Happiness Machine

The Austrian political scientist Christian Felber developed a concept for a new economic order, an “economy for the common good” which benefits everyone. Instead of focusing on competition, he calls for an economy based on cooperation, solidarity, and social and environmental responsibility. Although the European Social and Economic Committee recommended anchoring the “Economy for the Common Good” (ECG) into the legal framework at the EU and national level of its member states, very few people are familiar with the concept in Europe. The project “Happiness Machine” took Felber’s concept as its premise and invited ten European filmmakers and ten European composers to initiate discussion about the future of Europe and the world.
Applying film animation and New Music, the women artists examined the goals of ECG, compared it with reality and invited the public to discuss its consequences. For each project, one composer and one filmmaker have teamed up to address one topic. For example, Michelle Kranot and Iris ter Schiphorst examined the role women play in protests and revolution. Samantha Moore and Malin Bång investigated the sensibility of providing subsidies to developing countries. Elizabeth Hobbs and Carola Bauckholt incorporated references from the fairy tale “The Fisherman and His Wife” to demonstrate the driving force of greed. And Susi Jirkuff and Joanna Bailie designed an urban utopia which belongs to everyone. Unlike typical concert performances with an accompanying film presentation, the project has explored new possibilities of interaction between the projections on screen and the performers, as well as challenged the audience to participate in a “European discussion”.

Artistic director: Sven Hartberger
Artists: Michelle Kranot (DK), Iris ter Schiphorst, Samantha Moore (UK), Malin Bång (SE), Rebecca Blöcher, Eva Reiter (AT), Amelie Loy (AT), Misato Mochizuki (JP/FR), Elizabeth Hobbs (UK), Carola Bauckholt and others