Scans, Residues, Misrecognitions and Other Materialities of Loss

Shifting economic and political conditions in many urban areas have resulted in queer spaces disappearing at an increasing rate. These bars, clubs, bookstores and other architectural environments occupied by various members of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community are central to a history of sexuality. Their subsequent absence signals a potential erasure of significant aspects of personal and collective memory. As a response to this slow loss, Berlin-based artist and architect Author 2 has employed architectural scanning technology to create highly detailed, digital models of various edifices, interiors, public spaces and monuments in the German city. The three-dimensional models are then processed as key components of two parallel projects: a website that enables visitors to explore a selection of spaces paired with recorded interviews and a virtual reality (VR) artwork animating the architectural archive. In this conversation, Busch discusses the ongoing project Scanning the Horizon alongside the application LiDAR laser scanning techniques to create highly accurate visualizations of various built structures throughout Berlin and convey distinctly queer experiences of space. The artist defines how publicity, existing access and other protocols shape the selection of spaces featured in the project. Queer tactics of cruising architecture via the equipment are further expanded to address the theoretical potential of the limitations of the technology and the aesthetic experience of the website and VR work. In this regard, the growing archive is examined as a repository or remainder of space that simultaneously embraces and counters the ephemerality of LGBTQ2SIA+ records.