Marcela Antipán Olate
Marcela Antipan Olate is an artist and researcher from the southern Andes, based in Bremen. Her practice explores how machines and technical objects shape our understanding of the world. Recently, she has focused on measuring instruments and navigation tools, treating them both as collaborators and subjects of inquiry. Through reinterpreting and repurposing these devices, she creates digital works, objects, texts, performances, and collaborative formats such as workshops.
She studied Graphic Design at the University of Chile and holds a Master’s degree in Digital Media from the University of the Arts Bremen. Her work has been exhibited internationally at venues such as Ars Electronica, Lab.30, and the Venice Biennale – Summer School. In 2024, she received the Frese-Design-Preis. Marcela currently teaches in the Digital Media Master’s program at the University of the Arts Bremen and collaborates as curator on the artistic research project The Dynamic Archive.
https://marcela.info/
This doctoral research is supervised by Prof. Dr. Andrea Sick (HfK-Bremen), Prof. Dr. Elke Bippus (ZHdK-Zurich), and Prof. Ralf Baecker (HfK Bremen) as a co-promoter.
Education
2024
Master of Arts in Digital Media, University of the Arts Bremen
2014
Bachelor in Graphic Design, University of Chile
Working Experience
Since 2021
Curator and Researcher, The Dynamic Archive
2024
Assistant Binational, PhD Program University of the Arts Bremen
2023
Workshop facilitator, Digital Impact Lab, Hochschule Bremen
2018 - 2022
Data Designer, Institute for Foundational Research on Data, University of Chile
2016 - 2019
Academic and communications coordinator, Centre for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, University of Chile
Exhibitions and presentations (Selection)
Sept 2024
“Vom Verstärken zum Messen: Zwei bewegte Infrastrukturen neu besucht” (From Amplifying to Measuring: Two Moving Infrastructures Revisited), Installation, BBK Bremen
Feb 2025
“Las Heridas se Parchan con Dólares” (The Wounds are Patched with Dollars), Performance, Die Primas duo, Thealit, Bremen
Sept 2024
“Mediciones: Exploration 01”, Performative lecture, Venice Biennale Summer School
Apri 2024
“Reticulárea Colectiva”, participatory exhibition, Caracas
Oct 2023
“How to Measure a Planet”, Installation, Lab.30, Augsburg
Sept 2023
“How to Measure a Planet”, Installation, Ars Electronica, Linz
June 2022
“Visualize The Illkun”, Video Screening, ISEA Festival Barcelona
July 2021
“Crystal Unclear: Composition III Tourmaline” Radio Angrezi, Bremen
Marc 2021
“The Amplifier Machine” Installation, online exhibition, Columbia University, NYC
Publications
2023
Imaginaries in Becoming - The Dynamic Archive. Paper co-author presented at ISEA2023 Paris.
2022
How to Measure a Planet in Coapparation publication, Thealit, Bremen.
2022
Visualizing the Illkun. Artist Talk at ISEA 2022 Barcelona.
2021
What I know about High and Low. Artistic and research article at The Dynamic Archive (Published DOI https://doi.org/10.26017/tda-555).
Teaching
Currently
Media Master Program, Hochschule für Künste Bremen
2022
Generative poetry workshop in Cibercamp Berlin
2019
Creative Programming teacher for latin american women at Xochicuicatl e.V.,Berlin.
2016 - 2018
Teacher Assistant at 2nd year Design Studio Class, Design School, University of Chile
Awards, Scholarships, Residencies and Grants
2024
3rd Place. Frese-Design-Preis
2021
Deutschlandstipendium
Senator für Kultur Bremen
2020
Honorary mention for “The Amplifier Machine”at Hochschultage 2020, Hochschule für Künste Bremen
2008 - 2012
Academic Excellence Scholarship for Undergraduate Students funded by Chilean Government
Las Heridas se Parchan con Dólares or: “The wounds are mended with dollars” is a performative presentation in the format of an imaginary television show. Here, we, die Primas, attempt to explore the kuir (Latin American queer) performance, music and poetry scene in Chile from the dictatorship to the present day and examine the influence of neoliberal capitalism on queer forms of expression.
How do globalization, exile and capitalism shape contemporary queer culture? We see queerness as a subcultural, non-exclusionary movement, an everyday act of survival.” The Chilean uprising of 2019 with the slogan “Todo gratis, todo gay” (everything free, everything gay) brought queer visibility to the political stage and social struggles. The central questions are: How do kuir identities interact with the cultural influence of the USA (“Yankeeization”)? How do class dynamics influence travestismo (cross-dressing) and mariconeo (reappropriated extravagance)? What role does language play in resistance?”
This performance took place for first time in February 2025 in the context of the residencies “Re Capitulating. queer" at Thealit Arbeitszimmer.
Mediciones: Exploration 01 is a performative reading that delves into the world of measuring instruments from both theoretical and personal perspectives. Using a structure composed of strings, weights, and floor modules, two performers engage with each other and the setup. One performer dictates the sequence in which the second performer reads a story about measuring instruments, introducing an element of control and fragmentation to the narrative. This interaction highlights the interpretive nature of measurement, revealing how instruments, much like the performers, impose order, prioritize certain perspectives, and leave others out. Through this performance, the underlying complexities of measuring instruments are revealed, deconstructed, and reimagined.
How to Measure a Planet is a multimedia installation that creates topographies by using environmental data—temperature, height, and pressure—from two locations on Earth. The project is both a method and a representation, metaphorically connecting these two points through topography-related data. At its core, it is a device that transforms collected environmental data into a 2D plane drawing, offering an alternative approach to understanding landscapes and the relationships between elevation and environmental factors.