Solange ich mein Denken und Fantasieren für richtig halten darf, werde ich nichts anderes glauben können, als dass Gedanken gedacht werden müssen. Auch wenn sie nicht verstanden werden – auch wenn sie nie verstanden werden können.
From Arnold Schönberg: Original Recordings 1931–1951.
Airs of Distant Planets
Our most extensive series, CLUB RADIOKOJE, will return in 2026 under the theme of ‘Luft von anderen Planeten,’ featuring a poetic and performative afternoon at the public pool. We will draw on Arnold Schönberg’s radical transcendence of form and language to envision post-planetary realities for a society after the tipping point.
29. August 2026, 13:00-19:30.
Kongressbad, Julius-Meinl-Gasse 7A, 1160 Vienna.
Artists: God’s Entertainment (EU), Black Page Orchestra (AT).
Regular swimming admission (Stadt Wien Bäder).
Airs of Distant Planets
Inspired by Schönberg’s maxim that “thoughts must be thought, even if they are not understood—even if they can never be understood,” CLUB RADIOKOJE explores alternative ways of cohabitation beyond our planet’s ecological limits. The image of “airs of distant planets” is taken both literally and metaphorically: as a reflection on shifting atmospheres in an era of cascading crises (climatic and cultural), where true refuge might only be found in completely novel forms of social organization (materially) or of artistic vision (virtually).
“I feel air of another planet” [Ich fühle Luft von anderem Planeten] is the famous opening line of the poem “Rapture” [Entrückung] by Stefan George (1868–1933), which Arnold Schönberg set to music in his Second String Quartet in F minor, Op. 10 (1907/08). Marking a watershed moment in music history, the piece bridges the transition from romantic harmony to free atonality. Schönberg mirrors George’s mystical language—where the lyrical ‘I’ dissolves “in tones, circling, weaving”—translating it into a new sonic logic that transcended the structures of tonality, rhythm, and form.
This line anchors the theme for CLUB RADIOKOJE: Airs of Distant Planets. The poetic, performative project asks how this “other air” can be conceptualized, heard and experienced today—serving as a resonance chamber for the transformation of sound, body, and society amidst extreme weather, technological progress, and the breakdown of interpersonal communication.
Teaming up with the artist collective God’s Entertainment—who recently explored the “bizarre societal trips” of our time in their 2024 series “LSD – Words and their Worlds”—we broaden our scope. God’s Entertainment’s surreal logic acts as an artistic medium (akin to an oracle), making the complexities and transitions of modern existence performatively tangible. They challenge us to imagine the “airs of distant planets” as a blueprint for other sustainable ways of life. On this occasion, they set forth their collaborative work with the ensemble Black Page Orchestra.
Hosted at the Viennese Kongreßbad, a historic site of public life and social gathering, the event transforms these questions into a collective, sensory experience. Through physical mediums of water and air, sound and light, instances emerges where music, performance, and social interaction seamlessly intertwine. Suspended between George’s aesthetic rapture and Schönberg’s tonal rupture, this artistic experiment in thinking, feeling, and perhaps breathing points toward an impending paradigm shift—a turning point we must face with clarity and mutual empathy as a collective.
Performances will take place hourly, 14:00-19:00.
Funded by the Austrian Ministry of Living, Art, Culture, Media and Sport (BMWKMS), the City Council MA7 Kultur der Stadt Wien and the District Ottakring. With the kind support of Head of District Stefanie Lamp. In collaboration with the City Pools of Vienna, MA 44 Stadt Wien Bäder.
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