabled parking spaces in front of the door
- 1 additional disabled parking space provided by the City of Cologne just around the corner
- Public transport: The accessible ‘Lenauplatz’ stop on line 5 is 100 metres away
If required, we can provide the following assistance; please ensure you specify this when booking:
- Peer-to-peer translation into spoken German
- On-site work assistance or mobility assistance
- Interpretation into German Sign Language (DGS) – Please register by 22 October 2026
More Information
Address: Un-Label Studio | Hosterstr. 1-5 | 50825 Cologne-Neuehrenfeld
The Lenauplatz stop (barrier-free) of KVB Line 5 (Dom / Hbf – Ossendorf) is located in close proximity to the building at Hosterstraße 1-5.
Departure times (KVB)
Participation Fee per person
Regular: 185€
Reduced: 135€ (Students & Colleagues)
Solidarity: 85€ (holders of a severely disabled person’s pass, Köln Pass, Bürgergeld recipients etc.)
(according to self-assessment)
Drinks and snacks will be provided.
If you have any questions or would like further information, please write to: nikos@un-label.eu
+49 (221) – 5501544
info@un-label.eu
Photos: © Manuel Vason & Dario J Laganà
